Synopsis for
The Ugly Truth (2009) More at IMDbPro »

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Abby (played by Katherine Heigl) is the producer of a ratings-challenged morning show in Sacramento. Shes good at her job, but the audience just isnt interested in the anchors or any of the other personalities on the show. Her boss Stuart (Nick Searcy) says that if ratings dont pick up soon, the show will be canceled. After all, they can get more eyeballs on a Geraldo Rivera rerun at a lower overall cost.

Things arent going very well in Abbys personal life either. Being a control freak, she often scares men off in the first few minutes which is exactly what happened when she met Jim (Kevin Connolly) after hooking up on a dating website. Abby had already asked assistant Joy (Bree Turner) to run a thorough background check, so she already knew all there was to know about the guy, making for some awkward moments.

Upon returning home that night, Abby flipped on the TV. Her cat happened to step on the remote control, which brought up a show called The Ugly Truth. Hosted by the crass Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), the show offers dating advice to women, often voiced by Mike in the most crude terms possible. In fact, Abby is so appalled by what she hears in the first few minutes that she calls in to tell Mike hes a cynical jerk, to which he simply replies that she must be on a cold streak because shes ugly. Abby hangs up.

To her horror, she shows up to work the next day to learn that Stuart has hired Mike for a daily 3-minute appearance. Stuart is convinced that this will boost ratings, but Abby is convinced it will be a huge mistake. Mike, unsurprisingly, is a hit, but he and Abby begin arguing almost from the minute that they meet. She confesses that she was the caller from the night before, at which point Mike tells her that hell help her land her dream man Colin (Eric Winter) just to prove that his advice is sound. Abby reluctantly agrees.

The rest of the film then follows these two basic storylines: the main arc of Mike and Abby teaming up to snag Colin, and the subplot of Mike breathing new life into the morning show. This being a romantic comedy, its practically the law that the male and female lead end up together, so obviously Mike and Abby realize that they have feelings for each other right before the credits roll.