Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'

Andie and Ben meet by chance at Mullen's, a Manhattan after work "meet market" and sparks fly during their first date at a New York Knicks game, and continue afterwards at Ben's high-tech Maxim Magazine-approved bachelor pad. Immediately thereafter, to prove psycho-girl tactics will get any girl dumped, Andie attempts to jettison her dreamboat by filling Ben's living room with stuffed animals, spontaneously turning vegetarian and cramming his medicine cabinet with more feminine hygiene products than a WNBA locker room. Got Vagisil?

What little there is to save How to Lose... from the scrap heap of Worst Date Movies Ever comes from the sadistic pleasure of watching Ben attempt to hang on to his rapidly diminishing dignity as Andie cracks her kitty-whip with increasing prejudice. From nick-naming his penis "Princess Sophia" to marking her new territory with a precious, shaved, three-pound terrier with bladder-control problems, Andie touches all the bases in her grand slam of dating don'ts. Meanwhile, Ben has no choice, if he wants to bring Andie to the DeLauer gala and save himself from a career of deodorant and beer accounts, but to accept each of Andie's demeaning demands with a heartfelt apology.

So, does all this make for frolicsome filmmaking at its finest? Uh, not exactly. Despite likeable performances by perma-perky Hudson and spunky, hunky McConaughey, not for one frame does it seem possible that these two cutesy twenty-somethings won't see the errors of their wagers in time to take the exit to happily-ever-after land. Mars and Venus may be millions of miles away, but thanks to How to Lose... you don't need a telescope to see two stars collide and disappear into a black hole of giggly, predictable inanity.