One out of
Five stars
Running time:
90 mins
Moore and Lakin make likeable leads but the film is ultimately scuppered by a vacuous performance from Paris Hilton and a cliche-packed script that fails to generate any laughs.
What's it all about?
Joel David Moore plays Nate Cooper, a slacker who convinces himself that he never got over his childhood crush on class hottie Christabel Abbott (Paris Hilton), so he moves to L.A. in order to ask her out. To his delight, she remembers him and agrees to date him, but only on the condition that he finds a date for her not-so-hot best friend, June Phigg (Christine Lakin).
The Good
The Hottie and the Nottie isn't quite as bad as it could have been, but make no mistake – it's still pretty bad. Moore and Lakin make likeable leads and the script sticks closely to a tried-and-tested rom-com formula but it goes way too far on the Nottie make-up, making it impossible to believe that anyone would walk around in that state and, more to the point, that the girl's supposed best friend wouldn't have immediately given her an extreme make-over in the first place.
The Bad
Paris Hilton is a pretty easy target, but unfortunately, in this case, she deserves it, as her total lack of acting ability completely scuppers the film - you never believe for a second that she'd be June's best friend, or that she'd want to date Nate, for that matter. As a result, her performance is shockingly vacuous and literally seems to suck the life from the screen the moment she appears, like some sort of charisma vortex.
In addition, the script fails to deliver any decent gags and even the normally reliable role of the wisecracking best friend doesn't work, thanks to an annoying performance by the even-more-annoyingly-named The Greg Wilson. (Yes, that's THE Greg Wilson).
Worth seeing?
In short, The Hottie and the Nottie is painfully unfunny throughout and doesn't even entertain on a so-bad-it's-good level. Basically, if it's a funny and romantic rom-com you're after, then go and see 27 Dresses instead.
Film Trailer
The Hottie and the Nottie (12A)