"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," based upon a book of the same title by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long, is a winsome romantic comedy. In the wake of trite and pitiful movies like "Two Weeks Notice" and "Maid in Manhattan," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" shines like a diamond in the rough. That said, this movie is not one of the best romantic comedies ever made, but it is one of the freshest to come out in a while. It is exactly that sense of freshness that allows the audience to stomach the routine romantic comedy set-ups employed in the last 30 minutes which make the movie wrap up nicely and efficiently.

Set in Manhattan, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is the story of magazine writer Andie Anderson (wittily portrayed by Kate Hudson). Andie has a monthly column in which she writes tips in the "how to…" format, though she longs to write articles about politics and other things that truly matter to her. Unfortunately for Andie, her editor (played deliciously by Bebe Neuwirth) doesn't think that such topics would engage Andie's loyal readers in the way the latest fashion and makeup picks would. Andie draws inspiration from her friend's romantic ineptitude and decides to write an article in which she explains how to get rid of a guy in 10 days by doing all the annoying, quirky things which women in a relationship tend to do-things that drive away the individual's partner.

Enter Ben Barry (Matthew McConaughey). Ben works in advertising and is the king of the "beer and babes" market. He longs to break into the more luxurious departments of advertising diamonds. Fearing that he will lose his chance to jumpstart his career to his two leggy adversaries (Michael Michele and Shalom Harlow), Ben makes a wager with his boss (Robert Klein) that he can make a woman fall in love with him in-you guessed it-10 days. Who is the lucky lady? Why, Andie Anderson, of course. I'll leave you guessing as to how this comedy of errors ends, but I will say that it involves Marvin Hamlisch.

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" has the makings of a great romantic comedy-New York City in springtime, two beautiful people and wardrobes that would have the "Sex and the City" gals turning forest green with envy-but for all its cleverness this movie cannot help but seem like a nice respite from the hard-hitting tear-jerking dramas currently showing in theaters right now. The audience doesn't doubt for a second that Andie and Ben will end up together. The script's ingenuity inexplicably dematerializes during the second half of the movie and instead turns to the tried-and-trite ploys of the genre such as musical montages with soundtracks provided by second-rate pop stars and the inevitable chase-you-down-because-I-realized-that-I-really-love-you scene. Just once, I'd like to see a movie where a main character realizes that just because the big romance didn't work out, there is no reason to leave the fashionable, rent-controlled, doorman guarded building that he or she calls home.

Written by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan and Burr Steers (writer and director of "Igby Goes Down") and directed by Donald Petrie (who directed "Miss Congeniality" and "Mystic Pizza"), "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is a delightful movie, except for the last half hour or so. Don't go to see this movie if you're expecting to see anything other than two attractive Hollywood actors pretending to be New Yorkers with all of Manhattan as their seductive backdrop. Kate Hudson, like her mother Goldie Hawn, is particularly good at the physical comedy aspects of the role, and the audience gets a true glimpse of her innate knowledge of how to work with a camera. Matthew McConaughey provides a conventional straight man with very few surprising moments. Mainly, I felt that the supporting characters, played by Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Klein and Adam Goldberg, were underused, especially given each of their comictalents. Oh well, all's fair in love and middling romantic comedies when blockbuster stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are involved.