Starring: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey

Directed by: Donald Petrie

Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Rated PG-13

1 Gus head

Witty romantic comedies, take note: We all know how you're going to end. There is no surprise. There is no suspense. And, just so you know, that's really the only way we want it.

So, here's some advice. We look forward to seeing how you move your characters from point A to point Z. We like you to be clever. For example, featuring a heroine who is an advice writer working on a piece about how to lose a guy in just more than a week is clever.

This is, of course, provided you don't drek it all up. Our movie in question, "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days," does just that. It would like to be witty. It would like to be clever. But instead, it turns out as the most morbidly boring, most heinously painful film experience of the past couple months, and that's saying a lot.

You could blame it on the stars, but it's not really their fault. Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, two actors of respectable stature, are obviously trying their best. They really are. However, when you catch them staring at their watches and gazing longingly at the theater exit, you find the only empathy in the entire two-hour experience.

But what a slick idea. "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" kicks off when Annie (Hudson), a journalist working for a major women's magazine, is assigned a story in which she must snag a guy and then do all the things that will turn him away in 10 days. Little does she know, though, that the guy she picks up, Ben (McConaughey), is working under a bet with his boss in which he will make a woman fall in love with him in - gasp! - 10 days.

The expected hijinks ensue. Annie leaves him repeated clingy messages on his answering machine. She lets her little dog pee on almost everything he owns. She even nicknames his penis Princess Sophia. But through it all, they let the relationship continue to grow, because, after all, they both have bets to win. This is a war of the sexes, and it should be noted that, in the end, the guy wins.

But that's neither here nor there. What's worth noting is that the journey to that inevitable conclusion is a stale mishmash of romantic comedy cliché and underused performances, a tired and saggy film that figures it can ride high simply on the basis of its premise.

It's an incorrect assumption. The only pleasure here is the one that comes when the end credits finally roll.

It's not so bad that the ending is as predictable as any romantic comedy.

However, the journey is what matters. And this is one trip that the savvy movie-goer would do well to avoid.