15 Terrible Movies That Actually Improve Good Ones
7. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days Improves Mud
The Bad
Kate Hudson is the spunky journalist trying to show modern women what's what, and Matthew McConaughey is the hound-dawg lad who needs to prove he can make any woman fall for him.
Twist is, Hudson needs to drive this particular hound away in just 10 days! Hilarity ensues, or more accurately suicidal tendencies and loss of faith in humanity.
Mr McConaughey starred in terrible films after this but it encapsulates everything wrong with the early bulk of his career.
There will be a generation of people lucky enough to only know McConaughey since the rectification of his career and those fortunate few need never know about the sexist, saccharine affair that is How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
How It Improves Mud
Just as he starred in worse films after the 10 days debacle, so the McConaissance began before Mud. The Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe - both great films - took place after McConaughey decided to read some acting books, but his performance in Mud is when people really started to take notice.
A bizarrely charming folk tale, McConaughey's Mud oozes charm and intrigue. A deserted rogue, McConaughey takes over the screen like only a future Oscar winner can and looking at these two films side-by-side you will not believe they star the same person.
His career may have taken a little bit of a slide recently, but How To Lose blah blah blah is a reminder of how terrible things were, with Mud a shining example of what became.