The romantic comedy is one of the most cliched and formulaic of all film genres. Even the ones that seem to stretch the possibilities end up relying on the formulas once it comes time for the story to gain focus and momentum for the climax. The Ugly Truth is one of those movies that falls squarely within the fantasy world of the romantic comedy, but it pretends to be more.
It pretends to pull the sheet back to reveal the "truth" at the core of the male/female dynamic, simplifying it to the basest cliched elements and then presenting that as some sort of reality, when in fact all they are doing is trying to lure in the male demographic before switching back to fantasy land in the latter half. A similar thing can be said for the score, it is filled with a few interesting bits, but they all get cut off at the knees leaving behind the standard rom-com musical fare to dominate.
The scoring duties were handled by Aaron Zigman, who also composed for the Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy The Proposal. I cannot say I recognize the name, but looking over his list of credits, it appears he has been awfully prolific since he first appeared on the scene back in 2002. You would think I would have noticed him over that span, especially when you consider he has 37 credits.
I look a little closer and realize that none of the movies seem to have memorable music. Whether that is due to the composer or the needs of the film, I am not going to speculate. He has some very good films in there, such as Bridge to Terabithia and The Notebook. Wait, wait a minute, I think I see one! Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a decent movie and possesses a delightful score, which I own. I completely forgot he was the man with the pen for that.
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