The trouble with romantic comedies

Post Reply New Topic

This is a link to an empire magazine article - The Trouble with Rom Coms. Though a few here might appreciate it:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/tr ... efault.asp

I always find the men in these movies so unoriginal. It's usually some clean cut, Ken doll type with no unique style or personality.

Kinda has to be (though I think Knocked up was supposed to make fun of that). They're all, "Boy, girl, boy meets girl, boy and girl get together, boy loses girl, girl is upset with boy (god knows why), boy and girl get over it, boy gets with girl again, THE END." And yes, the main characters are, "Barbie's World" types . . . if ever there is one that is more realistic (say a guy with weight issues), might be a good change . . .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dGcYH6Fwj8[/youtube]

All romcoms are exact same plot with different (but similar) characters, they're pretty much the same film with a few small details tweaked. I've never seen the appeal in them. They're so boring, generic, unrealistic, and more often than not, plain cheesy.

For a very different romantic comedy (well, it's a bit dark) try Germany's "Zuckerbaby" (I might have spelled it wrong).

The female lead was slightly older (late twenties to thirties), plus sized, had a small place and a very unglamorous job. She also seduced the leading man away from his skinny, attractive wife.

It wasn't the most fun movie - but a refreshing change none-the-less.

Note, there was an American made-for-tv movie called "Sugarbaby" starring Rikki Lake which was loosely based on this. This one featured a younger, more perky looking plus sized femme who gets the guy in the end.

I enjoy rom-coms because they are silly escapist fun for the most part. So I also enjoy the candy-coated silly stuff like "Man of Honor" and "26 Dresses".

However, some more deep rom-coms include the almost perfect "When Harry Met Sally". This is a hoot. Yes, Meg Ryan is pretty - but she is an accessible pretty and not perfectly dressed. I love the restaurant scene. I don't know how to transfer youtube videos to WP - someone please post it here in a reply.

Another interesting rom-com was "Shallow Hal" People actually looked normal (except for Shallow Hals skewed vision of Gwyneth Paltrow) and even had disabilities.

One that was kind of simple and less flashy was "Last Chance Harvey" These people also had relatively normal jobs, didn't have unlimited incomes, were older and just normal people. It was sweet.

i heard 500 days of summer is different.