Gentlemen: Do you like Rom-Coms?

Cafe Society
1

I admit it: I like romantic comedies. Some more than others, and some I don’t care for at all.

We guys are supposed to like action pictures: Stallone pounding the crap out of somebody, Schwartzeneggar pounding the crap out of somebody, some car beating the crap out of somebody, some superhero beating the crap out of a supervillain and destroying a city in the process, and so on and so on. Admit it. But we secretly also like normal stories about normal people who fall in love.

My favourites:

13 Going On 30: A reverse “Big,” where Jennifer Garner finds herself 30 years old, just after celebrating her 13th birthday. And she’s an editor at her favourite fashion magazine. And she tries to reconnect with her male friend from back in the day. And that situation is handled much more adroitly than “Big.”

Music and Lyrics: Yeah, Hugh Grant, Mr. Romcom Man himself. But he makes this work. He plays against Drew Barrymore expertly, and she follows his lead. The chemistry is seamless, and the viewer becomes engaged. Get the tissues ready (yeah, even you big guys) for Hugh Grant doing “Don’t Write Me Off Just Yet.”

Gentlemen of the Dope, how about you? Any rom-com faves?

2

If 13 Going On 30 is a rom-com, is Big a rom-com?

3

Yes, I like good romantic comedies.

4

I love Romantic Comedies;
High Fidelity, Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amélie Poulain, Shrek, Harold and Maude, Princess Bride, Groundhog Day, Chasing Amy…the list goes on.

5

I think that, as in real-life, if the comedy works, the romance will too. The exception is anything with Andie MacDowell; I find Groundhog Day and FW&aF very funny, but can’t buy into the romance fully.

6

I’ll admit that if all I know about a movie is that it’s supposed to be a rom-com, that’ll prejudice me against it. And to be clear, I won’t be assuming it deserves to be labeled “bad” but, rather, “not my thing” (although I might think “bad” could apply if I were to watch it).

But then again on the other hand, if the wife wants to watch a rom-com, I’ll put on a good attitude, watch it with her, do my sincere best to find some aspect of it to like, and probably find some such aspect. That doesn’t happen often (that she wants to watch a rom-com), but during holiday season last year, she suddenly had a hankerin’ to see Home for the Holidays, and I didn’t not like it.

7

There’s a rom-com plot that goes like this: woman who lives in the big city has a successful career but no man. She returns to the town where she grew up, where the culture of small-town life delights her. She encounters a man there who wants her, and she is plunged into a whirlwind romance. Love!

Contrast that to the plot of most gothic horror: woman who lives in the big city returns to the small town where she grew up,. where the local culture creeps her out. She encounters some eldritch monstrosity who wants her, and she is plunged into a battle for her soul. Terror!

I am convinced that the Hallmark Channel is run by a consortium of gothic monsters, trying to lure women to small-town dooms.

Rom-coms with that plot definitely don’t do it for me (although gothic horrors with that same plot do). But rom-coms that branch out can be lovely.

8

I’m a big RomCom fan. Probably my go-to genre on Netflix if I’m just browsing.

9

I like a rom-com that has a literal magical element: Just Like Heaven, The Lake House, Enchanted, About Time, Palm Springs. But I also enjoy the widely popular ones like Notting Hill, You’ve Got Mail, and lesser spoken of ones like Ever After and Down With Love.

10

Rom-Coms and Chick-Flicks are two genres I cannot stand.

11

As I posted recently, a well done Rom-Com is IMO about as good a way to while away a couple of hours as there is.

12

I like comedies. They have been on the wane for a long long time, but romcoms are in there. I am not without quality filters, but romcoms are sure in there, and I will watch them. Some fail seriously on the actual comedies though. Some can even be quite serious and still be a romcom. Thus Love Actually is not on the rewatch list.

It was said here that romcoms and chickflicks are the same thing. They absolutely aren’t. There is overlap, but Dirty Dancing is definitely the latter but not the former. Also things like An Officer and a Gentlemen, and other such movies. I’ve watched many. but still won’t watch the likes of Mamma Mia, just doesn’t appeal, and I think the comedy there is based on Abba and Absurdity and not my thing.

Though one of the original weird cult ones I like is only a little comedy. Prelude to a kiss is a very underrated tale in the genre, I won’t give away too much but the bodyswap is in there too. Alec Baldwin (watch out, he’s got a gun) and Meg Ryan, what more do you want.

Another interesting one which is of that genre, and does break my normal rules (no singing, no hugh grant, no written by Richard Curtis (*)) is About Time, which is written by Richard Curtis, involves someone who can go back in time to their past, and change things. But that is because while entertaining and not too cliche-ridden, it has an incredibly dark moment (involving birth of a baby) but it being RC it is just shrugged off.

Of recent times, The Big Sick was good, as was Happiest Season, but not much else grabbed me.

* Richard Curtis, (good god he wrote Mamma Mia 2, just found that out) is an AI Cliche generator invented 40 years ago. He chronicles the life of multi millionaires living in mansions in London, saying Fuck a lot.

13

Like with every such medium - is it well written and well acted? In this case is the romance credible, and the comedy funny? Sign me up.

14

No on the action type movies as mentioned in OP. No on the Hallmark type movies. Yes, on comedies unless they are stupid or raunchy.
Rom-coms fall in the “yes” category.

15

I don’t go out of my way to seek out rom-coms, but I can think of a few I’ve liked a lot

My Man Godfrey: I’ve always liked William Powell; and Carole Lombard is radiant. Has the best closing line in movie history.

Joe vs. the Volcano: Set in a quirky version of the real world; somehow, the only two normal people find each other. If Abe Vigoda as a tribal chieftain on a South Pacific island isn’t funny, what is?

L.A. Story: Written by Steve Martin, and starring Martin with his real-life wife Victoria Tennant. Martin plays a goofy TV weatherman who’s smitten with visiting English journalist. He tries to win her over with help from an unlikely source.

16

Is the idea that rom-coms are necessarily “chick flicks” and men aren’t supposed to like them a relatively recent idea? “Boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl” is such an oft-cited trope, that essentially describes the plot outline of a romantic comedy from a male point of view. It makes me think that guys are, or at least were, expected to appreciate such a storyline.

Anyway: yeah, I like a good rom-com (both literary (e.g. Jane Austen, P. G. Wodehouse) and cinematic (many I’ve enjoyed, but none that parrticularly stand out to me right now)).

17

It’s not my favorite genre, but on occasion, I enjoy them. I like a lot of Meg Ryan movies (especially Joe vs the Volcano!). Andie MacDowell gets a lot of hatred on this board, but I like her. Forget Paris, with Debra Winger and Billy Crystal, was good.

Looking over Wikipedia’s List of romantic comedy films, I find that I have seen a lot more than I thought, and I enjoyed most of them.

18

As I really like Screwball Comedies and most are also Rom-Coms. I guess the answer is sometimes. Bringing Up Baby, What’s Up Doc & Philadelphia Story especially.

Also Sabrina & Roman Holiday are two of my favorite movies. Groundhog day & Princess Bride also count though not their primary genre.

But most Rom-Coms, especially the thousands of Hallmark Christmas ones, are to my eyes, terrible.

19

I prefer they lean heavily to the “com” side, but sure, I’ll give any movie a chance.

Roxanne is an excellent modern take on the Cyrano de Bergerac story.

Her Alibi is a good old-fashioned “heavy rotation on cable TV” movie that I almost know by heart just from watching it so many times because it was always on.

I enjoyed Chasing Amy, despite the extended Joey Lauren Adams singing scene :grin:. She was fully committed to the role, at least.

20

I have an unabashed love of Rom Coms. At least the ones that try to be a little realistic about the romance and have leads that display enough chemistry to sell the premise.

I’ve always felt that the Rom Com is to women what the Action Picture is to men (in very general terms of course). Both depend on well-trodden frameworks (couple become romantically entangles, hijinks ensue and love blossom, followed by obstacles and inevitable reunion versus hero suffers loss (often involving fridging of the SO), hero must avenge/revenge/save/prevent something, leading to face off with the big bad and overcoming the same). There is a spread in quality of each of these genres, but the audience puts up with mediocrity if the beats are there and the emotional payoff still occurs.

When Rom Coms are done really, really well, they can be memorable and worthy of note. The same is true of Action Pictures. In fact, in the hands of great directors and stellar casts, both genres can produce great movies. But they can also serve as the “comfort food” of film as well.