Tom Cruise reassures Renee Zellweger that rom-coms aren't dangerous to your relationship health.
This just in from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh: Romantic comedies give viewers unrealistic expectations about relationships. OMG! Does this mean there's no such thing as love at first sight? That Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise, pictured, with Renee Zellweger) was faking it when he said, "You complete me."? Next thing you know, some academic is going to tell us that superheroes give moviegoers unrealistic expectations about what the human body is capable of.
Forget the academics: For us, "Jerry Maguire" is a reliable spirit-lifter. Likewise "Hitch" with Will Smith and Eva Mendes. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" with Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell. "Music and Lyrics" with Grant and Drew Barrymore. "High Fidelity" with John Cusack and Iben Hjelje. "Say Anything" with John Cusack. "SOmething New" with Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker. "Tin Cup" with Kevin Costner and Rene Russo. "Bull Durham" with Costner and Susan Sarandon. And pretty much anything with Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck or Audrey Hepburn, but most especially "Bringing Up Baby," "The Lady Eve," and "Funny Face." Tell us which rom-coms work for you.
Well, that could explain why I'm still single. ;)— Ellen Dunkel- Think of it this way: We watch rom-coms to make ourselves happy. When we are happy we are more attractive to others. And when we are more attractive to others...you see where this is going. But what movies make you happy>— carrierickey
- "Love and Death" has been on one of our cable channels a lot recently. I enjoy this brilliant and absurd satire that is Woody Allen's. That death steals hims away from consummating his love for Diane Keaton in the end makes me squirm, however. And so do a lot of rom-coms such as "Sleepless in Seattle." Is it because guys aren't supposed to show their deep-seated need to have romance lead to a satisfying relationship in their lives? Hmmm.— californiafan
- "Bell, Book & Candle." When I met my then-future wife, I told her that I could not imagine being married, stealing a line that Jimmy Stewart says to Kim Novak in the film: "It would be like someone always reading over your shoulder." I eventually talked her into looking at the film. Big mistake. She realized my theft - and continues to remind me of it to this day. BTW, we watch "Bell, Book & Candle" every holiday season. It's on our schedule for tomorrow, in fact. It's the best.— Pash
- Pash: I, too, love "Bell, Book and Candle" -- possibly the only Christmas movie that a Wiccan or Warlock can love. And, CalFan: Men like their romance laced with sports -- hence "Jerry Maguire," "Tin Cup," and "Bull Durham." Combining sports with love balanced the masculine and feminine principles; likewise "High Fidelity," a rom-com written by a man, mixes professional love (rock'n'roll) with personal love. If these movies offer any lesson it's that men feel completed when love and work are in balance and women feel completed by a complementary partner.— carrierickey
- Carrie: Sports and finding love, especially in film, equates to the indoctrination I received thru stereotypical movies I saw as a kid that showed men must do battle to conquer women? Perhaps. But who really conquers whom these days, especially in film?— californiafan
- I first I thought "Heriot Watt" was the name of one person. Then I pictured this individual, Harriet Watt, as something like Maureen O'Hara in "Miracle on 34th Street" denying the existence of Santa Claus. I'm not fond of the term "rom-com," which reminds me of "women's lib" as an example of belittlement via patronizing abbreviation. I'm also, speaking as a biological male, not fond of the notion that such films are strictly "girls' stuff." They're for whoever recognizes the turmoils of romantic confusion, regardless of gender. But enough of that. I'll say that I love "The Awful Truth" (despite, or perhaps because of, Irene Dunne) and "Holiday" and most of the subset labelled "screwball." Also films that are only peripherally romantic comedies -- "Love Affair" (McCarey version), f'rinstance, and Alan Rudolph's "Choose Me." I mention that last one because the "Jerry Maguire" line you quote reminds me of a line given to Keith Carradine in that film: "You have perfection about you; your eyes hold music; your heart is the best part of your body; and when you walk, every man, woman, and child is forced to watch." After a line like that, is it any wonder that Rudolph's film ends in romantic bliss?— chris schneider
- Well, my favorite romantic comedy, "The Awful Truth," has already been spoken for. So I'll make note of the scenes between John Cusack and Minnie Driver in "Grosse Pointe Blank," which have the same affection, warmth, amd mutual respect that's found in the classic comedies of the Golden Age. You could argue that the Cusack/Driver scenes aren't the central focus of the movie, but having seen it many times I find those scenes, and that relationship, are what sticks with me the most. A story of a guy who succumbs to youthful nihilism, and then eventually returns home to re-connect to his own humanity, and by doing so re-connects with his childhood sweetheart is, in its own way unusual way, a romantic comedy, I'd argue.— wwolfe
- For me, John Cusack is to the modern rom-com (The Sure Thing, Say Anything, High Fidelity) what Cary Grant was to the classic. Both these guys really convey the sense of loving their female co-stars. Never thought of Grosse Pointe Blank as a romance, but will take another look at it with that in mind, Wwolfe.— carrierickey
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