Without reading the article, I'd guess that the reason romantic comedies are failing is that most of the recent crop have been neither romantic nor comedic. (Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl--I'm looking at you!)
Anne Thompson's analysis is decent, but I can do this more quickly: Because they suck! No genre has a worse reputation among savvy filmgoers and creators of opinion. Contemporary romantic comedies are vapid, predictable (yet unbelievable) stories about the dating difficulties of genetic demigods. Who could care?
Another problem is that some of the actors are getting a little long in the tooth to play characters who are unattached and looking. Jennifer Aniston is about to turn 42, and will have to be written as a predatory cougar soon. Julia Roberts is 43. The cast of "Sex and the City" is about to morph into the cast of "The Golden Girls." The star threesome in "How Do You Know," all playing unmarried and childless roles, are 34 (Witherspoon), 41 (Rudd), and 42 (Wilson). I know that 40 is supposed to be the new 30 and all, but the willing suspension of disbelief thing isn't working for me in these scenarios.
Patrick, I almost included a comment about the ages of the actors in my post, and I couldn't agree more with what you wrote. I'm a "woman of a certain age," but if I want to watch a rom-com (which is rare), I don't want to see people of approximately my age still worrying about romantic conundrums they should have resolved two decades ago!
Well, the comments are a perfect example of what's wrong with our society, not just the movies. Deb, too many people are refusing to grow up and be adults.
The problem's flip side, however, is that I am not interested in seeing the "problems" of a group of twentysomethings.
Not funny, not romantic, and amazingly stupid which is along way of saying-----they suck. When the guy was portrayed as an idiot taht was okay. But, now that both the female and male leads are frequently portrayed as bumbling fools, the audiences went away.
The fact that smart capable female action movies did well might mean that audiences have had enough with the idiot in all things mentality that drives Hollywood.
Dare we dream of a day when the smart and capable father is back in vogue in TV shows and commercials?
5 comments:
Without reading the article, I'd guess that the reason romantic comedies are failing is that most of the recent crop have been neither romantic nor comedic. (Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl--I'm looking at you!)
Anne Thompson's analysis is decent, but I can do this more quickly: Because they suck! No genre has a worse reputation among savvy filmgoers and creators of opinion. Contemporary romantic comedies are vapid, predictable (yet unbelievable) stories about the dating difficulties of genetic demigods. Who could care?
Another problem is that some of the actors are getting a little long in the tooth to play characters who are unattached and looking. Jennifer Aniston is about to turn 42, and will have to be written as a predatory cougar soon. Julia Roberts is 43. The cast of "Sex and the City" is about to morph into the cast of "The Golden Girls." The star threesome in "How Do You Know," all playing unmarried and childless roles, are 34 (Witherspoon), 41 (Rudd), and 42 (Wilson). I know that 40 is supposed to be the new 30 and all, but the willing suspension of disbelief thing isn't working for me in these scenarios.
Patrick, I almost included a comment about the ages of the actors in my post, and I couldn't agree more with what you wrote. I'm a "woman of a certain age," but if I want to watch a rom-com (which is rare), I don't want to see people of approximately my age still worrying about romantic conundrums they should have resolved two decades ago!
Well, the comments are a perfect example of what's wrong with our society, not just the movies. Deb, too many people are refusing to grow up and be adults.
The problem's flip side, however, is that I am not interested in seeing the "problems" of a group of twentysomethings.
But maybe that's just me.
*heads for the geezer bus*
Jeff
Not funny, not romantic, and amazingly stupid which is along way of saying-----they suck. When the guy was portrayed as an idiot taht was okay. But, now that both the female and male leads are frequently portrayed as bumbling fools, the audiences went away.
The fact that smart capable female action movies did well might mean that audiences have had enough with the idiot in all things mentality that drives Hollywood.
Dare we dream of a day when the smart and capable father is back in vogue in TV shows and commercials?
Kevin
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