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| Have romantic comedies fallen on hard times? Tell us your best and worst | Have romantic comedies fallen on hard times? Tell us your best and worst |
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| According to Christopher Orr's latest piece in the Atlantic, the romantic comedy has fallen on tough times. The plot lines are bad, the profits are down and we didn't even have a new release in the lead up to Valentine's Day. He quotes legendary rom-com producer Lynda Obst as saying: "It is the hardest time of my 30 years in the business." | According to Christopher Orr's latest piece in the Atlantic, the romantic comedy has fallen on tough times. The plot lines are bad, the profits are down and we didn't even have a new release in the lead up to Valentine's Day. He quotes legendary rom-com producer Lynda Obst as saying: "It is the hardest time of my 30 years in the business." |
| Orr goes on to cite bad actors (or the wrong actors) as part of the problem – too much Katherine Heigl and not enough George Clooney – according to him, but ultimately Orr places the blame on a much more existential issue: that the "obstacles to nuptial bliss" – the conflict that the lovers at the center of any rom-com must overcome to be together – are harder and harder to come by. | Orr goes on to cite bad actors (or the wrong actors) as part of the problem – too much Katherine Heigl and not enough George Clooney – according to him, but ultimately Orr places the blame on a much more existential issue: that the "obstacles to nuptial bliss" – the conflict that the lovers at the center of any rom-com must overcome to be together – are harder and harder to come by. |
| Race, class, faith, distance, parental disapproval – the conflicts of some of the greatest romantic comedies of all time – are just not believable anymore. "Society has spent decades busily uprooting any impediment to the marriage of true minds," he writes, and Hollywood has come around to believing that love can transcend pretty much anything. The result? Romantic comedy plot lines come off as cheesy, unrealistic or inane. | Race, class, faith, distance, parental disapproval – the conflicts of some of the greatest romantic comedies of all time – are just not believable anymore. "Society has spent decades busily uprooting any impediment to the marriage of true minds," he writes, and Hollywood has come around to believing that love can transcend pretty much anything. The result? Romantic comedy plot lines come off as cheesy, unrealistic or inane. |
| She's a hooker. He's a stalker. She's in a coma. He's telepathic. She's a mermaid. He's a zombie. She's pregnant. He's the president. And if worst comes to worst – as it does, all too often – there's the ever-accommodating fallback that one partner is uptight and the other is a free spirit (if a woman) or a slob (if a man), requiring the two to work in tandem to respectively unwind and domesticate. | She's a hooker. He's a stalker. She's in a coma. He's telepathic. She's a mermaid. He's a zombie. She's pregnant. He's the president. And if worst comes to worst – as it does, all too often – there's the ever-accommodating fallback that one partner is uptight and the other is a free spirit (if a woman) or a slob (if a man), requiring the two to work in tandem to respectively unwind and domesticate. |
| Orr may be right that it's been a while since we've seen an Annie Hall or a Sleepless in Seattle, but Jennifer Lawrence did just win an Academy award for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook and Judd Apatow's films continue to generate lots of buzz. | Orr may be right that it's been a while since we've seen an Annie Hall or a Sleepless in Seattle, but Jennifer Lawrence did just win an Academy award for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook and Judd Apatow's films continue to generate lots of buzz. |
| Do you agree with Christopher Orr that romantic comedies are pretty much dead? Have you stopped watching them because they've gotten so bad? What's your favorite all-time romantic comedy? What's the worst you've ever seen? Tell us below and we'll publish your responses |