Are typical ROM COMS kind of dead?

[The Futurist]

22 Jump Street used all of the classic rom com tropes to a t.

Silver Linings Playbook was heavy on rom com tropes even with a twist.

But it s true that the "classic" rom com has been dying lately.

[forg]

And I think in Thailand too. A lot of local romcom movies were very successful there. Bangkok Traffic Love Story, Hello Stranger, ATM: Er Rak Error, all of them were in the yearly top 5, even top 3 in their respective years according to BOM. Those movies were released here too, and I really enjoyed them.

 

 

Same thing in India as well, most of the top movies are either action or Rom-com. I think the reason rom-coms are big in Asian countries is that you don't need a big budget to make them (no VFX needed unlike Superhero movies), and a locally made rom-com can be adjusted to the traditions and values of that specific country. This is something Hollywood movies can't do, localize the plot etc. This reduces the global market for a Hollywood rom-com, which means that a movie needs to make almost all its money domestically.

 

 

Maybe Asians are just hopeless romantics

[grim22]

Aloha looks like it could be a decent mid-sized romcom hit

 

[The Futurist]

Aloha looks like it could be a decent mid-sized romcom hit

 

 

To me, the "real" romantic comedies are the one where the lead is female and the story is viewed through the female perspective.

Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigl, Meg Ryan, Rachel McAdams all had one of those.

 

Aloha is definitely about men's midlife crisis.

Edited February 12, 2015 by The Futurist

[Intensive]

I think ensemble romcoms are taking it's place, rather than the predictable one couple movies.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Intensive

[grim22]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/man-up-lake-bell-film-790164

 

Tribeca 2015: How the Lake Bell-Starrer 'Man Up' Hopes to Rehabilitate the Rom-Com Genre

"How do you meet someone in the modern world? You steal someone else's date from under a clock," Tess Morris told The Hollywood Reporter at the Tribeca Film Festival world premiere of Man Up, for which she wrote the screenplay.

That scenario, which nearly played out in Morris' real life — "I was actually under the clock at Waterloo, and someone did think I was their blind date," she said — is the basis of the film. Except while Morris politely told the man he had the wrong person, in the movie version Nancy (Lake Bell) refuses to correct the misunderstanding and proceeds to go on a date with Jack (Simon Pegg) under an assumed identity.
 

From the beginning, the cast and crew set out to rehabilitate the rom-com. "There's a lot of misconceptions about romantic comedies. … They have a little bit of a bad reputation," Palmer told the audience during the post-screening Q&A. "When I approached it, it was trying to resist anything too sentimental and twee and anything that felt you were leading the audience by the nose. … [but] there are very obvious romantic comedies tropes, milestones that need to land. A big part of it is navigating your way from one to the other without feeling like you are patronizing the audience."

Producer Rachael Prior agreed, telling THR on the red carpet, "It's a modern mediation on what it's like to be single in your mid-30s and hopefully quite a departure from the usual format of a rom-com."

 

[Joel M]

I think it's only dead if you just take the narrow definition of rom com namely the blueprint that When Harry met Sally created which dominated until the mid 00s. I guess when we think about rom coms we still picture Ryan, Roberts, Bullock, Whitherspoon etc vehicles of the 90s and 00s because the were so big, but there are still rom coms getting made, even if they 're a little different from the When Harry met Sally formula just like they were before 1989. Certainly Silver Linings is a rom com and I guess Aloha will also be, even if they have a male lead. Indie stuff like 500 days of Summer and Two Night Stand are rom coms and I would also argue a big franchise like 50 shades of grey is pretty close to the genre. I know it's typically "romantic drama" but is more angsty and playfull than dramatic, it has a lot more in common with Pretty Woman than it has with Notebook or other romantic dramas.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Joel M

[Avatree]

To me, the "real" romantic comedies are the one where the lead is female and the story is viewed through the female perspective.

Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigl, Meg Ryan, Rachel McAdams all had one of those.

 

Aloha is definitely about men's midlife crisis.

What about Notting Hill? My fav romcom of all time and story is told from the perspective of a male. There's no way you can claim it is not a real romantic comedy.

[The Futurist]

What about Notting Hill? My fav romcom of all time and story is told from the perspective of a male. There's no way you can claim it is not a real romantic comedy.

Right.

But the star was Julia.

[grim22]

What about Notting Hill? My fav romcom of all time and story is told from the perspective of a male. There's no way you can claim it is not a real romantic comedy.

 

Notting Hill seriously has one of the best romcom endings ever. It almost plays like a parody of romcom endings while still remaining sincere

 

[Joel M]

Right.

But the star was Julia.

 

Hugh Grant was also a popular guy in rom coms back then but yes Julia was huge. She was barely co-lead (half the movie is Grant with his friends, and Julia doesn't even have a a solo scene without Grant) nad yet the poster was basically her face

[boxofficeth]

Having seen Aloha's trailer, I seriously look forward to seeing it and have some high hope for it. Sure, it's not pure rom com as it reminds me of Jerry McGuire, which is also from the same director.

 

I'm a big fan of rom coms and I'm surprised that since Blended which did poorly at the BO, there are no rom coms until How to Be Single next February. I think lately bad writing really put the genre into temporary sleep. 2009 was the last good year for rom coms. The Proposal and It's Complicated broke 100M; He's Just Not That Into You and The Ugly Truth would break 100M in today's dollar. Then came Valentine's Day and its sequel and Adam Sandler's takes on rom coms of late, all of which make SLP look like an instant classic and people started to lose faith in rom coms, so they stay away from theaters. 

 

I think Romantic Drama have made a comeback since Dear John. Now it's the golden time for the genre.

 

Surely, if there are good stories with fine actors in the lead, the genre will come back strongly. Love is the force of nature. There are always audience for it.

Edited April 21, 2015 by boxofficeth

[Avatree]

Right.

But the star was Julia.

You said that the lead had to be female and story had to be seen through her eyes.

 

Regardless of who was a bigger star (I would say Hugh Grant was a bigger star but no matter), the lead IS Grant and the story IS seen through his eyes.

 

 

Also what about romcoms where the two people in love are men? Are those not real romcoms? No offense but you sound like a prick saying that

[boxofficeth]

And I think in Thailand too. A lot of local romcom movies were very successful there. Bangkok Traffic Love Story, Hello Stranger, ATM: Er Rak Error, all of them were in the yearly top 5, even top 3 in their respective years according to BOM. Those movies were released here too, and I really enjoyed them.

 

Thais love local rom coms. If it's a good film and WoM is great, we will come to see it in big screen in huge numbers. The latest breakout rom com is I Fine Thank You Love You which made USD 10M earlier this year. That is a blast, considering blockbusters like Transformers 3 and Avatar only gross around USD 8-9M.

Edited April 21, 2015 by boxofficeth

[catlover]

Thais love local rom coms. If it's a good film and WoM is great, we will come to see it in big screen in huge numbers. The latest breakout rom com is I Fine Thank You Love You which made USD 10M earlier this year. That is a blast, considering blockbusters like Transformers 3 and Avatar only gross around USD 8-9M.

 

I saw that one too. Hilarious, and sweet at the same time.

[pretty reckless]

almost 4 years ago and yeah romcoms are not in anymore

[Joel M]

You said that the lead had to be female and story had to be seen through her eyes.

 

Regardless of who was a bigger star (I would say Hugh Grant was a bigger star but no matter), the lead IS Grant and the story IS seen through his eyes.

 

He was def the lead but bigger star? Than Roberts? In 99? Roberts-Cruise-Hanks were the holy trinity of superstardom in late 90s-early 00s.

[a2k]

Assuming a 247m ow, SW needs a multiplier of 3.1 to overtake Avatar. In Dec, even with its mega huge ow, tough to imagine it falling below that.

EDIT: wrong thread

Edited December 21, 2015 by a2knet

[Blankments]

After watching Bridget Jones's Diary last night, I'm all for the return of the romcom. All the ones I've seen, no matter how generic, charm the pants off me.

[TalismanRing]

Just now, Blankments said:

After watching Bridget Jones's Diary last night, I'm all for the return of the romcom. All the ones I've seen, no matter how generic, charm the pants off me.

 

The death of the studio rom com pisses me off.   There was no reason for it to happen. They got subsumed by raunchy "girls" movies and man-child comedies masquerading as romance when there's nothing romantic about them.  They now mostly exist in Indies and on Netflix.