Romantic comedy: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[As Good as It Gets]]'' ([[1997 in film|1997]]) |
* ''[[As Good as It Gets]]'' ([[1997 in film|1997]]) |
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* ''[[Picture Perfect (1997 film)|Picture Perfect]]'' ([[1997 in film|1997]]) |
* ''[[Picture Perfect (1997 film)|Picture Perfect]]'' ([[1997 in film|1997]]) |
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* ''[[Fools Rush In (film)|Fools Rush In]]'' ([[1997 in film|1997]]) |
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* ''[[Overnight Delivery]]'' ([[1998 in film|1998]]) |
* ''[[Overnight Delivery]]'' ([[1998 in film|1998]]) |
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* ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'' ([[1998 in film|1998]]) |
* ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'' ([[1998 in film|1998]]) |
Revision as of 06:42, 29 November 2009
Romantic comedy films are movies with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as a true love able to surmount most obstacles. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films and often have elements of screwball comedies and stoner comedies.
Description
The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two protagonists, usually a man and a woman, meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reunite. Sometimes the two protagonists meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes the two protagonists are hesitant to become romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together.
While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Then, after one of the two makes some spectacular effort to find the other person and declare their love, (this is sometimes called the grand gesture), or due to an astonishing coincidental encounter, the two meet again. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other and the film ends happily. The couple does not, however, have to marry, or live together "happily ever after". The ending of a romantic comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists' lives, even if they physically separate in the end (e.g. Shakespeare in Love, Roman Holiday)[1].
There are many variations on this basic plotline. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other's arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (e.g., My Best Friend's Wedding and My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, as in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall. The basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Some comedy films, such as Knocked Up, combine themes of romantic comedies and stoner comedies, creating a subgenre that appeals to both men and women. These type of films usually uses sexual content and this brings the two characters together. Films in this genre include "American Pie" or even "Wedding Crashers".
History
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2007) |
Comedies since ancient Greece have often incorporated sexual or social elements.
It was not until the creation of romantic love in the western European medieval period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather than the heroic adventures of medieval Romance. These adventures, however, often revolved about a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as in Chrétien de Troyes's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart.[2]
Shakespearean comedy and Restoration comedy remain influential. The creation of huge economic social strata in the Gilded Age[citation needed], combined with the heightened openness about sex after the Victorian era[citation needed] and the celebration of Sigmund Freud's theories, and the birth of the film industry in the early twentieth century, gave birth to the screwball comedy.[citation needed] As class consciousness declined and World War II unified various social orders, the savage screwball comedies of the twenties and thirties, proceeding through Rock Hudson–Doris Day-style comedies, gave way to more innocuous comedies.[citation needed]
The French film industry went in a completely different direction,[citation needed] with less inhibitions about sex.[citation needed] Virginia Woolf, tired of stories that ended in 'happily ever after' at the beginning of a serious relationship, called Middlemarch by George Eliot, with its portrayal of a difficult marriage, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."
In TV
Romantic comedy series are now more usual, with networks ABC and Lifetime making them mostly.
List of romantic comedy TV shows
- Ally McBeal (1997-2002) (FOX)
- Friends (1994-2004) (NBC)
- Sex & The City (1998-2004) (HBO)
- Will & Grace (1998-2006) (NBC)
- Emily's Reasons Why Not (2006) (ABC)
- Pepper Dennis (2006) (The WB)
- Hot Properties (2006) (ABC)
- The King of Queens (1998-2007) (CBS)
- Men In Trees (2006-2008) (ABC)
- Cashmere Mafia (2008) (ABC)
- After You've Gone (2007-2008) (BBC)
- Lipstick Jungle (2008-2009) (NBC)
- Lost In Austen (2008) (ITV)
- Desperate Housewives (2004-) (ABC)
- Grey's Anatomy (2005-) (ABC)
- Army Wives (2006-) (Lifetime)
- Not Going Out (2006-2009) (BBC)
- Ugly Betty (2006-) (ABC)
- Gavin & Stacey (2007-2009) (BBC)
- Samantha Who? (2007-2009) (ABC)
- Mistresses (2008-) (BBC)
- The Ex-List (2008-2009) (CBS)
- The Starter Wife (TV Miniseries,2007) (TV Series 2008-2009) (USA Network)
- How I Met Your Mother (2005-) (CBS)
- Accidentally On Purpose (2009-) (CBS)
- Cougar Town (2009-) (ABC)
- 100 Questions (2010-) (NBC)
- Drop Dead Diva (2009-) (Lifetime)
In film
Examples of romantic comedy films include:
Early romantic comedies
- Girl Shy (1924)
- City Lights (1931)
- Trouble in Paradise (1932)
- No Man of Her Own (1932)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- Modern Times (1936))
- My Man Godfrey (1936)
- The Awful Truth (1937)
- Bringing Up Baby (1938)
- Holiday (1938)
- Ninotchka (1939)
- His Girl Friday (1940)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
- Ball of Fire (1941)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) (filmed in 1941 but held up until the Broadway play finished its run)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Woman of the Year (1942)
- Adam's Rib (1949)
- Born Yesterday (1950)
- Pat and Mike (1952)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
- Sabrina (1954)
- The Seven Year Itch (1955)
- Love in the Afternoon (1957)
- Houseboat (1958)
- The Apartment (1960)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
- That Touch of Mink (1962)
- Irma La Douce (1963)
Later romantic comedies
- Carry On Loving (1970)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- Romancing the Stone (1984)
- Pretty in Pink (1986)
- Moonstruck (1987)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Overboard (1987)
- Working Girl (1988)
- When Harry Met Sally (1989)
- Pretty Woman (1990)
- The Cutting Edge (1992)
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
- French Kiss (1995)
- While You Were Sleeping (1995)
- Sabrina (1995)
- Beautiful Girls (1996)
- The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)
- One Fine Day (1996)
- As Good as It Gets (1997)
- Picture Perfect (1997)
- Fools Rush In (1997)
- Overnight Delivery (1998)
- The Wedding Singer (1998)
- You've Got Mail (1998)
- Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
- 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
- Au Pair (1999)
- Never Been Kissed (1999)
- Notting Hill (1999)
- She's All That (1999)
- Miss Congeniality (2000)
- Return to Me (2000)
- What Women Want (2000)
- American Pie 2 (2001)
- Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
- Kate & Leopold (2001)
- Legally Blonde (2001)
- Serendipity (2001)
- The Wedding Planner (2001)
- Maid in Manhattan (2002)
- National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002)
- Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
- Two Weeks Notice (2002)
- Serving Sara (2002)
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
- Love Actually (2003)
- Something's Gotta Give (2003)
- The Fighting Temptations (2003)
- The Sweetest Thing (2003)
- What a Girl Wants (2003)
- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
- 13 Going on 30 (2004)
- 50 First Dates (2004)
- A Cinderella Story (2004)
- Bride and Prejudice (2004)
- Chasing Liberty (2004)
- The Prince and Me (2004)
- Wimbledon (2004)
- Fever Pitch (2005)
- Hitch (2005)
- Just Friends (2005)
- Just Like Heaven (2005)
- Little Manhattan (2005)
- Monster-in-Law (2005)
- Must Love Dogs (2005)
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
- Pride and Prejudice (2005)
- The Wedding Date (2005)
- Wedding Crashers (2005)
- It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006)
- Failure to Launch (2006)
- My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
- The Holiday (2006)
- She's The Man (2006)
- I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
- Knocked Up (2007)
- Music and Lyrics (2007)
- Good Luck Chuck (2007)
- Sex and the City (2008)
- 27 Dresses (2008)
- Mamma Mia! (2008)
- Another Cinderella Story (2008)
- My Sassy Girl (2008)
- Definitely, Maybe (2008)
- Fool's Gold (2008)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
- Made of Honor (2008)
- What Happens in Vegas (2008)
- Picture This (2008)
- How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (2008)
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
- My Best Friend's Girl (2008)
- Yes Man (2008)
- Over Her Dead Body (2008)
- Bride Wars (2009)
- He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
- Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
- Duplicity (2009)
- I Love You, Man (2009)
- 17 Again (2009)
- The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
- My Life in Ruins (2009)
- The Proposal (2009)
- The Ugly Truth (2009)
- Valentine's Day (2010)
Top grossing romantic comedies (by year)
- Jerry Maguire (1996)
- My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
- There's Something About Mary (1998)
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
- What Women Want (2000)
- American Pie 2 (2001)
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
- Bruce Almighty (2003)
- Meet the Fockers (2004)
- Hitch (2005)
- The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
- Knocked Up (2007)
- Sex and the City (film) (2008)
- The Proposal (2009)
References
See also
- Screwball comedy, which often features a romantic subplot
- Comedy of remarriage
External links
- Romantic Comedy Movies - from 1940s to future releases, with box office performance The Numbers
- Market Performance of Romantic Comedies in United States - year-by-year analysis of box office performance of romantic comedies The Numbers
- Romantic Comedy Movies - Top 290 (1978-present) by Box Office Mojo
- Top 10 Romantic Comedies by Billy Mernit
- Top Rated Romantic Comedies by IMDB