Are Romantic Comedies dead?

[Your Mom]

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/05/23/1752531/don-jon-i-give-it-a-year-and-the-rise-of-the-unromantic-comedy/

I found this article about a couple recent movies and about the fact that rom coms arent really romantic anymore. I mean I cant remember the last time I saw a good one that wasnt a depressing mess like this article states. Any thoughts from the movie buffs here? Am I the only one that even wants good romantic comedy again?

[Numbahs]

There's a problem with saying that the romantic comedy is dead.

What you've been told is "romantic comedy" for decades has been done so frequently that it actually has become the definition to people. No studio or talent wants to go away from the definition because it means no one will either make or see their project. In the case of something like "The 40 Year-Old Virgin", which is a romantic comedy, the studio thinks it has to bring the men with the promise of hard comedy and surprise their date with the shock of a decent romance while she's laughing. They won't even think about selling it to women as a romantic comedy though.

There are romances that have funny elements. There are comedies that have romantic elements. There are even action movies that have both comedy and romance.

Until your neighbor and his wife stop going to see "ultra-conservative Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson meeting his wacky hippie parents" because they're told there's something for everyone in the trailer, you'll probably just have to broaden your own definition of romantic comedy.

[Lint]

Damn..what movie was it...zombie movie...ah yes, Warm Bodies. Everyone I know refered to that movie as a rom-com, or a zom-rom-com. I don't think the rom-com genre is dead, just nothing worth while has come out in it recently

[Numbahs]

Other than "crap", I could only describe Warm Bodies as a romantic comedy.

[ROC]

Other than "crap", I could only describe Warm Bodies as a romantic comedy.

I think we're going to have an interesting chat about that very soon, as I'm finding myself disagreeing.

But on the subject, no genre really outright dies these days. We just have the ebbs and flows of various genres. Hell, it might be way better to just put the rom-com on backlogue like the Western. Maybe save it for Joel and Ethan Coen (if you consider Raising Arizona an odd rom-com).

EDIT: Just remembered Intolerable Cruelty and I'm probably wrong.

[Benji]

Romantic comedies? Dead?

[apsham]

I can't stand them - they're far too formulamatic for my tastes. The entire arc of the story is nearly bang on the same everytime with minor variations.

[Walker]

Silver Linings Playbook? A romantic comedy, did pretty well.

[TKz]

Star power is kind of starting to fade. It used to be that you could put Jennifer Anniston and Ben Stiller in a Rom Com and the names alone would sell it, but audiences seem to be a lot less interested in films sold on stars alone. That's not to say Channing Tatum couldn't sell a film based on his name alone, but it seems more and more like you need something extra to sell a film to the average person. A franchise name, an adaption, a story or genre that hasn't been as prominent lately.

Silver Linings had the Oscar Nominee/winner hype behind it.

[Benjamin]

Let's hope something like Don Jon will stop convincing people that romantic comedies are a dying thing.

[KONGO]

Well, it might, but Don Jon was one of the films specifically brought up in this article so I'm not sure that it really counts as a counter-example.

[LL!]

Silver Linings Playbook was great. I've heard mostly good things about Warm Bodies. And if we're considering recent within the last 3 years or so, I thought Going The Distance wasn't half bad. It's not dead, but it did suffer from an oversaturation problem (like all genres do from time to time, i.e. zombies, vampires, etc.)

Like TKz mentioned, it was getting really easy to insert Likeable Male Actor and Attractive Female Actress into formulaic roles and it would pump out money because it was tapping into a broad female demographic. Lately, it hasn't been so easy because people got tired of it. (Surprise surprise!)

The good thing is that if you really looked through the genre, you could find some good ones. And I think we're going to be seeing them come to prominence soon.

[Gabriel]

The really big budget studio ones seem to have taken a backseat lately, but smaller romantic comedies are still coming out.

Take Me Home Tonight was fantastic. It's nice to see Topher Grace back doing something. Also, Going the Distance was great, and so was When in Rome.

You also have to remember that people think romantic comedy and think about the formula that the studios used for so long. It doesn't have to have Matthew McConaughey in it to be a romantic comedy. The formula was easy to sell though, so a lot of people see that missing and think it means that romantic comedies are done. They're not. They're just evolving to include more in the story than a likeable but troublesome and handsome man, and a pretty woman who thinks that he's repulsive but then finds the man that she loves inside of him.

[Your Mom]

There were a lot of bad ones but I do like the formula. Our next netflix is SIlver Linings so I'm hoping thats good. I might try a couple of the other ones mentioned here too.

[Hobo]

They're not dead. They'll be back. People like their predicable formulaic plots

I seem to remember a couple of romantic comedies for older audiences popping up a few years ago.

[Your Mom]

Silver Linings was really good! A bit uncomfortable for the first half hour or so but that was down to good acting. I really enjoyed it

[RPS]

Romantic Comedies aren't dead, just going through a bit of a bumpy road. It really needs a new shot in the arm. Every few years, a huge romantic comedy comes through, garners critical priase and a lot of people see it and reinvigorate the genre. Woody Allen shook it up with Annie Hall, Curtis did it with 4 Weddings and Love Actually, Crowe with Say Anything, Reiner with When Harry Met Sally, etc. I think the romantic comedy is a genre that will likely never go away because it has such strong roots to the early days of film and the mixing of humor and pathos. I think the rise of Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey have just put rom-com's on the back burner.

[Benjamin]

Twilight isn't a rom-com? Then why did I laugh the entire time I was watching it?

[LL!]

The entire time? Maybe you're retarded.

[Gabriel]

Twilight was funny?