By Scott Meslow.
Exactly what it says on the tin: this book starts from When Harry Met Sally in the late 80's (gee, guess why I got this book), covering the heyday, to the days of streaming, to the petering out and possible return of the romantic comedy. There's brief essays on certain actors and actresses--on being America's sweetheart, on being a hard-working cad, on being the other guy, on being the best friend, on people who may not have always been romantic comedy people, etc. He focuses on success, influence, and if they reveal something unique.
I'm always really happy to read, oh, any book that mentions When Harry Met Sally, so this part pleased me, of course. Other movies I love that it covers: Pretty Woman, Four Weddings, My Best Friend's Wedding, Bridget Jones, My Big Fat Greek Wedding,.... I liked the discussion of "Waiting To Exhale" and how love shouldn't be this hard. (Damn right.) I have not been into every movie the book covers (I don't care about the sperm hair gel movie, honestly), but others may be into that, and more power to them. Even I couldn't help but be amused at stuff like, "So began a months-long battle over a strand of semen." And I thought the discussion of why Will Smith has only done one rom-com due to institutional racism made good points.
I really felt for Nia Vardalos being told that "You're not pretty enough to be a leading lady and not fat enough to be a character actress," and "there are no Greek parts, so I can't get you work." Even Nia said, "how many roles were there for a robust and curly-haired loudmouth?"
Later, there's some focus on movies that...I dunno...How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days doesn't sound like it works? And I admit Love Actually is a mixed bag for sure. The movies covered towards the end seem to be there because of their being less successful, such as when you try to write a rom-com about fuckbuddying. "How do we make a romantic comedy that actually captures how people are dating and falling in love today. In almost every case, the answer turned out to be: by doing the same thing we were doing before, but with more casual sex." Love was being reimagined, and Hollywood didn't know how to tell those stories, the author concludes. Younger performers weren't that interested, older ones got tired of it. But then there's Mindy Kaling, and Crazy Rich Asians, and some folks figuring out how to bring it back.
Per my previous review, I'm really too tired to get into the details that I should. But if you're into this topic, I really enjoyed the takes and information in this one and give it four stars.
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