Our film fanatic waxes lyrical about the romantic comedy genre, inspired by seeing What's Love Got To Do With It? at the cinema.
There seems to be a renaissance of the romantic comedy going on at the moment, which pleases me greatly.
My first date in January 2010 with Sofia (now my wife) was to see the rather terrible Did You Hear About The Morgans, which stars Sarah Jessica-Parker and Hugh Grant. It has a Rotten Tomatoes critics' score of 12 per cent, which is incredibly low, and they describe it as having "an unfunny script and a lack of onscreen chemistry". I can't argue with that. It was an absolute shocker.
Still, in spite of this inauspicious start to our relationship, my love of the rom com goes back a long way. Some of my favourite guilty pleasure films are The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, Notting Hill and Love Actually. Martine McCucheon as the tea lady in Downing Street is a thing of hammy brilliance, and Hugh Grant did seem to basically play the same character for several years. The film titles changed, his self-effacing bumbling English gent role did not.
Key elements of a successful romantic comedy include a dash to the airport, genuinely funny one-liners, and characters you're rooting for. I went to see "What's Love Got To Do With It?" last weekend, and it has an original premise for a rom com, as it looks at arranged marriages. It has many of the familiar ingredients in the recipe book for this genre, but Lily Collins really shines through as Zoe Stevenson, who's unlucky in love and seemingly destined to a life of making bad dating decisions.
Her childhood friend Kaz (Shazad Latif) is set up with a love interest following a meet and greet with his parents, and Zoe is mortified as she realises the girl he's about to marry is not right for him at all. It's not really a spoiler if I tell you that sparks fly at times between the pair, but whether or not they spectacularly fall out or end up smooching by the end, I will not reveal. You will have to watch the film to find out! Emma Thompson is excellent as the off-the-wall mother trying to set her daughter up with the boring vet, whose one-liners are even more dodgy than mine.
It's got elements of a Richard Curtis classic, shades of Bend It Like Beckham (which scarily is over 20 years ago now!), and it's different enough to stand out. I really liked this one, and Jemima Khan's screenwriting debut for me is a triumph. Cynics may say it's a bit cheesy and cliched at times, but I find rom coms as a genre are a bit like marmite. You won't convince those who hate them to give this a go anyway, so why try?
I'm off to see Rye Lane this week, which has also been given really positive reviews. It's great to see multi-cultured rom coms too, as the version of Notting Hill presented in 2003 was all a little homogenous for my liking. In a sea of superheroes and sequels, I think there is definitely a place for films with a big heart.
You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on Saturdays from 3pm to 6pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM.
Alex also has a regular newspaper column where he gives his unique take on life. Read his latest one here.
