Wrong About Rom Coms

I never thought I'd say this but I'm becoming something of a fan of, even an expert on Romantic Comedies - the film sort as opposed to the books. At least I've watched a hell of a lot lately.

Generally considered light-hearted and aimed at 'chick' audiences I used to deride and avoid them in favour of more 'profound', high-brow, artistic movies. The very term Rom Com suggests schmaltzy, mass produced, unchallenging, clichéd flicks. 'Give me my depth, my drama, my passion, novel adaptations and my ne'er do wrong Gael García Bernal' I'd cry. Sure enough, these films fulfill most of the above criteria and they're repetitious (when you've seen one you've pretty much got the gist of them all). They also tend to conform to a somewhat limited white, middle-class, middle-of-the-road and often Jewish American family view of the world. They're unlikely to ever win any Oscars, nor are they particularly comical or for that matter romantic but it would be wrong to rubbish them on these grounds.

The reason for this, as I have somewhat reluctantly discovered, is that they are for the most part highly accessible, easy to relate to (even the actors are pretty average looking), thought provoking, reassuringly predictable and rather addictive. Perhaps it's a sign of my age that they also appear to raise the concerns, frustrations and desires that affect us as we progress from our heady, uncertain, selfish twenties to purportedly more settled, responsible years with committed relationships, mortgages and even children to boot.

With their absurd antics and good-guy-gets-the-girl-in-the-end format, they're even something of a relief amidst the esteemed film award winners, the special effects blockbusters and even (dare I risk sounding trite?) in a wider context, in this fickle, brutal age of cyber networking, quickie divorces, step-families, terrorism and even potential earth meltdown. If they are didactic it's in the warmest possible way as they never attempt to teach us anything that we don't already know anyway. They tug on our sentimental heart strings and tickle our bellies rather than subvert our expectations or slap us about the face.

The facets of a good Rom Com are obvious and it would appear hard to get the formula wrong: Unlucky-in-love, immature and/or self-deprecating man (sometimes woman), in their late 20 to early 30s, attempts to meet Miss or Mr. Right, they do, complications arise, sometimes involving outdoor pursuits, smarty pants children and injury, failure is imminent, families get involved, but then they hook up and live happily ever after. In a way they are very similar to Shakespeare's tragi-comedies in which blood must be shed and events reach the brink of disaster before happiness can ensue. How satisfying.

Unfortunately, one does occasionally chance upon a real stinker of a Rom Com, proving how even the best ingredients (star cast, interesting plot, funny script etc.) don't a perfect cake make (see Heston Blumenthal for that). And I'm sure there can be few things in film worse or more depressing than a crap Rom Com. I’m afraid the Brits are good at those, Love Actually being as case in point. One such duffer is the boring, smug unconvincing turkey I watched last night as I recovered from the latest shots of vaccines instead of seeing my friend's play. It was called Dan In Real Life (2007). Drivel. Would have had more fun cleaning the bathroom.