Romantic
Comedies get a bad rap. There’s a reason
for it – there are a lot of really, truly terrible romantic comedies out there. But I love romantic comedies, and I think
they deserve a fair shot.
I’m going
to blog about some of the lesser-known romantic comedies I’ve seen throughout
the years because I want to spotlight some overlooked films of a much-maligned
genre. Romantic comedies are, by
definition, funny stories about two people falling in love. You got love, you got jokes, you got pretty
people making out with each other. Some
of them are poorly done because they rely on bad gender stereotypes and are
lazy, but honestly it’s one of the hardest genres of film to make. There's nothing flashy about two people falling in love. You have to build a believable relationship about two people and still keep them likable enough for the audience. That's okay though, because we as humans
crave love stories so much, even bad ones make money.
I want to
analyze why I enjoyed each movie, if each movie lives up to the tropes of the
genre, and finally, if each romantic comedy passes the Bechdel Test. Again, the Bechdel Test is not a sign of
whether or not a movie is sexist, it just measures female presence in the
film. And for a genre of films often
referred to as “chick flicks,” they should all pass the Bechdel Test,
right? Lol. Anyway.
Let’s get started.
Fever Pitch
was originally a novel by Nick Hornsby (High
Fidelity, About a Boy – the guy wrote some books about selfish men learning
to love other people, but they’re well written). They turned it into a film in 1997. They Americanized the story in 2005 with Jimmy
Fallon and Drew Barrymore and the Red Sox, but I’m more interested in romcoms
you might not have seen for the moment.
You might not
have seen the 2005 version I guess. Eh.
Fever Pitch
opens with a dad and his kids (one girl, one boy) who have nothing to talk
about. The parents are clearly
divorced. The dad shows up once a month
(or seldomly, at any rate) and the kids are not interested in making an effort
with a father who can’t bother to be with them the rest of the time. (I have no sympathy for the dad – I have already
decided he is the worst.)
Fast forward
to a high school, and we meet Ms. Sarah Hughes.
MS. Hughes – not Miss, not Mrs., because she is a no-nonsense feminist
who runs a tight ship in the classroom, and I like her already.
Colin Firth plays Mr. Paul
Ashwood. Colin is the little boy from
the first scene all grown up. He’s a
literature teacher who does not run a tight ship at all and has kind of longer, wild hair that lets you know this guy is not the straitlaced Mr.
Darcy you’d expect Mr. Firth to play.
They talk a little bit about Of Mice
and Men but then one of the students brings up soccer and it’s game over
and they’re not talking academics anymore, buddy.
Colin Firth
is passionate about literature and soccer.
This is England, so I should call it football, but I’m a rebel and an American
and I will do as I please, thank you.
Ms. Hughes
and Colin Firth have classrooms right next to each other, and Ms. Hughes is not
about to deal with Colin’s class’s “moronic football chanting,” so already they
don’t like each other.
Ms. Hughes
is right. This is a job. This is a school. Colin Firth is so far a bad teacher and super unprofessional, and there’s no way
his students actually do work when he lets them yell about soccer all day. But that’s okay, because this is a movie, and
I am enjoying it, and I don’t get mad about plotholes in Tom Cruise movies and
Colin Firth is charming even in a leather jacket when he really should be
wearing a cravat so let’s just move on.
I like Ms.
Hughes already because she is feisty and cares about her job and I like Colin
Firth already because he is Colin Firth and also he has a good point about
soccer and literature being two things that are pretty darn groovy.
Through
some awkward exposition we find Ms. Hughes is a new teacher and Colin Firth has
been at the school for a bit. They
quarrel because Ms. Hughes cannot deal with his unprofessionalism and Colin
Firth is like “whatever, bro.”
Sarah
complains about him to her best friend/roommate Jo, and Jo is all “yo, you are
definitely gonna shag on the carpet.”
Ms. Hughes is like, “most def not” and even offers to pay for a new
carpet if it happens. That’s how NOT
it’s going to happen. It’s going to NOT
happen because Sarah can’t stand him, ugh, even though he’s a laidback version
of Fitzwilliam in the looks department.
Jo also
eats an entire quart of ice cream, thereby perpetuating the trope of the skinny
woman eating massive amounts of junk food.
Not my favorite trope, but if you’re going to go for it, at least go
big, and I appreciate that’s what this movie is doing in this scene.
A quart of
chocolate ice cream. God Save the Queen.
Then Colin
Firth complains to his buddy about what a stuck-up princess Ms. Hughes is, and
he has a point. Just because she’s right
that he’s unprofessional doesn’t mean she has to argue with the guy about
it. Just leave him alone to his
failures.
I’m
enjoying this movie already, because I enjoy both these characters, and I love
that he just wants to talk literature and soccer, and she just wants to do a
good job but is too type-A to relax. I
know they’re going to bone, but that’s okay.
I don’t want romantic comedies for the plot twists.
Colin
Firth’s buddy, who I think was the bad guy in that Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. (he was, I looked it up - Mark Strong), asks if Sarah is good-looking,
because the point of both of their best friends is to remind the
soon-to-be-lovers that looks are more important than personality when it comes
to love.
Listen, I
know it sounds like I’m dumping on this movie.
But so far it’s great. The dialogue
is enjoyable and the rapport set up between the characters so far is easy and
fun. I know I’m about to watch two
beautiful people fall in love with some quirky dialogue and giggles along the
way, and I cannot wait.
Colin Firth’s friend is annoying though. He goes behind the goal during a soccer game
when his brother, who is playing, is trying to score, and distracts him. It’s like those idiot frat boys you play pong
with. Bro, I will not shoot until you
stop fucking around. Minus two points
for an annoying male best friend. Plus
one point for a funny female best friend.
Colin Firth
narrates why he loves soccer. It’s
because his deadbeat dad didn’t know how to connect with his children (try
showing up more than once a month, ya big jerkface), until he introduced young
Mr. Firth to soccer. Turns out, Colin is
a fan.
Sports. Dads and sons hate talking about feelings and
love talking about sports. Okay. I’ll take it.
Why doesn’t
the dad try to connect with his daughter?
That’s fucked up. Dads and
daughters. Why can’t she go to the
game? It’s not like Colin was into it
before he actually went to the first game – he was just stoked to hang out with
his dad for some reason – so why couldn’t the daughter learn to love it? Sorry, angry ex-soccer player over here. Anyway, I can’t blame the movie for
reflecting the sexist world in which the film takes place, so no points one way
or the other concerning that issue.
Back to the
present. We see that Colin genuinely
cares about his students, to the point that he takes a boy whose parents had
just divorced to a game. He wanted to go
by himself so he can go drinking later, but he just cares so damn much about his students.
The parents love him too, and he can talk to them, because everyone with
a personality likes soccer.
Parent-teacher
night. Ms. Hughes cannot relate to the
students and their parents because she is too uptight. Colin Firth gets along with everybody. He offers Sarah a ride home because it’s
raining and he has a car and she doesn’t.
Ms. Hughes is jealous of Colin
Firth’s popularity but she’s trying to be chill about it because she knows it’s
not a chill thing to be jealous like that.
She’s just bummed because she puts so much work into her job and Colin
is like “whatever bro” but since he can actually talk to people (well, mostly
just about soccer) and she has terrible people skills because she’s so uptight,
he gets more out of parent teacher conferences than she does.
“Don’t be
so uptight. Just be yourself,” Colin
tells her, but she says she is being herself, and it’s charming how self-aware
she is. She invites him up for a coffee
but it’s obviously sex, which is pretty forward for someone who’s so
uptight. She’s nervous when she asks him
to stay, which is cute, and you can see why – he does have an easy charm about
him that uptight people can’t help but be drawn to (speaking as a fellow
uptight person, nothing is sexier than a laidback dude HOW DO YOU GUYS DO IT I
DON’T UNDERSTAND it’s fine it’s no big deal let’s carry on).
“Not on the
carpet, I can’t afford it,” she says after he kisses her and they start really
going at it, and he looks confused, and then they go to the bedroom for the
sexy times. This is a cute moment and I
like it, so I highlighted it in the rundown.
You have to
analyze why they like each other in any good romcom. You have to believe they like each
other. In a romcom where they start off
on the wrong foot, you have to believe why they overcame their
differences. Colin Firth is set up as an
immature dude when it comes to his passion for soccer (stuck in arrested
development on that score because it was a way he, as a son, could connect with
his dad – serious psychoanalysis is important to understanding any good
romantic comedy because these are character-driven films) but he genuinely
cares about other people. He cares about
his students, and he feels bad when the uptight, kind of annoying teacher who
can’t seem to get a break is stuck out in the rain so he offers her a ride
home. Why he likes her is obvious – she
cares about her job, she cares about her students, she’s cute, and she knows
who she is.
Why she
likes him is obvious too. He’s
tall. He cares about his students and
gets along with everyone. He’s laidback. He’s charming. He kind of reminds you of Mr. Darcy for some
reason. It’s easy to see it.
So they
bone in the bedroom. Nice.
Jo and Sarah
exercise together, but Jo is a slow runner, so Sarah has to walk, which is
embarrassing to Jo but it made me smile.
I wasn’t like LOL about it but I was most def all smiles.
While Colin Firth is coaching boys' soccer, the principal offers him a promotion. I love watching kids play soccer because it
reminds me of childhood and I can’t help grinning like an idiot when I drive by
soccer fields and it’s definitely not a weird pedo thing so I’m offended you
even brought it up. But CF is not
interested in the promotion, even if it means a raise, because it means more
work, and he has all the money he needs for season tickets to Arsenal games as
it is, thank you.
Flashback
scene. Colin Firth’s boy character’s
hair is longer so you know he’s becoming a “football hooligan.” His sister is trying to have an interesting
conversation about the difference between motels and hotels but it is
overshadowed by soccer talk. I like the
sister character, and I think it’s a missed opportunity that we didn’t explore
her wants and needs more. Oh well.
Colin Firth
and Sarah are walking and she’s like “what are you thinking about” and he lies
about it being DH Lawrence which like come on please are you a woman from the
1920s surrounded by her vapors because you are definitely not thinking about DH
Lawrence. He’s thinking about his team
Arsenal. Ms. Hughes is like “why you
lying about it it’s fine” which is proof she is learning to accept his football
hooligan side.
But he’s
not JUST a football hooligan! Because
then they’re back at his apartment, and they’re talking about what music to play,
and he doesn’t want to play a certain record because it’s too loud and
“swear-y” and not the right mood and Sarah gets all giggly and tells him that’s
the most romantic thing he’s ever said to her.
So you see, he wants to be sweet and romantic and he is growing as a
person and a boyfriend and this story is adorable so far.
Ooh, step
backward, as Ms. Hughes wants to plan a weekend away, and Colin Firth is all
“ooh, don’t know the Arsenal schedule yet” and then says he’s capable of
commitment because he’s been with Arsenal for 21 years so if their romantic
relationship doesn’t last it’s her fault not his. That’s pretty bullshit and I don’t like it
and all men are pigs but I will overlook it for now because I have been
enjoying the film before this.
Then we
find out Sarah is more knowledgeable about soccer than ever before because of
spending time with Colin and osmosis. Jo
is worried about her turning into a football hooligan. She says remembering sports things that your
boyfriend likes is a form of male manipulation, and I don’t totally disagree
with this character, even if I can’t tell whether you’re supposed to take the
claim seriously or not. Like, what
interests of Sarah’s is Colin Firth adopting?
Oh, is the answer none? We are
presented with a female character with no discernible interests in anything
outside of her job, which is how you know this story was written by a dude (and
Nick Hornby especially is not typically great with female characters). It’s a man’s world, and a woman must adapt to
him and not the other way around.
We learn
more about Colin Firth’s obsession with soccer, because just as much as this is
a romantic comedy, this is a story about Colin Firth’s psyche. What started as a way to bond with his father
developed into a life of its own, and when his father wants to do something
different like meet his new wife’s kids, Colin Firth the Kid resists. What’s the point of seeing his dad if soccer
isn’t involved? His dad doesn’t even
live in the same country and only visits every now and then.
“I thought
we were beyond [the soccer] stage now,” Dad says.
“We’ll
never be beyond that stage,” Colin Firth the Kid says, and I want to hug him,
because GOOD FOR YOU LITTLE GUY, telling your dad like it is like that. Good for you.
Then we see
Sarah with Colin Firth at a soccer game (pictured above) and she hates it because it’s crowded
and looks like a mosh pit and it seems pretty awful. Later CF and Ms. Hughes are watching the end
of a Liverpool game where 74 people died because everyone was crushed to death,
and Ms. Hughes is like, “your obsession with this is selfish, it’s
all-consuming, it’s ruined your relationship with your parents, and without it
you’re left with nothing.” She’s right. He doesn’t respond well. They break up.
He
realizes she’s right and he’s upset about it, and there’s a montage about him
realizing he’s wrong. She’s sad
too. Then he calls her and asks if she’s
pregnant. What.
She is. Why he knew that without her telling him is
not explained, but he’s right. There’s a cute scene
where he waits for her to run by in the park with Jo but since he waited so
long the roses are all wilted. Aw. He’s trying but he’s so terrible. They go out to dinner where he tries to
convince her to get back together because they would be so good as parents
together. She’s not so sure. He invents a future together and she’s like
“yo I haven’t agreed to any of this.”
Part of the future includes a house by the Arsenal stadium. Real mature.
And then he sets a napkin on fire which proves her point about maturity.
Colin Firth tells the principal he’ll
take the promotion because he knocked Sarah up and is going to marry her, and
the principal is like “seriously, you knocked up the new teacher outside of
wedlock” and is less than pleased with Colin, who has to be an idiot for
telling his boss this information because hello they work together.
Sarah, for
her part, is pissed, because she could get fired. Then she smokes a cigarette. Jo points out that smoking a cigarette for
the first time when she finds out she’s pregnant “indicates a sort of
ambivalence about the pregnancy,” and Jo wins for my favorite character in the
film.
The female
best friend in romcoms is a tricky role.
It’s usually brassy broads who are uncouth and obnoxious. They’re usually not written well, and you
count the seconds until they’re off screen and their loud, unfunny sex jokes
are finally over. The only thing worse
than a female best friend is a male best friend, who spouts misogynist
one-liners to make the male love interest look like a saint in comparison,
while the female love interest looks like the picture of sanity next to her
mouthy best friend. But Jo has some
solid insights, some winking foreshadowing (we all knew they were going to get
together – at least her line about shagging on the carpet was clever), and some
serious challenges to the main character that genuinely add to the story. Three cheers for Jo, the film MVP.
Now that
Colin Firth is an expectant father, he’s confident about Arsenal (which is new
– Arsenal fans expect the worse from their team). He and Sarah are looking at apartments and he
wants to be close to the Arsenal stadium.
He’s so focused on football he’s not paying attention to Sarah’s real
concerns and suggestions about where to raise their child.
His
interview for the promotion goes badly, and it goes to someone else.
Arsenal
loses. Sarah’s all “sorry about what
happened” and he thinks she’s talking about Arsenal losing their chances to win
the season because he’s more upset about the game than the job offer. They fight, and Sarah realizes once again
that he is not ready for a family.
Duh. I mean, he clearly has some deepseated daddy
issues, and has been using Arsenal as a surrogate Father Figure so he doesn’t
have to deal with his emotions properly has led to some serious stunted growth
on that front as an adult. While this
may explain things about Colin Firth, it doesn’t justify his behavior. Girl, I am rooting for you to move on,
because he does not deserve you.
But here’s
the crazy thing about romcoms. You want
them to get together. You want the guy
to be better than he is, and you want the girl to stand up for herself more and
be rewarded for it. Maybe this breakup
is what causes Colin Firth to grow the fuck up?
Oh god, I hope so.
So far,
we’ve seen Sarah accept soccer wholeheartedly – just as an adult fan, not an
obsessed manchild like my boy CF.
Colin Firth
quits his job to make more money so he can pay child support. Wait, what?
I guess it opens it up so he can find another job where he makes more
money, but as of now it looks like a 100% pay cut. Also, he appreciates that Sarah doesn’t want
to work with “the absent father of his child.”
It seems like he grew up offscreen a little bit. He watches the game at home instead of at the
stadium, so there’s growth there too.
Sarah is at a party but she’s the only one who cares about the soccer
game even as she’s pretending not to care.
Sarah’s adorable. At least now
that she and Colin are on the outs he realizes how awesome she is.
Sarah
leaves her party early to go watch the game with Colin. She rings the bell but Colin doesn’t answer
it and yells down at whoever is ringing the bell to fuck off without realizing
it’s her because it was the last minute of the very important game. Although, come on Colin, how many friends do
you even have. Couldn’t you have guessed
it was her? He does realize my point I
made just now and he goes running down there, but it’s too late. She’s gone, so he comes running back up to
see the end of the game.
On the one
hand he knows he probably fucked up. On
the other, he doesn’t seem to have done anything about it.
But then
Arsenal wins, and Sarah realizes it’s kind of great to be part of that
energy. She’s into it.
The two
ex-lovers see each other and they kiss.
If I was Sarah I’d be a little too pissy to go back to Colin. Like, the last interaction they had was him
telling her to fuck off without realizing it was her (although he probably
should have). I woulda been like, “bro,
don’t treat me like that.” Then I would
have made out with him, because I am female and nerdy and he reminds me of a
Jane Austen hero so, you know, game over.
Romcom score card:
1.
Chemistry between the leads? Okay. You believe they got together in the
beginning. You don’t necessarily believe
they stay together, but life is full of people who stayed together because of
how good it was when they first got together.
2.
The Best Friend role:
A. Female division: Great. Funny, insightful, cutting. You see why the two women are friends.
B. Male division: Acceptable. Only talks to Colin about soccer and how fit
Sarah is, but no misogyny or bad advice.
So. Acceptable.
3.
Enjoyability:
Not a bad way to spend 2 hours
when you’re bored. Also, will never
not tire of seeing Colin Firth in a “hooligan” role. Like
4.
Was she stupid to stay with him? I guess not. He’s an idiot and immature, but he’s
cognizant of the fact that he needs to grow up, which is a good start.
5.
Was he stupid to stay with her? Fuck
no. He’s lucky as all hell.
6.
Chick flick score – does this romcom pass the Bechdel
test? Yes, but barely. Jo and
Sarah are well done female characters, but they only have one conversation that
isn’t about men, and it’s about exercise. So they technically pass… but this "chick flick" is from a man's perspective - as the majority of "chick flicks" are.
Overall: My first
entry into the RomCom Defense Files is a good example of what to like about romantic
comedies and what not to like. It avoids
some of the worse examples of gender stereotypes prevalent in the genre, but it
also is a sweet story about two beautiful people falling in love with some
jokes and personal growth along the way. In short, I can appreciate someone who doesn't love the movie, but are you really gonna hate on it?
(Full disclosure: I do remember this movie being better, but I enjoyed it just as much the second time anyway.)
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