What are your Top 5 romantic comedies?
This must be okay since I watched it with my girlfriend this past weekend and she cried a few tears. Unbelievably, she never watched the original even though she was in college when the film came out in 1977. I, on the other hand, was 5 and I must have seen the original over 20 times by now. It is an American classic and I put in on my netflix queue to watch it with her this weekend. I'm sure she will cry a river after watching the original. I envy her because I remember the "virgin" viewing experience of seeing the original for the first time. Damn, it blew me away. And yeah I cried at the end. I don't care to discuss and overly think too deep about how Paula McFadden is a bad mother, freeloader, controlling etc. etc. This is just a good old fashioned funny romantic comedy, my favorite actually.
The remake was unbelievably tepid. If you're gonna go line by line, why not inject the same amount of energy and enthusiasm into it? Jeff Daniels looked really tired. Heaton looked like she didn't want to be there. Where was Paula's "tenderness" as she soothes Elliot's ego after a disastrous opening night? That was a crucial scene in making me like Paula in the original and Heaton quite frankly left me cold in that scene. Marsha Mason was not likeable up until that part and then she got me from that point on until the end. Quinn Cummings was a fiery precocious 10 year old who delivered her lines with wit and cuteness and was a character that almost had a life of its own. Eisenberg, I thought, brought nothing special to the script and she just looked like a prop/side character of no significance. And what can I say about Mr. Paul Benedict...RIP. He was TREMENDOUS in the original. It was an important character and he was level with Dreyfuss and maybe even outacted him in their scenes together. Alan Cumming played the role as just another side character. And you can't beat the theme song at the end written and performed by David Gates specially for the film. If you're not crying or at least moved by the end when this song comes on check your pulse. It's been 33 years since the original's release and I haven't seen any other romantic comedy quite as good.
Here are my top 5 romantic comedies:
1. The Goodbye Girl
2. Pretty Woman
3. Green Card
4. Continental Divide
5. As Good As It Gets