An ode to the rom-com
This one’s for all of the Cool Girls out there who are still insisting that ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is their favourite film, when really, all of their Netflix suggestions point towards ‘Moonstruck’.
There is nothing cosier than a romantic comedy. I’m referring to a very specific type here. Sure, I can quote Noah Calhoun's entire “I want all of you, forever, every day speech” to Allie Hamilton in ‘The Notebook’, and I recently tried to make my boyfriend write one of his university assignments on ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’, but the rom-coms that my inner hopeless romantic holds on a pedestal have to pre-date the noughties and star one of the following leading men: Tom Hanks, Richard Gere, et al. I’m talking the Nora Ephron trifecta — ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘You’ve Got Mail’, ‘Sleepless in Seattle — Mystic Pizza, and Pretty Woman.
Most of my romantic comedy education was shaped by my mum and her own mum — my nanna. A great way to get your children to shut up while simultaneously getting to do something that you enjoy is by putting on one of your favourite films and assuring them that it's a must-see. For some unknown reason, my dad doing this with Die Hard and Resident Evil didn't have the desired effect, but my sister and I would spend hours on end watching Johnny Castle teaching Frances “Baby” Houseman all about love (and the mambo) in ‘Dirty Dancing’, re-watching it, fast-forwarding it to our favourite parts and replaying them over and over, and then forcing our grandad to reenact the iconic lift scene with us. We were enthralled.
Whenever I have “one of those days” or I'm feeling a little uninspired, putting on a boy-meets-girl classic is one of my failsafe remedies. There's just something about Annie Reed waiting for Sam Baldwin at the top of the Empire State Building; Patrick Verona spending his bet winnings on a new guitar for Kat Stratford; and Harry Burns telling Sally Albright, “When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”, that makes me feel so peaceful.
A massive element of it is undoubtedly the wardrobes. You read my pre-noughties conditions at the beginning of this piece — if a trench coat or a turtleneck doesn't feature at some point, then it probably won't make my Top 10 (you think I'm joking, but I recently purchased a huge oversized trench coat with undeniable ‘80s vibes because it makes me feel like Meg Ryan).
Another aspect is the music, obviously. A huge chunk of my iPod shuffle is comprised of rom-com soundtracks — and yes, I love to stare dramatically out of the window and pretend that I'm waiting for the love of my life to come chasing after me when I'm on the bus. My favourite part is the journey. Depicting the rollercoaster of two people falling in love, moving your audience to be invested to the point of tears in just ninety minutes or less? It’s an undeniable art form.
Lastly, I resent neatly tied up loose ends and I’m not usually one for predictable conclusions, but the happy ending is a staple part of the genre. If producer Laura Ziskin hadn't ditched screenwriter J. F. Lawton's gritty ending of Vivian and Kit using Edward's money to fund a trip to Disneyland for the fairytale of Edward and Vivian ending up together in Pretty Woman, my heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
When life’s getting on top of me and I feel like stepping out of my head for a while, I need to know that two people can come from completely different worlds, run rival businesses, and live in different states — and they'll still end up together. Whatever happens — whether I say all the wrong things, leave my bag on the train, trip in public, or get fired, I'll still end up where I need to be (hopefully with someone resembling Richard Gere to come home to).