Anatomy of a Rom Com 

okayyyy tell me your favourite rom com! (and why)

When I look at the cinematography of When Harry Met Sally I think “warm cozy rom com”, and when I look at Anyone But You I think it looks like a Capital One comercial

“It doesn’t feel like two people falling in love, it feels like Chad and Stacy from your hs got together because they’re the hottest people in the room” THIS EXACTLY. Romcoms are not about the girlies that hop from relationship to relationship okay, they are about hot messes ONLY

"rom-coms sell the fantasy that men will fall in love with your personality" I'm just-- how could you...? I just... Give me a minute Like, i know that happens all the time in real life but hearing it put so bluntly when you haven't personally experienced something like that??? I need-- I need to sit...

Bridget Jones wasn't supposed to be fat. She was supposed to be the average British woman's size at the time who didn't have a weight problem, but struggled with gaining and losing the same 20-ish pounds depending on her mood and how successful she perceived herself. That's why it was so upsetting when the girl Daniel was cheating with made a dig about her weight. She was in a good place, she didn't feel bad about her weight, and then she's blindsided by these two "perfect" people making her feel like she wouldn't ever be good enough. Daniel's apology wasn't that he was sorry, it was like "well what do you expect?" The turning point of the movie was that she would stop obsessing about her supposed flaws, and expect better for herself.

Man, the sequel to Anatomy of a Fall came out really fast.

Glenn Powell in Set It Up felt more of a traditional Rom Com than Anyone But You. That pizza scene hit different.

The thing I love about When Harry Met Sally the most is that they were friends first. That's the way their romance worked, because it was built on a really solid foundation of friendship. You see them spending a lot of time together and through that falling in love. That's something I think a lot of rom-coms that followed lost. People meet and fall in love instantly and those relationships to me feel like they have a real lack of depth and connection. Also When Harry Met Sally is so smartly written and the chemistry between the two leads is off the charts ❤

the chemistry section is exactly why i think people are campaigning for a rom com between ayo edebiri and paul mescal, beside the obvious ayo is irish jokes

Wow. Sounds like someone can't just be happy for two disgusting gargoyles like Glenn and Sydney finding each other and defying the odds that they would likely die alone. Sad.

I think my favourite Rom Com is probably 10 things I hate about you, I don’t cry every time I watch it but that Karaoke scene on the football field is iconic and the speech! It’s a great Shakespeare re-telling and I love how smart and bitchy Kat is, it reminds me of being 17. Plus seeing a baby Joseph Gordon Levitt is fun

Anyone but You was missing spirit and chemistry. It lacked worldbuilding or relatability. We don’t know anything about Bea besides she’s a law school dropout. The characters didn’t have notable personalities or motivations.

It’s interesting that romcoms aren’t having the same resurgence as romance novels are

tbh my big fat Greek wedding is a romcom that didn’t follow the Sam meets Harry rule and I love it sm. There’s no forced proximity, they like each other from the start and are working on being together even though Toulas family is conservative. The family doesn’t feel like background characters, they have their own life’s and personality, while also keeping a balance of not being the focus of the movie. Ian is literally the perfect romcom man imo. He was always respectful and interested in learning about Toulas culture and open about her chaotic family. (Also I loved the casting for Toula because yes even tho Greeks are white, often times in Hollywood they get represented as pale, blonde and blue eyed. Which there are Greeks who look like that, but still it was nice to see someone who looked like the women I grew up with being the main character) there’s also a Turkish romcom that I absolutely adore, “Olanlar Oldu” if you have access to the movie I’d highly recommend it, though it’s more funny and endearing if you know Turkish culture and language. Romcoms today are so much based on the enemies to lovers trope with the forced proximity. No chemistry, everything about the characters to the dialogue to the background feels sterile and lifeless. Like it was said in the video, modern romcoms are based on relatability and not the characters and their stories.

i'm a mid 30s mature age student at uni and i think one of my lecturers overheard me saying how much i'm in love with him last week. never been a fan of romcoms but i think my time has arrived

I think the reason I have been so drawn to KDramas in the last couple of years is because the embody this late 80s/90s tension that I have been missing! They know how to build the story and the background characters to really ruin you emotionally. It's never just about romance!

When Harry Met Sally is exactly the kind of relatable, but ideal romance. More than a lover, it's the partner who truly SEE you in all forms that makes you say "This is what I want my relationship to be". Their relationship will always make me feel hopeful. Another enchanting romcom for me was Chungking Romance.

Far more than Anyone But You, it's Rye Lane that gives me hope for romcoms. Yes, it's much smaller, but it has more of a chance at exciting budding creatives into making the next great romcoms.

16:01 Everything, from the costumes to the set, is also super neutral and white except for some cool colours here and there. Her clothes are all mostly white and light blue. His are darker but also blue. They ‘four quadrant’-ed all the specificity out of the characters to make it just two generic hot people that you could theoretically project yourself on to. But blandness is not relatable, specificity, even if it is not *your* specificity, is relatable.

Billy Crystal is very attractive in When Harry Met Sally, and I'm sick of pretending he isn't

Pride & Prejudice must be my absolute favourite rom com/rom drama (romma?) because of the director's incredible ability to intertwine dialogue with interesting visuals. the dance scene with Darcy and Lizzie where they're kind of verbally sparring? genius.

Fave romcoms: "How to lose a guy in 10 days" because Kate Hudson is brilliant in it, and "The Holiday", BUT ONLY the storyline about Kate Winslet and Jack Black.

One romcom I think is highly underrated as one is actually Nancy Meyers's first film The Parent Trap Now it starts out as a child centric comedy about twin sisters swapping lives to get to know their respective parents better, but in that classic Nancy Meyers way, it shifts to instead shed a light on the parents' lives, why they didn't work out, and why they are now better suited to each other. The divorce was because they were extremely young when they got together - 23 for Elizabeth and 24 for Nick - and their communication problems led to them falling apart when they didn't need to. Now both in their late 30s, they've had time to think about what they loved about each other, and can communicate their issues, first being able to talk to each other like civil functioning adults before they can reconcile What's interesting about their characters is that both of them had great, fulfilling lives after divorcing, both achieving their dream careers and both having a great relationship with their respective daughter, as well as their hired help being like family to them - but neither of them ever remarried or had another relationship because without that love, their lives are incomplete. The movie also shines a light on Nick with the evil fiancée Meredith - she's an attractive vamp ten years his junior, considered way out of his league, and on paper the ideal status symbol for a shallow guy. But Meredith is a laundry list of red flags, not just being a gold digger, but how she treats Chessie like a skivvy to be summoned with a bell and intimidates an 11-year-old when she gets savvy to her plan. And when Nick discovers the ultimate deal breaker of all - making him choose between her and his daughters - he kicks her to the curb in an instant. Who does he choose? The older (still only late 30s but definitely not 26) single mother who the audience has seen get so drunk she makes a spectacle of herself in front of him and messed up royally in the past, but still carried a torch for her. Granted we the audience saw more of her as a mess than Nick did but that just allows us to feel like we know her The stakes are also suitably high for the reconciliation - their daughters obviously having to be separated, a custody arrangement that would be all sorts of awkward, one parent possibly having to give up their respective daughter completely and even Martin and Chessie not getting the chance to be together. The movie's universe spells it out for the two that ignoring their feelings and not taking that risk would have all sorts of consequences, so that when Nick and Hallie fly all the way out to London to surprise Elizabeth and Annie...that's my Hannah tears moment lol

“Insufferably Heterosexual”. I love that term 😂

Anyone seen Rye Lane? Best rom-com of the last year, I think it definitely has all the qualities outlined above in spades.

Whenever I watch Bridget Jones's Diary, I just go into a love spiral every time. Sometimes when I feel too “single” (for lack of a better word) I rewatch it and be reminded of how sweet to just fall in love. Rom-com’s deserved more praise and accolades than ppl give it credit for (i.e, award shows) and although this trope can be overdone and a little distasteful, when it’s done rightly, it can instantly be a classic film.

See all of this is why it was Red White & Royal Blue that ACTUALLY revived the romcom - chemistry through the roof, not white, not heterosexual, the vibes are clear, rooms and costumes reflect the characters, the family and friends are lovable and given importance, the banter is immaculate

Rye Lane and the Big Sick we’re some of my favorite romcoms of the past decade (I also loved set it up). I think part of the problem is that these movies often don’t get the wide theatrical release and get pushed to streaming with little promotion. We also really need more queer rom coms (aka not just best friend roles).

My favorite Rom-Com from the last years is Dash & Lily. It's a Netflix Mini-Series, but you can watch it in one sitting. Dash & Lily is a christmas-teenie romance, very predictable and a bit cliche. But it makes you actually care for the characters; I like the setting and costume and I think it has good writing.

annie hall was not the only romcom made in the new hollywood era. what’s up doc, harold and maude, the heartbreak kid. there’s tons of them.

Loved this video, but kinda shocked it didn't mention "Always Be My Maybe", which really brought back the formula, did quite well on Netflix, and absolutely nailed the final confession/get back together speech. But loved the attention given to 27 Dresses, which is one of my all time favorites. Also some of these comments make me think a lot of people arent clear on what a romcom entrails...(no offense y'all, but the romance genre has rules! Otherwise it's just a love story)

I love to see a film reviewer who compares and contrasts and doesn't chalk all their distastes to the vague explanation of "bad writing".

This is the hill I am willing to die on: WE NEED TO BRING BACK “OLDER” PROTAGONISTS!!! Enough with the teenagers and early 20s nonsense, I beg. Bring back the 30+/40+ protagonists!! It’s more mature, more charming, more charismatic, more romantic, more “warm and fuzzy and cozy”.

i think also worth mentioning that although the rom-com genre was very white, J.Lo was one of the biggest romcom queens and she is latina

Set it Up did more for romcoms than Anyone But You and its not even close.

The Annie Hall themed outfit - top class

When you explained: language is at the heart of romance, I swear to God I had an epiphany. The more recent romcoms are not good because they are 'dumb'. The intellectual work done in the background is missing!

Does “the worst person in the world” count as a rom-com? If so, then that’s my favorite of the genre by a country mile.

I’ve always loved My Best Friends Wedding: I love Julia’s effervescence, Paul Hogan’s ability to juggle camp and sincerity, its inversion of rom com tropes (what if the other girl was the protagonist?), and its message that love might mean that you have to accept you won’t get what you want.

I just miss the prestige rom-com like When Harry Met Sally and Moonstruck

I simply cannot watch two blonde people fall in love

Deliver Us from Eva is essentially a POC modern adaptation of Taming of The Shrew. 2003 If you've never seen it, it's a fun watch. LL Cool J links his lips like a million times. 😂

The two black romantic comedies you listed are more like dramadies. My favorite black led romantic comedies are Boomerang and Brown Sugar

this is why you’ve got mail has remained one of my all time favourite films forever . The dialogue is perfect it’s everything

As to your friend crying and not knowing why, I teared up just with the visuals in this essay.

Tbh you’re so right that the best rom coms are also about The Vibes combined with impeccable writing. Vibes make it sound like something kinda ephemeral or superficial, so I get why Nancy Meyers would take issue w/ the “everyone has a beautiful kitchen” comments abt her movies, but really, to me, “vibes” are about attention to detail. Treating a rom-com like any art deserves to be treated. I always thought the wardrobes in WHMs were so cozy and stylish, and that rly is the movie that tricked me into thinking I would like New York. The curation of the atmosphere in The Holiday is part of why I love it (and Jack black!). The friends in 4 weddings & notting hill are my favorite parts of those movies! And Carrie Fisher is so underrated in WHMS. The ensembles feel like they have real lives. Nora Ephron & Rob Reiner I remember anecdotes abt them being particularly dedicated to that level of precision. Reiner of course, a lot of the material from the movie came from real convos w Billy crystal, so there’s a combination of improv and intentionality. The 4 phone call scene from my memory was one of the hardest scenes they had to shoot & was shot like dozens of times, maybe more. Same can be said w Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan in the coffee shop in you’ve got Mail. Ephron really pushed them to get that scene right, I think Hanks has even said that’s one of the hardest scenes he had to do.

I love "When Harry Met Sally". It's just the perfect movie. For me, the end speech of makes me happy for the simple line, "It's because 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." Just dialogue gold. You also see them change based on each others opinions. She tells him to start dating again, which he does, while at one point Harry says to her, "You should wear skirts more. You look good in skirts." In the next scene she's wearing a skirt. It's not for him, but his opinion matters to her. And finally, the "Pecan Pie" conversation was unscripted. You can see Meg Ryan look over to Rob Reiner offscreen in a sort of panic so their chemistry was real.

There could honestly be an entire video about why modern movies insist on having the cinematography so slick and shiny, why the leads must always be perfectly coiffed and manicured, and why the set dressing is always so sparse and clinical. I hate it so much, it’s distracting - not just in romcoms. Watch any genre prior to the 2010s, and unless the themes/script specifically call for a minimalist/empty aesthetic, there’s gonna be clutter. People are gonna look rumpled, their boots and cars have a little scuffing and dirt on them. You hit the nail on the head describing Anyone But You as having a “commercial” look, it’s as if these films are perfectly curated ads for a type of lifestyle, as opposed to telling us about the characters through the way they have their hair/clothes/living spaces. It really takes me out of a story every time because I’ll be looking at a set thinking, “nobody lives like this! Do they live in a showhome? Did they just get their clothes TODAY???” For example, the other week I watched No Hard Feelings. In one of the first scenes a character arrives with a tow truck - this character is working class, in a seaside community, and clearly does this towing job for a living, he’s busy. So where’s the rust? Where’s the mud on the truck, where’s the salt corrosion from the sea?! Why does it look SHINY like it rolled right out of a showroom 5 minutes before the scene? It BOTHERS MEEEEEE I don’t know what the reason is either. Not sure you can point to budget constraints, since a lot of movies where this is a problem are actually higher in budget than their equivalent would have been in the 90s. Is it just lack of care and investment into the art departments? Are the sets being made with cgi?!? I have to know 😅

I'm so glad you talked about Bridge Jones Diary, that movie is so funny and romantic in a non cliché way I love it so much 😭

“A woman who is 30 or older”…. and fatigued I guess I’m entering my rom-com era 💅

i know it’s not mentioned but last year i watched while you were sleeping, & it truly think it is up there with some of the best romcoms, and for me, it was truly the chemistry, the writing, and even the feel of the film, that made it for me, and it makes me miss that era of romcoms! I also feel like the new romcoms don’t do tropes as we nowadays and truly for me, that can make or break it

YES 27 DRESSES IS SO UNDERRATED! I GENUINELY LOVE 27 DRESSES AS WELL. The conflict and stakes in 27 Dresses are well fleshed out, and the relationship with the sister is so complex yet real. The scene where Tess finds out her sister has cut up the dress and called it ugly is so insane and rage inducing. Also Judy Greer as Tess's best friend is such a real one. I too did not enjoy Anyone But You. The world didn't feel lived in, there was no colour or texture or us even knowing what they did in the lives of these characters---- in 27 Dresses for example, we know about Tess's job, which department Judy Greer is in, how they take their drinks, Tess's obsession with her filofax. Everything in Anyone But You was glossy and pretty and shiny but incredibly generic. There were no stakes, and I genuinely didn't know why I should root for this couple. I've watched very very flawed and silly romantic comedis and dramas/melodramas (especially Asian ones where I know the writing is incredibly over the top) and yet they still sell me on it because they give me something to root for with the couple. An inherent sincerity, or chemistry, or charm. I like Sydney Sweeney a lot but I agree I don't think she has the comedic chops for a romantic comedy.

I hate that the one scene that gets recognition from harry met sally is the stupid fake orgasm scene. There are so many great scenes and witty dialogue that is more deserving to be remembered. What made many rom coms great is despite the tropes, there was chemistry between the actors, smart and witty dialogue, and certain elements that separate them from another.

honestly, my favorite rom com within the last 5 years has to be Rye Lane

I’m deeply grateful for you making this video essay. Rom-Coms is one of my favorite movie genres, especially in a world where most films are too serious and moody. Rom-Coms bring much needed lightness to the world 🙏 When Harry Met Sally should be considered as one of the greatest films ever made.

A video defending melodramas and THEN one on romcoms not much later?! We're living the dream

YES the KITCHENS! the love story in you've got mail is rancid, but the vibessss. the neighborhood, the costuming, the side characters are so fun. its not as strong as harry met sally but its so charming. the environment reinforces the characters!

Best romcoms of the last five-ish years are Palm Springs and Plus One, hands down. And if you want a non-white, non straight 2000s romcom you all have GOT to check out Saving Face

I’m a simple girl, I see When Harry Met Sally, I click

You should watch Plus One! It came out in 2019 and I feel like no one talks about it but it’s so good!!! The characters feel super real and you find yourself desperately wanting them to work things out.

I'm sure the roots go back deeper but it feels to me like the wonderful It Happened One Night (which I spotted a clip of in this) really set the template of meet-cute gone-wrong followed by their begrudging warming up to each other. It holds up quite well, it's one of the few Capra movies I actually like.

i think it’s hilarious that they say rom coms set women’s standards for love too high… as if we shouldn’t have high standards…

Ooh that 30s urgency was quite a trope

I'm in minute 1, and I just gotta say, the dialogue of "who's afraid of virginia woolf?" from minute 1 to minute done is the most mesmerizing performance of words i have watched. 131 minutes straight of spoken madness and emotion

I think the reason people like Gilmore Girls so much is because it follows the sort of romcom cliche mixed with sitcom (by this I mean, spunky characters that feel like your sort of best friend, and a really sweet little setting full of personality) romcoms are sort of lighthearted sweet films that you can always get behind and I think people have sort of lost touch that it doesn’t need to be the most emotionally impactful thing, it just needs to be sweet and fun

All the points on writing... yes YES! To see Anyone But You, "pulling" from the hilariously witty Much Ado duo whose banter is *peak* screwball comedy, and giving us the bland Bea and Ben instead was rather disappointing. Their dialogue _should_ be funny, sharp, tense, teasing, sexy and a little sad because of their history together! Also, Beatrice in the play is written to have _many_ more "romcom heroine qualities" - being an *older* single woman, cynical in love yet cheerful and optimistic in life and having had a failed past relationship where she felt betrayed (by Benedick). I didnt understand why in ABY Bea was described as the _younger_ sister of the Hero-equivalent Halle, while in Much Ado About Nothing, it was _significant_ to their characters that Beatrice is the elder of the two! She is the experienced one whose younger more innocent cousin, Hero, is experiencing love uncynically for the first time with a young guy who's come to their house! Benedick and Beatrice also have the deep emotional character moments Broey talks about, together at the wedding of Hero, and Claudio, young friend of Benedick, where Claudio slanders Hero in public. Beatrice defends Hero's honour and gives a resonant speech about being a woman in this world, and Benedick is the only one to side with the women and listen to her. As they admit their feelings for each other in such a dark moment, she tells him to kill Claudio and he accepts, even though they're friends and he's spent the whole play arguing with her. He listens to her rage. Ultimately, underneath all that sparring, the two truly respect each other and there is a deep love. ABY lacks that level of serious emotional climax because there is no real Hero/Claudio plot or indeed a functional replacement for that dramatic storyline. This again ties into Broey's point on Halley being underwritten af... and pretty much every side character in the movie. Just to be clear, I'm happy ABY exists and made a lot of money, because maybe now Hollywood will spend the money to produce a well-written romantic comedy script. Meanwhile, the Kenneth Branagh 90s Shakespeare adaptation starring him and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice will be on repeat in my house. That and Philadelphia Story for proper chemistry via banter!

Thank you VERY MUCH! I saw "Anyone but you" yesterday and was left with the same "what's missing?" feeling you described. And thanks for the list of movies that I'm going to (re)watch in order to revive this genre in my heart 💜

Your video essays are so well researched and so chill and always do a fantastic job establishing and discussing the promised topic. I love vibing to your videos and sharing them with whoever will watch! - Rizzo

A rom com that i really like but it's often overlooked is Imagine Me & You. It holds up surprisingly well given its queer themes!

this is easily one of my most favorite videos i've ever watched. its super rare that i feel the need to come back and rewatch a video within the same day i watched it for the very first time. i thought your analysis was extremely thorough and passionate. i could tell you're a true rom-com fan!! at the same time you opened my eyes to things i hadnt even realized. i agree with almost everything you said. thank you again for sharing your art with us!!

I'm so glad you made this. I'm one of the only people in my group that loves this genre and you've perfectly laid out why. The incredible Jessica James is one from 2017 that got the formula right in my opinion and Definitely Maybe is probably my favorite of them all. But you've named some all time greats throughout the vid as well. Love this.

I know these videos take so much more effort than it seems. You manage to be creative and well-articulated while including the context and background needed! I'm always frustrated at video essays that seem scrapped together and aren't thoughtfully produced. I'm always so impressed by you!!

Set It Up on Netflix is also a great romance that hits most of what you mentioned of a good Romantic/Comedy.

You really are such an inspiration. Not only is your insight and criticism brilliant, but your writing too. This is such a phenomenally written script!! I always get so excited for your videos and treat these like an event, and When Harry Met Sally is my favorite movie so this is truly a gift :,)

Thank you so much for this video! I’ve been working on a script for a while based on Much Ado - the same Shakespeare play Anyone But You was based off of, except mine takes place in college Greek Life, with Bea being an activist morally opposed to the system. When the Sydney Sweeney movie came out and did so well financially, I almost quit mine, but feeling similarly about that script’s failings and having a deep love for rom coms pushed me to keep going with it. I just took multiple pages of notes on this video to help with my next draft so I wanted to say THANK YOU! The research and obvious thought and care you put into these videos means more than you may realize and definitely helped inspire me today!

The Anyone but you slander WILL be tolerated and encouraged!

Me thinking how much I love Susan two seconds before Broey's "I love her" pops up in the captions 🤣

You're rocking the Annie Hall look!

I'm a huge fan of When Harry Met Sally - thanks for all the further watching suggestions. Also, your outfit for this video is iconic.

You are, genuinely, so good at what you do.

i’m just beaming this whole video!!! my favorite movie in the whole world is whms and my fave genre is rom coms so this feels tailor made. a good rom com is special and hard to do, and you’ve captured the elements perfectly

Bridget Jones's Diary is S-tier and I love seeing you break down what makes it so special

My favourite rom-com is the Korean 2001 classic My Sassy Girl it tells the typical rom-com story in the wrong order it's so crazy but well-balanced it's funny, melodramatic and romantic. Second is Brown Sugar it's mature, and charming and the music is great; Queen Latifa is everything in that movie.

This is everything I want in a video essay

Great video! Your dissecting of the rom com - a genre I don't seek on my own - made me think, if maybe horror - a genre I enjoy - and rom com are aiming at a similar goals but from different point of views and with different tools: the fears, frustrations and downfalls of life.

i think this is why i am enjoying korean romance dramas because they hit most of the points you raised, while they are tropey, it's cute, cringe, funny and it makes me cry in the end.

Nora Ephron the genius that you are. Her and Nancy Meyers tied in first place.

I'm honestly baffled when I hear people say that romcoms died in the 2010s because there are several from that decade that I love and that I think hit the same marks that Broey says When Harry Met Sally and Bridget Jones do: -Sleeping with Other People (which follows the formula of When Harry Met Sally) -Set it up -Always Be My Maybe (which also follows WHMS formula) -Plus One

This is such a good essay! really good points made. A recent movie I liked, although not a RomCom more of a Teen Com, was Prom Pact, it does tick most of the points you've made in the video. There’s a good base of personality on the main characters, a good enough script, there's the "stake", and even a speech, yet it doesn't fall on a so obvious cliche by de end... oh and a great 80s soundtrack! so I recommend it to anyone looking for a new fun movie

Can we talk about You've Got Mail? My favourite rom com by far 😍 The warm vibes ☀️🥰

7:16 Ok so Hannah sitting in a dark room about to cry caught me off guard lol. She is always so lively on the pod that seeing her sad was jarring!

This was so good. You've got me headed off on a rom-com binge. Excellent video!

Your videos are so well written. Thank you!

Beautifully said! Rom coms are nothing without good writers

Fave romcom is usually dependent on why I’m seeking them out in the moment. The ones I go back to the most are probably notting hill (I basically watched that one and Greek Wedding on a loop in 2020; it just makes me less anxious for some reason) and wedding singer. It’s weird that wedding singer works for me because Sandler is the furthest thing from a “romantic lead” that I can think of, but I love the chemistry between Robbie and Julia. Because I like people singing to Drew Barrymore and I like Hugh Grant playing a washed up weirdo, I also like music and lyrics a lot. There’s a lot of good favorites being mentioned in the comments here. It’s getting some attention but Plus One convinced me to go consume most everything Maya Erskine has done. I’m partial to the opposites attract kind of conflict in romcoms, and so think Set It Up (a better vehicle for G. Powell than ABY) and the Hating Game are pretty fun movies. I also like what I can only call “British sensibility” romcoms and I return to those often. I’ve mentioned Notting Hill already, but Fever Pitch (starring Colin Firth not Jimmy Fallon) is great on that front. Same with Man Up (Simon Pegg and Lake Bell), and Imagine Me and You (Lena Headey). And there’s the ones I watch just because I find everyone attractive in them. These aren’t great romcoms, but I can’t help but love them just because I love looking at the people in them. The Hating Game fits in this list as well as the ‘opposites attract’ list. Mentioned in the video is 27 Dresses, and I love that one. But in that list of movies where I’m just attracted to EVERYone is The Proposal; Definitely, Maybe; How to Lose A Guy; and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Common through lines of Ryan and Matthew are self evident. Honorable mentions are the teen romcoms SexAppeal and The Half of It. I’m not sure they really count as romcoms due to their endings, but they hit a lot of the same beats. Each does something I won’t spoil with the “Big Romantic Gesture” that I really liked, and tries teach their protagonists a lesson about growth, hurt, and love in a way that was sweet without being contrived (or so I thought). And lastly a more recent-ish one that really, really surprised me is Marry Me with Owen W and Jennifer L. It’s a very similar dynamic to Notting Hill, and I genuinely loved it. Highly recommend for something fun. Whew.

Phenomenal essay, you never miss Broey!

I loved the video, but I wish it had been longer. I would love for you to make a part II ❤

Babe wake up Broey dropped

i love you sm and I'm so grateful that you exist

The picture you use for rehash is one of the most beautiful things I have seen