Femmes Banales
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What Women Want in a Nutshell
Takes place in: Chicago
Rips off: The Taming of the Shrew
Unique spin: The shrew's a man; telepathy
Rom-com stalwarts: Asshole boss; SCK
Members of central couple involved in journalism or advertising: Both
High points: None
Low points: Repeated scenes of violent electrocution played for laughs
Point of contemplation: This total crapfest features three Oscar winners AND Alan Alda
10-word summary: If this is what women want, I am a man.
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The key element in any romantic comedy is, clearly, the romance. Yet often, and certainly in the six films I watched, the audience isn't given any concrete evidence that the two central characters are actually in love. In Serendipity, Johnathan and Sara meet at a department store and, after inane banter, go ice skating together. During this time, Sara fires questions at Johnathan. She learns that he likes the movie Cool Hand Luke among other useless facts. He learns that's she's English. That's it. Yet as they part ways Johnathan says they have just spent “the most magical night of [their lives]” together. And we, the audience, are supposed to believe that there is genuine feeling there.
The trouble is that modern romantic comedies have come to rely too heavily on the chemistry between and likability of their lead actors. The scripts don't offer any compelling explanation of the connection between the central couple. Instead the filmmakers assume that the charm of the actors will serve as its own evidence. Serendipity exposes the fragility of this system, for the lead actors seem resolutely indifferent to each other. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale may be perfectly lovable individually, but together it's like watching third graders do Romeo and Juliet. I swear, Max Von Sydow had better chemistry with the stuffed Linda Blair doll in The Exorcist.
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