Romantic Comedy

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Audience Member I went out of my way to watch this only to be severely disappointed. This isn't a documentary about the evolution of rom coms nor an insightful essay on rom coms and their effect on society, but instead, one person's sad revelation that romantic comedies aren't real life and using them for real-life guidance could produce disastrous results. That's why they're called movies, Sankey. What will she do for an encore? Blame her unfulfilled childhood on the realization that there never was a Santa Clause? Throughout the "documentary", writer/director Sankey through the voice of Jessica Barden - who coincidentally doesn't list Romantic Comedy on her IMDB page - complains about various aspects of the rom coms, only to contradict herself with the very next clip. Even by selectively cherry-picking movies, she can't seem to make a salient point. I use the word documentary in quotes because this was a one-sided argument that doesn't seek truth, but instead, validation for one person's failed relationships. Along the way - two other bodiless voices are heard interjecting their opinions as if we even know who they are or why their opinions matter. Overall, this was basically a mash-up of rom com clips and a way for Sankey to get Summer Camp, her band's music, out of the garage. There's no point to this show. No thesis to explore. Just a jaded, wanna-be musician who blames the world for her failures. Hard pass. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/05/25 Full Review Audience Member Released on MUBI, Elizabeth Sankey's 2019 documentary plays like a continuous compilation of romantic comedy clips, stretching from 1938's Bringing Up Baby to more recent additions such as The Big Sick or even La La Land, as she vocalizes a deconstructive essay on the evolution and shortcomings of the genre and how it affected her growing up watching these films. Sporadically, unnamed and unseen voices from critics, actors and filmmakers pop up with a quip or a brief commentary, while three superfluous but original songs are featured seemingly for no other reason than to break the flow of the dissertation. Whilst I agree her analysis and observations are generally insightful and well-considered, I'd argue that she has not quite found the correct presentation for it. There is a serious case of incongruity here, in a film that falls between two stools, neither working as a celebratory clipshow that can cater for fans of the genre (while providing an opportunity to introduce them to something different and fresh that they may not have seen or be aware of) nor a more serious academic investigation of a genre that audience often takes for granted. The resulting film ends up feeling too dry for the former and a bit random and spread too thin for the latter. For a film that's barely 80 mins long, I just couldn't understand why no love for the milestone making Love, Simon from 2018 and why, after alluding to the ways the genre has evolved to stay relevant by embracing subject matters that are not white, middle-class and heterosexual, did the film decides to stop just as things are getting interesting? Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Romantic Comedy

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