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Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema PDF

269 Pages·2009·5.63 MB·English
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Falling in Love.indb 1 25/06/2008 16:17:04 Falling in Love.indb 2 25/06/2008 16:17:05 Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema Edited by Stacey Abbott & Deborah Jermyn Falling in Love.indb 3 25/06/2008 16:17:06 Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright selection and editorial material © 2009 Stacey Abbott and Deborah Jermyn Copyright individual chapters © 2009 Stacey Abbott, Karen Bowdre, Alan Dodd, Martin Fradley, Lesley Harbidge, Claire Hines, Annabelle Honess Roe, Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Deborah Jermyn, Janet McCabe, Hilary Radner, Sean Redmond, Brigitte Rollet, Kyle Stevens, Robynn J. Stilwell, Paul Sutton The right of Stacey Abbott and Deborah Jermyn to be identified as the editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, eletronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978 1 84511 771 9 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Typeset by JCS Publishing Services Ltd, www.jcs-publishing.co.uk Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press India Ltd Falling in Love.indb 4 25/06/2008 16:17:06 ~ Deborah dedicates this book to Matt – More Marlon than Hugh, but always my leading man – you had me at ‘Cello’. ~ Stacey dedicates this book to Simon – ¯ ‘And that smile that wrinkles your nose, ¯ Touches my foolish heart.’ ~ Falling in Love.indb 5 25/06/2008 16:17:06 Falling in Love.indb 6 25/06/2008 16:17:06 ~ Contents List of Illustrations ix List of Contributors xi Acknowledgements xv Introduction – A Lot Like Love: The Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema Stacey Abbott and Deborah Jermyn 1 1. I ♥ NY: The Rom-Com’s Love Affair with New York City Deborah Jermyn 9 2. Music, Ritual, and Genre in Edward Burns’ Indie Romantic Comedies Robynn J. Stilwell 25 3. Après le Coup de Foudre: Narrative, Love and Spectatorship in Groundhog Day Paul Sutton 38 4. Prom-Coms: Reliving the Dreams and Nightmares of High-School Romance Stacey Abbott 52 5. The Healing Power of Romantic Love in Popular Indian Romantic Comedies: Raja Hindustani: Home Elsewhere and Elsewhere Home Sean Redmond 65 6. A ‘Special Relationship’? The Coupling of Britain and America in Working Title’s Romantic Comedies Annabelle Honess Roe 79 7. Transatlantic Exchanges and Influences: Décalage horaire (Jet Lag), Gender and the Romantic Comedy à la française Brigitte Rollet 92 Love01 pre.indd 7 25/06/2008 17:06:29 viii Falling in Love Again 8. Romantic Comedies and the Raced Body Karen Bowdre 105 9. Armed and Fabulous: Miss Congeniality’s Queer Rom- Com Claire Hines 117 10. What a Difference a Gay Makes: Marriage in the 1990s Romantic Comedy Kyle Stevens 132 11. Homme-com: Engendering Change in Contemporary Romantic Comedy Tamar Jeffers McDonald 146 12. Lost in Transition: Problems of Modern (Heterosexual) Romance and the Catatonic Male Hero in the Post-Feminist Age Janet McCabe 160 1 3. A New Direction in Comedian Comedy?: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch-Drunk Love and the Post-Comedian Rom-Com Lesley Harbidge 176 1 4. ‘I Believe that if I Hhaven’t Found my Prince Charming Already, that I Will; or he Will Find me, if he Hasn’t Already’: Jennifer Lopez, Romantic Comedy and Contemporary Stardom Alan Dodd and Martin Fradley 190 15. Le Divorce: Romance, Separation and Reconciliation Hilary Radner 208 Notes 222 Filmography 230 Teleography 235 Bibliography 236 Index 248 Falling in Love.indb 8 25/06/2008 16:17:06 ~ Illustrations 1.1 Katz’s Deli, Manhattan 11 1.2 The aerial view of ‘the island’ seen from the skies 14 1.3 The Great Hall at Ellis Island 18 1.4 Central Park 22 4.1 Drew Barrymore remembers the horrors of high school in Never Been Kissed 56 4.2 Dancing to ‘Thriller’ in 13 Going on 30 61 9.1 Pre-makeover: tomboy agent Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality 121 9.2 Post-makeover: gorgeous Gracie’s spectacular reveal in Miss Congeniality 123 9.3 Bosom buddies: Gracie and ‘partner’ Sam in Miss Congeniality 2 130 10.1 The gay male gaze in As Good As It Gets 140 11.1 The last image of You’ve Got Mail 151 11.2 Reuben’s irritable bowel syndrome makes itself conspicuous on a date in Along Came Polly 153 14.1 Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey discuss the ‘authenticity’ of brown M&Ms in The Wedding Planner 196 14.2 Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes and the white Dolce & Gabbana suit in Maid in Manhattan 201 14.3 Jennifer Lopez conspicuously struggles to fit into the symbolic vintage dress in Monster-in-Law 205 Falling in Love.indb 9 25/06/2008 16:17:06

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