Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema

269 Pages·2009·5.63 MB·English

by  Stacey Abbott

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Romantic Comedy
in Contemporary Cinema

Edited by
Stacey Abbott &
Deborah Jermyn
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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
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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.’
~
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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
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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
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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
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