Are We Really In A "Rom-Com Renaissance"?

From a completely biased perspective.

Hey, it’s J*ss. Not J*ss. That’s right. Don’t adjust whatever device you’re reading this on. It’s me. 

If you’re on Twitter as much as me, seek help immediately. Stop reading this newsletter and go outside.

(Pictured above : A stock photo of grass, a jump scare for people who are as active on Twitter as me.)

But also, if you’re on Twitter as much as me, you’ve probably seen takes along the lines of “Wow, we sure are in the rom-com renaissance!” any time vaguely recognizable C-list actors join forces to do a film on streaming services known for their less-than-acclaimed (trying to put it as nice as possible to avoid receiving allegations that I am bullying crew members) romantic productions.

Let me take a step back by stating the obvious : I am a rom-com enjoyer. A rom-com stan, even. A true enthusiast of the craft. Sabrina (1954) and Love, Rosie (2014) are two of my favorite movies of all time and that’s not even touching on teen romcom classics such as Legally Blonde (2001), Clueless (1995), Easy A (2010) and Mean Girls (2004) - though, if you care to differentiate, all of those are more or less closer to coming-of-age teen comedies rather than romantic comedies, but they feature romance as main plot points, so I don’t care to differentiate. My point being, I will always watch a rom-com with tons of good faith to spare. It’s very hard for me to not love a rom-com, honestly. When it’s tropey, I love the tropes in question - and when it’s not tropey, I love the subversion of expectations. It’s a win-win for me. But I’ve been pondering the question, now more than ever, are we really, truly in a rom-com renaissance?

(Pictured above : Gemma Chan’s Magnum Opus, Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians (2018))

Not to spoil this entire newsletter but the answer is…yes. I guess? Just a few years ago Crazy Rich Asians (2018) came out and was a major hit, both at the box office and it was mostly acclaimed from critics and audiences alike (it drew criticism as well, but it’s still a very beloved project with substantial fanfare) but before (and even after) rom-coms were fading in popularity. Specifically theatrically released and with major big budget studio support. There was Love Simon (2018) which was successful enough to spawn Hulu original series Love Victor, third and final season coming this June, but besides that…. Netflix had become a major distributor of the genre and, though there were some good exceptions (To All The Boys I Loved Before is an undisputed modern classic) the more movies that got released, the more the good ones started getting overlooked in the midst of films that seem more fitting for Lifetime or Hallmark. I’m not here to make fun of those films. I surely couldn't do better! Nothing but respect to the filmmakers. So true of you, making movies and all that!

I’m also not here to analyze when high profile rom-coms stopped getting made as frequently. I could do an entire dissertation on the genre as a whole if I so wanted to, that just isn’t my point right now. I am here to discuss the recent mini revival of them and, more importantly, whether I think we’re in a truly good place for the future of the art.

(Pictured above : Netflix original film, The Royal Treatment (2022). What I call a camp masterpiece!)

Before I even begin, I was selective in the movies I included in here. As I mentioned, Netflix has a never ending surplus, but when discussing the “renaissance” I wanted to discuss the films that are high profile, and that I’ve seen associated with the key word search “rom-com renaissance” the most. It wouldn’t be fair of me to judge the current state of rom-coms by using Tall Girl 2 (2022) or The Royal Treatment (2022) as examples, though I have watched both.

MARRY ME.

Marry Me (2022) was the last one I expected to love. It was the meme one. Nobody expected it to be good, but plenty expected it to be entertainingly bad. The trailer came out and it looked ridiculous. It looked straight out of a Wattpad wish fulfillment fan fiction with a middle aged single dad who worked too hard who loves his kid and never stops as Y/N. Can I, in good faith, say it wasn’t that? No, but I lacked foresight to think that meant I wouldn’t still love it.

I should’ve known better. Second Act (2018) is one of my favorite movies of all time, after all. I don’t know why I thought I was better than this. A mainstream rom-com with a weirdly stacked cast down to a random Jameela Jamil cameo in the last 20 minutes? Musical numbers? Maluma? There only being two Jennifer Lopez movies I actively hate out of her entire filmography? Loving this was actually quite inevitable for me.

Out of this entire line-up, this is the biggest throwback to classic rom-coms, and I think is the most successful in bringing life back into the genre this year. Hot take? Probably, but I am starting with it for a reason. I think this could become a classic! Let Jennifer Lopez and Maluma perform Marry Me (Ballad) at next year's Oscars!

(Pictured above : Maluma and Jennifer Lopez performing Marry Me - Ballad version in Marry Me (2022), aka what altered my brain chemistry permanently.)

I WANT YOU BACK.

I don’t have much to say about this one. It got the most critical acclaim, that’s something. I thought it had its moments. Really, I only included it here because it came out at around the same time as Marry Me (2022), so rom-com renaissance allegations were at full force. I really didn’t think much of it one way or the other outside of that, however I do love Mason Gooding and Manny Jacinto so much. They should both be the lead men now!

THE LOST CITY.

(Pictured above : Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City (2022))

This is one of the big fighters in our rom-com renaissance, which made me wish I liked it more. In fairness, it topped the box office and is, generally speaking, getting positive buzz so it still did its job as a brick-thrower at rom-coms Stonewall.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked it. Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and unhinged Daniel Radcliffe? Of course I enjoyed it! The leads are all so excellent! But I do think the third act was the weakest and it *sort of* killed the momentum for me, which almost made me leave the theater with a less than thrilled reaction (on top of the fact my theater screen had some technical difficulties and a duo of old ladies sat directly behind me and talked through the entire film). I can’t say I didn’t like this film! I will always support some pure innocent fun for the girls! No cons outweigh the pros for me, I don’t want to be mistaken as a hater. As I said in my Letterboxd review, I think it worked best as a comedy and when it suddenly leaned into the adventure side of things, it fell a little flat (in my opinion!!!) but it was still a comedy first and foremost and that meant it worked for the most part. I still recommended it to a lot of people at the end of the day.

MOONSHOT.

I know this probably doesn’t count as a mainstream high profile romcom, or maybe it does. I purposely included no real guidelines for what counts and what doesn’t so I could include this. This was my final straw. As soon as this film ended, I opened my documents page and started an outline for my next newsletter about how rom-coms are a dead genre and no renaissance is actually happening and why it’s all Cole Sprouse’s fault.

(Pictured above : Public Enemy #1.)

I’m kidding. My apologies to Cole Sprouse, you are not actually the root of any evil and I hope Riverdale ends one day for your sake. Now that a few days have passed since I’ve watched the film, I recognize it was entirely inoffensive and even quite cute at times. Definitely not worth any of the vitriol I felt towards it after watching.

I still felt obligated to leave this in, since it is the reason I wrote this issue to begin with, but really it just feels like any random Netflix romcom that gets put out any given week. I only watched it for Lana Condor, who is a true leading girl, and Mason Gooding, who I desperately need to get his own leading movie soon because if I have to sit through another full feature just for him to be in it for two minutes I will lose my mind.

I do think where this and The Lost City (2022) fall short is in concept. The Lost City was 2/3rds of a totally crazy hilarious comedy ride that suddenly became a nearly completely straight adventure journey which killed my personal momentum for it in the third act. Again, I know people love that movie and I love most of it, too, this is just my opinion!!! Please, don’t send me death threats!!! The real issue is that it underdeveloped the actual adventure plot to the point where it became the whole focus, it was… a shift, for sure. And when I mentioned not enjoying Moonshot (2022) on the timeline, so many replies had this sentiment that they always thought it looked or sounded bad. Which, in retrospect, I understand. I mean, see : The poster.

(Pictured above : the poster for Moonshot. Graphic design is a passion for a lot of people, to be fair.)

No hate to the people who created this poster, I respect the craft, but… I’ve been on Wattpad before. I have to point this madness out!

But I was shocked when people said they thought the concept was terrible and the trailer was terrible. It’s not as though the trailer was giving Oscars, but I didn’t see a problem. And I actually enjoy the prospect of a sci-fi space set rom-com. It could’ve done what Passengers (2016) failed to do and be watchable! I thought the material was there, and I did watch it as soon as it dropped on HBOMax. I fully believe the worst part was the chemistry between the lead romance. I already said I love Lana Condor and I don’t have any problems with Cole Sprouse, but I did have a hard time enjoying their romantic pairing in the movie, especially when they each had better love interest alternatives, chemistry wise and I’d argue story wise, too. I feel as though the better ending would’ve been they just ended up with their separate love interests and the movie would’ve been more focussed on making a buddy space comedy… but conceptually, it also isn’t lost on me that this could’ve been a great rom-com if the leads had more romantic chemistry and it took more use of its concept and setting. I won’t harp too much on it, because I don’t think anyone has great love or hate for this movie, nor do I. I rated it a completely mid 2.5/5 on Letterboxd after all. I still feel as though it didn’t have to be passable or mid. It could’ve been something pretty good, if not great.

TICKET TO PARADISE (UPCOMING).

When this movie, a rom-com starring Julia Roberts, George Clooney, and also Billie Lourd and Kaitlyn Dever in supporting roles, was announced.. something shifted. Engrave their Oscars now. I know there’s nothing to judge just yet, but I will be seated as soon as I possibly can watch it. Real cinema is making a comeback, you guys.

I would love to have made this a love (news)letter to the genre where I just talk about how many interesting and genuinely well done romantic comedies there have been over the years, but I had no excuse to do that. I will acknowledge now that romantic comedies aren’t automatically tropey and formulaic as most of the ones I’ve mentioned. Though I quite enjoy the formula, I enjoy the tropes, I don’t mean that as a criticism at all. I just mean there are also many iconic classic rom-coms that subvert the tropes or add something different to the formula. (500) Days Of Summer (2009) is practically a deconstruction of a romantic comedy and stands out because of that. I don’t know if About Time (2013) is considered a “romantic comedy” necessarily, but it does fit into this topic because I wanted Moonshot (2022) to emulate its energy more than anything else. It proved that there is room to fit other genres, specifically sci-fi, into a romantic setting and work very well. That isn’t even getting into romantic comedy musicals, specifically La La Land (2016) which, as many criticisms as I may have for it, expertly subverted while also playing into tropes that I love. The ending is done almost too well. And most recently, Palm Springs (2020) was such an interesting take on a rom-com that also incorporates sci-fi in the form of a time-loop. These are some of my favorites of the genre and each of them included some sort of twist on the formula.

(Pictured above : Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in the ending of La La Land (2016). They ate this, I think!)

My thesis being that we are not in a rom-com renaissance sort of got disproven. The rom-coms that got released this year were met with decent critical and audience acclaim and the ones that got released theatrically seemingly did pretty decent box office numbers. A better question would be if rom-coms are doing better than they have been for the past decade? Which if we continue on this trajectory with Ticket To Paradise coming out presumably later this year, could be the case!  Did I write out an entire newsletter issue just to prove myself wrong? It’s more likely than you’d think.

xoxo, not j*ss