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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Vindicated?

Over at pajiba, there's this: Ranking, Without Comment, the Last 53 Romantic Comedies Released in North America. You just know I'm going to have comments. Like, "You're joking with The Ugly Truth all the way up at 39, right? I've seen When In Rome. It's stupid, but it's nowehere near as painful as The Ugly Truth. But the real beauty of this list for me is their last place ranking, which is Leap Year. In case you're curious, here's what I thought of that film (their review of it is here):


Leap Year**SPOILERIFICPlotwise, Leap Year is one of the better romantic comedies I've seen lately (faint praise, I know). Matthew Goode is attractive and perfectly capable of charming, and Amy Adams' hair looks fabulous. All of this makes it even more unfortunate that the movie so clearly hates women. That's a strong statement, I know. And, I doubt that the filmmakers realize that they hate women. But here's what I consider the strongest example. Anna gets humiliated repeatedly, culminating in the alarm scene (a nice touch, to be honest). In the end, she goes back to Ireland, gives a speech that makes it clear that, in her eyes, the solution is to be someone totally different than she has been, and proposes to Declan in his now-crowded gastro-pub. And he, without saying a word, turns and walks away. Yes, we know he's going to get the ring, which is sweet. But, he also humiliates her in front of a room full of people. More than that, he is completely unapologetic about it. That's neither romantic nor comedic.
Leap Year is not the worst romantic comedy I've seen lately (that would be The Ugly Truth), but it may be the most insidiously misogynistic, and the fact that it passes for a romantic comedy is troubling. This is not to say that there are no sweet or funny moments in the movie. There are, but they are, in my opinion, not enough to balance the rest of it.
I suspect that Pajiba and I disagree on how bad the movie actually is, given how high they ranked The Ugly Truth (COME ON!), but it makes me happy to see it in last place. Behind The Love Guru, which they couldn't even find a funny clip of for the trailers.

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