Falling in love at the movies Rom-coms from the screwball era to today

Romantic comedies have been a popular genre of movies since since films arrived on the cultural landscape in the very early twentieth century, and they remain popular to the present day. Entertainment journalist Zuckerman (Beyond the Best Dressed, 2022) has compiled a historical overview of the genre that not only looks at many of the major players in the field but also examines many of the tropes that have developed in rom-coms since the 1920s. Most of the names Zuckerman mentions have the fond familiarity of old, dear friends: directors from George Cukor to Nora Ephron, actors from Katharine Hepburn to Meg Ryan, from Cary Grant to Tom Hanks. The author clearly knows her stuff but avoids being dryly academic, maintaining the breezy feel of a knowledgeable aficionado talking casually with a group of fellow fans. For devotees of the genre, from serious cinephiles to the casual viewer, Falling In Love at the Movies will provide an informative and pleasant stroll through a garden of cinematic enjoyment.

If romantic comedies are the love letters of cinema, this book is a love letter to romantic comedies. In a brief and upbeat style, entertainment journalist Zuckerman (Beyond the Best Dressed) covers rom-coms from 1930s to today, focusing on key elements of the genre. Through dozens of perfect examples, she explores tropes like the "meet-cute"; Relatable Queens vs. Spitfires (Meg Ryan or Jean Arthur vs. Reese Witherspoon or Katharine Hepburn); the essential side characters of the Best Friend (often played by Judy Greer) and the Man in Crisis (many of John Cusack's roles); the art of deception in Some Like It Hot and Tootsie; realistic but unhappy endings like those in Broadcast News or My Best Friend's Wedding; LGBTQIA+ films (Jeffrey; The Wedding Banquet); and, of course, the high school classics (Sixteen Candles; Clueless). One chapter focuses on three archetypal rom-com couplings: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Wisely, Zuckerman also explores the degree to which many of these films haven't aged well (see: the sexism of the Hepburn/Tracy pictures and the outlandish plots of the Day/Hudson films). VERDICT An enjoyable tribute to a beloved film genre.--Peter Thornell