From ‘Ninotchka’ to ‘Love Actually’: A celebration of the romantic comedy

In his book From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy, Scott Meslow lays out two ways to tell if a given movie is a rom-com. First, his own definition: “A romantic comedy is a movie where (1) the central plot is focused on at least one romantic love story; and (2) the goal is to make you laugh at least as much as the goal is to make you cry.”

And then, The Donald Petrie Test, named for the director of some rom-coms, like Mystic Pizza and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but also some edge cases, like Miss Congeniality and Grumpy Old Men: “If you removed the love story from this [comedy], would you still have a movie? If the answer is no, it’s a romantic comedy. […] If the answer is yes, it’s a comedy with a romantic subplot.”

So those are the litmus tests. Now, does that make Broadcast News a rom-com, or no? What about Annie Hall? Or something like Grosse Pointe Blank? How about His Girl Friday? Or even, actually, Love Actually?

This hour, a deconstruction — and celebration — of the romantic comedy.

GUESTS:

• Illeana Douglas: The Official Movie Star of The Colin McEnroe Show
• David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic
• Scott Meslow: Author of From Hollywood with Love

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired August 24, 2022.

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