Everyone has long been accustomed to the fact that the romantic comedy is one of the most clichéd genres in cinema. The two suddenly meet, a spark immediately arises between them, and throughout the film they will overcome all obstacles in order to live happily ever after after the final credits. What if a girl falls in love with zombies or a guy gets stuck in a time loop? What if the film explores relationships from idyll to total relationship breakdown while remaining a comedy? It is about such cases of unusual rom-coms later in the article.
“Always Say YES” (2008)
- Kinopoisk: 7.8.
- IMDb: 6.8.
When it comes to comedies, the image of Jim Carrey involuntarily appears in my head. And although the actor most often starred in crazy and sometimes shameless films, the romantic comedy Always Say YES was among them. Moreover, this movie can be called a kind of rethinking of the early comedy with Carrey “Liar, Liar.” Only there, Jim’s character was forbidden to lie, and in this film the hero had to answer “Yes” to all questions and suggestions, which leads him to incredible adventures, as well as finding love. Carrey received the MTV Movie Awards for Best Comedy Performance for his work in the film. In addition to the legendary comedian, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper and other actors also appear on the screen.
The average manager Carl Allen is afraid of everything new. He is unsociable, always refuses any offers and opportunities. Because of this attitude to life, Karl feels overwhelmed. Soon the girl leaves him, and the relationship with his only friend becomes as tense as possible. One day, Karl gets to a motivating psychological seminar, where all participants are convinced that the word “No” does not exist, and from now on all proposals must be answered only “Yes”. So, in an instant, the life of the hero turns into a crazy adventure in which there is nothing forbidden.
- To the point: 10 Movies That Made Jim Carrey Into World Cinema History
“500 Days of Summer” (2009)
- Kinopoisk: 7.6.
- IMDb: 7.7.
It is believed that a romantic comedy should tell a story of incredible love, when two people literally at first sight understand how they are drawn to each other. And then they overcome all the difficulties encountered on the way to being together. 500 Days of Summer (originally called 500 days of Summer, and Summer is the name of the main character, although the word is translated as “summer”) takes a different route and talks about how a fairy tale can turn into a nightmare, while remaining a funny romantic comedy with an intriguing ending. In the main female role, Zooey Deschanel is again, but this time Joseph Gordon-Levitt sought her heart.
The main character named Tom works in an agency that produces greeting cards. It is he who comes up with all those funny signatures that people then read to each other at the holidays. He does not really believe in love at first sight, until one January morning, the girl Summer gets a job with them in the department. The guy falls in love with his new colleague and decides that she is the one and only. However, after 500 days of their relationship, both characters completely change their ideas about love, relationships, happiness and other related concepts. This path was filled with both funny adventures and bitter discoveries.
“Friendship” (2011)
- Kinopoisk: 7.1.
- IMDb: 6.5.
Will Gluck became famous thanks to the light and unobtrusive comedy of 2010 “Easy A” (and opened the way to the big movie Emma Stone). And already in 2011 he entered the territory of rom-coms. True, he decided to make an unusual line of development of relations between the characters. Friendship offers a look at relationships and romance from the point of view of people living in the heyday of social networks and tired of the clichés of romantic films, which ultimately appealed to critics and audiences alike. In addition, everyone noted the incredible chemistry between the main characters (played, by the way, by Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis). The film also achieved impressive box office success.
Dylan and Jamie meet through work. He was recently dumped by a girl, and her by a guy. Both of them are not very eager to enter into a romantic relationship in the near future, but they are not averse to having fun with someone. Dylan and Jamie find the optimal solution – a relationship that is limited to bed. No trips to the cinema, prickly roses and joint dinners. However, the more time they spend with each other, the more clearly they understand that their idea has long been squandered, because the film of the beloved director of both is in the cinema, roses were sold at a discount, and you still want to eat in the evenings. What will win in the end: contract or love?
“Why he?” (2016)
- Kinopoisk: 6.6.
- IMDb: 6.2.
James Franco is a very versatile person. He performs strong roles in the theater, writes books and scripts, and shows his strength in other art forms. However, to the general public, he is best known for his silly and even idiotic roles in crazy comedies with Danny McBride (Brave Pepper) and Seth Rogen (The Interview). “Why he?” is considered a more soulful and even family romantic comedy, starring such serious actors as Bryan Cranston and Zoey Deutch. However, Franco with his jokes (and on the set the actors were given complete freedom in improvisation) can turn a cute film into something crazy and, accordingly, unusual.
Ned Fleming comes to Stanford to visit his eldest daughter, Stephanie. There he meets her boyfriend Laird Mayhew, an eccentric video game developer. The guy is handsome and rich, but his strange behavior makes Ned resentful. The head of the family comes into conflict with the chosen one of his daughter. The degree of rivalry also jumps from the fact that Laird is going to propose to Stephanie. James Franco looks so natural in the role of Laird that it seems that this is not an image, but himself. By the way, some of the paintings in the hero’s house are the works of the actor himself.
“50 First Dates” (2004)
- Kinopoisk: 7.3.
- IMDb: 6.8.
No matter how anyone treats him, Adam Sandler is an iconic figure in the cinema and just a good person. Tapes with his participation are funny and not very funny, they are super-successful and disastrous. “50 First Dates” falls into the first category. Moreover, being a romantic comedy, it practically does not repeat the standard clichés for the genre thanks to the original idea with the memory loss of one of the characters. A couple of Sandler on the screen was Drew Barrymore. Interestingly, in the original the film was called 50 First Kisses (“50 first kisses”) at the development stage, but it was released as 50 First Dates (“50 first dates”), which is much closer to the plot and idea of the tape.
Lovelace Henry changes girls like gloves. He just gets bored with them literally after an hour of acquaintance. However, one day he meets Lucy, with whom he spends one of the best days of his life. Henry believes he has found true love. Imagine his surprise when the next morning the girl behaved as if she did not remember the man at all. It turns out that once Lucy got into a car accident and damaged the part of the brain responsible for memory. The girl perfectly remembers everything that happened before the accident, but nothing after. Now Henry will have to fall in love with Lucy every day anew.
“Pretend to be my wife” (2011)
- Kinopoisk: 7.3.
- IMDb: 6.4.
“Pretend to be My Wife” is another successful and unusual romantic comedy, to which Adam Sandler had a hand. Interestingly, the tape is actually a remake of the 1969 rom-com “Cactus Flower”, based on the Broadway production, in turn, based on the text of the French play Fleur de cactus. Throughout the film, the characters only pretend to be a couple for the sake of achieving their own goals. However, is it possible to play love so convincingly if there is no spark between people? Probably not. It is to this understanding that the heroes come. In addition to Sandler, Friends star Jennifer Aniston and Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman starred in the film.
Even in his youth, Danny Maccoby broke up with his bride right at the altar, having learned that she was cheating on him. Then in a bar, he came up with a story about a tyrant wife who helped him glue girls. Twenty years later, Danny became a successful plastic surgeon, but he still enjoyed the story. Until one day I met a girl with whom this trick did not work. He realized that he fell in love, but now he needs to confirm his story with a crazy wife, as well as his intentions to divorce her. Danny will forgive his faithful assistant Katherine for playing along. From that moment on, the flywheel of awkward and comical situations can no longer be stopped.
“Hang Out in Palm Springs” (2020)
- Kinopoisk: 7.3.
- IMDb: 7.4.
“Hang Out in Palm Springs” is a modern reimagining of the 1993 film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. It performed so well at the Sundance Film Festival that the screening rights were immediately bought by the Hulu streaming platform for crazy money. And if Groundhog Day, nominally also considered a romantic comedy, explored more precisely the fantastic side of the time loop and the life of the protagonist in it (the character tried to find a way out, solve problems, atone for sins, and only towards the end realized that he had fallen in love with a girl), then “Hang Out in Palm Springs” immediately dives into the relationship between the couple. The film received 95% positive reviews from critics, which is an incredible result for a rom-com exploiting an old idea.
Niles came to Palm Springs with his girlfriend for her friend’s wedding. At the end of the event, the guy got into some kind of mystical cave, and the next morning he found that he was in a time loop. Now for him every day is November 9th. Each time, Niles tries to do something different: flirt with another guest, do something crazy, run away from the city, and even commit suicide. But he still wakes up in the same bed in Palm Springs. And when it seemed to him that he had already experienced all possible scenarios, the sister of the bride named Sarah enters the cave.
“The Warmth of Our Bodies” (2013)
- Kinopoisk: 6.9.
- IMDb: 6.8.
In 2013, the zombie film “The Warmth of Our Bodies” was released, and to say that it was unusual is to say nothing, because this is a romantic comedy in which the living dead is the hero. Moreover, the names of the characters in the tape are a reference to Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”: “R” – Romeo, Julia – Juliet, Perry – Paris, “M” – Mercutio and so on. That is, a real Shakespearean romantic story will unfold before the audience, but about zombies. The film stars Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. The rest of the cast includes John Malkovich, Dave Franco and Analeigh Tipton.
The world is affected by a terrible virus. The dead come to life and feed on living people. People are slowly adapting to new conditions and begin to win the war against zombies. However, among the dead, it turns out, there are those who are able to think somehow, and there are those who are trying to devour even their own kind. One day, one of the representatives of the first category, a zombie named “R”, saves the girl Julie. A friendship develops between them. Julie sees ‘R’ trying to evolve and re-learning to be human. But people, of course, perceive the new acquaintance of the girl with hostility. Meanwhile, the zombies are forced to ask people for help, because the Bones (as those who eat even dead flesh are called) have started hunting them.
Source: Trash Box
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
