Thursday Movie Picks - Romantic Tropes: Fake Relationships
1) She's All That - While this one isn't necessarily about two parties faking it, one of them is (initially so we're counting it) The stair scene remains iconic.
2) How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days - YOU KILLED OUR LOVE FERN!!! This movie is pretty dumb but it's also very endearing.
3) Easy A - I'm not sure if this technically qualifies as a romantic movie, but it's the first film that came to mind when I saw this theme. All of Olive's relationships in this are fake.
We share Easy A! It has a romantic ending so I'd say it is a romance.
ReplyDeleteI was very happy when I saw someone else picked it. So it wasn't a total reach. lol
DeleteI haven’t seen any of these because they just don’t seem all that appealing. Romance flicks are not my thing. I do like some rom coms but not the drippy, finger down the throat kind.
ReplyDeleteThey're not my thing either. This whole month is a bit of a challenge lol
DeleteLove your choices!!
ReplyDeleteShe's All That is so absurd, the whole "Look she took off her glasses and suddenly she's a babe!" trope is a well worn one but as long as people swallow it I'm sure it will continue. Still a fun movie, my favorite part is the school dance that suddenly becomes a Busby Berkeley production number with completely coordinated moves!!
How to Lose a Guy is from that brief period when Kate Hudson looked poised to inherit her mother's romantic comedy queen mantle. Don't know what happened there but it certainly didn't work out that way. It's my least favorite of these three but still a cute picture.
Love Easy A! Such a clever reworking of The Scarlet Letter with spot on casting in every role. LOVE Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive's parents!
The fake relationship probably goes back to silents so there were plenty of choices this week.
Picture Perfect (1997)-Kate Mosley (Jennifer Aniston) toils in a junior position at a big New York advertising agency and despite her competence cannot seem to get ahead. Turns out her boss feels she is too much of a free spirit and tells her he needs to see her commitment to settling down before she moves up in the company. So when she goes to a wedding and has a picture taken with a stranger named Nick (Jay Mohr) she passes him off as her fiancée earning her a promotion. Since he lives in Boston all is well with the deception until he becomes famous by saving a child from a burning building and her boss wants to meet him. On the spot she finds Nick and convinces him to play along but complications ensue. Bright, breezy romcom with a terrific cast.
Come Live with Me (1941)-Viennese immigrant Johnny Jones (a ravishing Hedy Lamarr) is in danger of being deported unless she gets married pronto. The problem is that her wealthy boyfriend, publisher Barton Kendrick (Ian Hunter) is already married and wife Diana (Verree Teasdale) isn’t about to give him a divorce! By chance she meets broke writer Bill Smith (James Stewart) and proposes a marriage of convenience. Instantly smitten Bill goes along but has ideas of his own. Though they seem polar opposites Hedy and Jimmy make a most compatible couple.
Hired Wife (1940)-To avoid a hostile takeover of his cement company CEO Stephen Dexter (Brian Aherne) proposes an in name only marriage to his super-efficient secretary Kendal (Rosalind Russell) so he can transfer his assets to her name. She consents but when the danger is passed and Stephen wants a divorce so he can return to his gold-digging former girlfriend Phyllis (Virginia Bruce) Kendal, who carries a torch for him, pulls all sorts of tricks and ploys to maintain the ruse. Roz was one of the queens of this sort of screwy comedies in the 40’s and she’s a vivacious delight here.
Kate Hudson really is a one hit wonder with Almost Famous. I haven't really loved her in anything since that, though she was fine in this and Skeleton Key.
DeleteI haven't seen any of your picks. I was looking forward to your post because I couldn't think of any older films that I've seen that fit here.
Of these, I've only seen Easy A. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
ReplyDeleteEasy A is something I liked so much more than I expected to at the time. It still holds up for me.
DeleteI've been seeing Easy A on a lot of lists this week! I really need to watch that movie!
ReplyDeleteIt's really fun!
DeleteNice picks! We share How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days. I really love how Kate scares the hell out of Matt with the plant and photoshopping their kids. Easy A and She's All That are fun too.
ReplyDeleteYes! The plant is my favorite scene.
DeleteI hated She's All That when it first came out during my senior year in high school and I still hate it. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is just... eh... Easy A is a film I do like.
ReplyDeleteNooo it's a classic! lol. I was also like 12 when it came out so I was in the target audience.
DeleteI didn't participate this month but enjoyed seeing everyone's post. I actually haven't seen any of these, ahah. The only one I might watch is Easy A.
ReplyDeleteEasy A is great! Definitely worth watching.
DeleteI love, LOVE Easy A! So glad you went with that one. I haven't seen any of your other choices.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's a great movie. I'm glad it was fairly popular this week.
DeleteI've seen all.
ReplyDeleteShe's All That - I don't remember the stair scene at all. I've been rewatching teen movies from my childhood, so this is on my to rewatch list.