What are you favourite Romcoms? or Favorite performances in Romcoms?
★ 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
Let me take you back to 1999, Heath Ledger is a drop-dead handsome, Sinatra singing bad boy playing out the Taming of the Shrew with Julia Styles who while also being drop-dead beautiful gives the kind of ‘screw you’ energy that is so damn relatable in the modern world. She is frankly a damn icon in this film.
Joseph Gordon-Levit plays a loveable geek to aplomb and the soundtrack here is the sort of sensational 90’s angst that will make you want to grab your skateboard and paint your nails.
★ 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
This film is a great examination of placing people on pedestals, unrequited affection and idyllic love in a 2009 that seems like a lifetime ago and yet, alarmingly familiar. Deschanel excels in her peak role, while Gordon-Levitt delivers a breakout performance that will establish him as one of the great actors of his generation and far more than some geeky kid in a high school rom-com. Seriously, watch his work in this movie, the guy really has chops! Deschanel too, she is aloof sure but charming, funny and with powerful emotional connection and real depth.
★ ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT)
The most contemporary entry on our list is a joyful queer romance set in an Australian high school. Sophie Hawkshaw and Zoe Terakes play the titular roles in a criminally underrated Aussie Indie classic. Terakes particularly as the high-school badass shines in this wonderful queer romance as does Julia Billington in the role of Ellie’s dead aunt or more appropriately ‘Fairy Godmother’ as she prefers to be called. The plot here has a swathe of great twists and turns, the dialogue is wonderfully written and snappy as hell.
★ LOVE ACTUALLY
Parts of this film have not aged well and have been written about and critiqued by far better writers and thinkers than me! The reason it makes my list is that tucked in this film are some truly wonderful performances from some of the most brilliant actors of this generation.
Alan Rickman wonderfully side-eyes his way through a nuanced performance, Emma Thompson mixes strength and vulnerability, Liam Neeson shows he is more than an action guy in a nice jacket, and Hugh Grant dancing down the stairs is straight-up iconic.
★ WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
Some parts of this film have not aged well. But the vast majority is stilla wonderfully rapid-fire, comedy filled, exhilarating romance. One of the very best will-they-wont-they films sprinkled full of scenes where the three leads in Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal and Carrie Fisher all absolutely shine. There is a lot to learn here from how to follow an intention, a masterclass in listening and bold choices. Carrie Fisher is brilliant here and lightyears away from her sci-fi work providing a grounded and captivating performance to compliment the other two leads.
★ THE HOLIDAY
Even though its scores on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are pretty terrible, this film has a couple of hugely redeeming qualities. The first is Kate Winslet, although her character is exceptionally frustrating for the majority of the film her performance and craft in the last third is absolutely sensational, particularly the confrontation scene with her and Rufus Sewell, who is a criminally underrated actor.
And Jack Black is a brlliant actor to watch to see how to make just
colossally large choices and pull them off.
What are you favourite Romcoms? or Favorite performances in Romcoms?
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