The romcom genre has a decidedly mixed record, often becoming a lazy way for stars to cash in on their popularity – with less than loveable results. Witness the career of Matthew McConaughey, which could have been described as ‘Death by romcom’ (Failure to Launch, The Wedding Planner, Fool’s Gold etc) until his 2011 comeback with Killer Joe. Gerard Butler also tried his hand with a slew of mediocre pictures (Playing for Keeps, The Bounty Hunter, The Ugly Truth etc), before reverting to action flicks.
But once in a while, the chemistry is just right and everything falls into place. Here’s my pick of ten alternative romantic comedies that avoid the saccharine pitfalls that often blight the field.
You People (2023) – Netflix
Jonah Hill co-wrote with director Kenya Barris (black-ish) this vague update of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), which is tonally unsure but boasts a few good laughs, primarily due to the presence of Eddie Murphy. Murphy plays Akbar, the Louis Farrakhan-supporting father of Amira (Lauren London), engaged to Jewish broker/podcaster Ezra (Hill). Murphy utilises his trademark ‘death stare’ and well-honed mockery of white cultural appropriation in his attempt to break up the couple’s impending nuptials.
Pillow Talk (1959) – Amazon Rent/Buy
The definitive pairing of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Pillow Talk was somewhat unbelievably regarded as a rather racy ‘sex-comedy’ at the time of its release. A shared Manhattan party line leads to romantic complications between successful interior decorator singleton Jan Morrow (Day) and randy bachelor Broadway composer Brad Allen (Hudson). Hudson knowingly sails close to the wind in implying the homosexuality of Allen’s cowboy avatar Rex Stetson, a persona he takes on to dupe Day’s character.
Day made two romcoms with Hudson: the excellent Lover Come Back (1961) and the darker Send Me No Flowers (1964). In her 1960s heyday she also teamed up with James Garner (The Thrill of it All; Move Over, Darling), Rod Taylor (Do Not Disturb; The Glass Bottom Boat), Cary Grant (the underrated That Touch of Mink) and less happily Richard Harris (Caprice). Tony Randall (The Odd Couple) co-starred with Day and Hudson in their three pictures together; he returned to the genre in 2003 with the kitsch dud Down with Love, where Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor unsuccessfully tried to recreate magic of the previous movies.
Anger Management (2003) – Amazon Rent/Buy
Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler are hardly the actors you would most associate with romantic comedies, although both have enjoyed success in the genre – particularly Nicholson, who won Academy Awards for his performances in Terms of Endearment (1983) and As Good as It Gets (1997). Sandler stars as put-upon nebbish Dave Buznik, whose sole expression of rage (unfortunately on a post 9/11 commercial flight) sees him court-ordered to attend anger management classes under the not-so-tender care of unhinged shrink Dr Buddy Rydell (Nicholson). Hilarity duly ensues, as Buznik learns to man up and rekindle his relationship with girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei). Although the now-disgraced ‘America’s Mayor’ Rudy Giuliani puts in an appearance towards the end of the picture, which rather took the shine off the scene for me.
To Catch a Thief (1955) – Amazon Rent/Buy
As with Cary Grant’s later North by Northwest (1959) and Charade (1963), To Catch a Thief combines elements of romantic comedy and thriller. His penultimate collaboration (of four) with Alfred Hitchcock sees Grant as former cat burglar/Resistance leader John Robie, enjoying a happy retirement and plenty of quiche Lorraine on the French Riviera. But when a rash of daring jewel thefts in ‘The Cat’s unique style occur, Robie must prove he hasn’t turned recidivist. During these endeavours he encounters spoilt rich girl Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) who believes he has his eye on her diamonds. Kelly does all the romantic running in a script peppered with double entendres, such as her ‘You want a leg or a breast?’ comment, and visual gags – suggestive firework displays (‘Tonight you’re going to see one of the Riviera’s most fascinating sights’) and Hitchcock’s camera zooming in on her diamond-adorned décolletage (‘Even in this light, I can tell where your eyes are looking’).
The Lost City (2022) – Paramount+, NOW, Amazon Buy
This enjoyable riff on Romancing the Stone (1984) and (to a lesser extent) The Princess Bride (1987) sees romantic novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) and her Fabio-esque cover model Alan (Channing Tatum) thrown into a real-life version of her stories. Brad Pitt has an entertaining extended cameo as expert tracker/special ops veteran Jack Trainer, whilst Daniel Radcliffe as Abigail Fairfax appears to reprise wholesale his creepy billionaire baddie Walter Mabry from Now You See Me 2 (2016). Apparently, the popularity of the movie has led Bullock to reconsider her post Speed 2: Cruise Control/Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous ‘no sequel’ rule.
The Apartment (1960) – MGM, Amazon Buy
Billy Wilder’s movie paints a depressing but realistic picture of human nature. Lowly insurance executive C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) lets his lecherous senior colleagues use his apartment to conduct their extra-marital affairs in return for eventual promotion. When comely elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) attempts suicide after married boss Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) fobs her off, Baxter is forced to re-evaluate his seedy path up the corporate ladder. The film ends on an uplifting note as the pair play cards, both edging towards romantic feelings. MacLaine passes the deck to Lemmon with an affectionate: ‘Shut up and deal.’
About a Boy (2002) – Amazon Prime, Rent/Buy
Another more cynical take on the romantic comedy in Paul and Chris Weitz’s adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1998 novel. Hugh Grant appears as a slightly-less-posh-than-usual character, lazy Clerkenwell-dweller Will Freeman, who coasts through life on the royalties of his late father’s Christmas bestseller ‘Santa’s Super Sleigh’ while hitting on single mothers by posing as a lone parent. Using awkward Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) as his fake son, Will eventually finds something like true love with Rachel (Rachel Weisz) until his ruse is discovered. Can the cad mend his roguish ways and win her back?
Two for the Road (1967) – Amazon Rent/Buy
Director Stanley Donen (Singin’ in the Rain) goes Nouvelle Vague in this Frederic Raphael-scripted tart romantic comedy. A married couple (played by Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney) argue, make-up and argue again during a road trip holiday in the south of France. Although the picture has achieved semi-classic status, I find Two for the Road a bit arch for my liking, with Finney and (especially) Hepburn self-consciously ‘acting’ throughout the film. But maybe that’s just me. Much as in The Apartment, Two for the Road ends on a note of ironically demonstrative banter, as the couple acknowledge their love for each other:
Mark (Finney): ‘Bitch.’
Joanna (Hepburn): ‘Bastard.’
Sabrina (1954, remade 1995) – Paramount+, Amazon Rent/Buy
It’s Hepburn again, this time playing against William Holden and the gnome-ish Humphrey Bogart as her love interest(s). The chauffeur’s ingénue daughter Sabrina returns from two years at the prestigious Paris Le Cordon Bleu cooking school a sophisticated, confident, attractive woman. So much so, she catches the eye of David Larrabee (Holden), playboy son of her father’s employers, who she once hopelessly pined for. Stuffed-shirt older brother Linus (Bogart) steps in to break up the romance so as to protect David’s engagement to wealthy Elizabeth Tyson (Martha Hyer) and secure a corporate merger between the two families’ companies. But Linus also takes a shine to Sabrina.
The filming of Sabrina was not a happy experience; Bogart felt overlooked by Wilder, while Hepburn and Holden were carrying on an affair at the time, further irritating the actor, who took to calling Holden ‘Smiling Jim’ and mocking his dyed hair for the role, as well as Hepburn’s top-drawer accent. Bogart riled Holden over the latter’s lunchtime boozing (‘Methinks the lad hath partaken too much of the grape’) until Holden took a swing at him.
Sabrina was unnecessarily remade by Sydney Pollack in 1995, with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear in the Bogart, Hepburn and Holden roles.
Overboard (1987) – Amazon Rent/Buy
Nowadays, the plot of Garry Marshall’s (Pretty Woman) movie is problematic. When entitled, selfish heiress Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) loses her memory after falling off her yacht, payment-stiffed carpenter/single parent Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell) sees a way of getting his bill paid and finding a carer for his four sons. Basically, Goldie becomes his unpaid amnesiac chattel. Still, they both warm to each other as the months go by, and Joanna’s philandering husband Grant (Edward Herrmann) is happy to claim his wife left him, knowing all the time she had been suffering from amnesia. When Joanna recovers her memory, there’s a reckoning to be had.
Overboard was remade in 2018 with the roles reversed: Anna Faris (Mom) in the Russell part and Eugenio Derbez (Instructions Not Included) in Hawn’s. The picture took in $91.2 million on a $12 million budget.
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