In Search of Rom Com Films

I just watched the RoadmapWriters.com webinar “Deconstructing RomComs” presented by entertainment industry professional Morgan Pichinson, who talked about what makes a good romantic comedy script.

In the webinar Pichinson said that a romantic comedy has to have elements of romance and comedy. In addition, the protagonist needs to meet the potential interest in what is called a “meet cute” situation, which must be believable.

Pichinson quoted from an article by Liz Meriwether titled “Sex Is Funny. Love Is Funny. So Where Are All Our Great Romantic Comedies?”:

A great romantic comedy is driven by two characters who want each other, in spite of themselves. Maybe they end up together at the end and maybe they don’t, the important thing is that they want to have sex with each other. Desire isn’t necessarily cute or sweet. Desire is sometimes a dragon that needs to be slayed, and it can push a character to the dizzy, insane places where the best comedy lives. A great romantic comedy is hot. … The most important thing is chemistry between the stars, and that has nothing to do with the amount of actual sex the characters have.

My husband Mitch and I fell in love with romantic comedies when were were stationed with the U.S. Army in Munich and the Munich City Museum had a Hollywood film series. Mitch and I were introduced to the classic romantic comedies, including BRINGING UP BABY with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant (talk about the “meet cute” setup!) and HIS GIRL FRIDAY with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. (FYI: No sex in BRINGING UP BABY or HIS GIRL FRIDAY. But sexual tension — off the charts!)

Pichinson also talked about the difficulty with romantic comedies in TV series. She said, “How do you keep a love story going from season to season?”

In connection to what she said about romantic comedy TV series, I have just finished binge watching six seasons on Netflix of the Canadian TV series REPUBLIC OF DOYLE (takes place in Newfoundland). The writers did an amazing job of creating believable situations in which the two seemingly star-crossed lovers are brought together and pulled apart (several times!) until at the end … (You’ll have to watch the series yourself.)

Of course, REPUBLIC OF DOYLE is not only a romantic comedy. It is also a comedic mystery show. The characters of Jake Doyle and his father are private investigators. And this fits nicely with Pichinson’s advice for romantic comedy movies:

These can no longer be simple — they must have a bigger element. And this bigger element can attract male viewers to what as a genre is traditionally viewed as skewing heavily to female viewers.

Pichinson said that rom com film writers can incorporate what men like into a rom com plot using multiple genres — maybe some action. “It’s almost tricking men,” she said, to go see a rom com film.

Since falling in love with romantic comedies, Mitch and I have written several rom com film scripts. And our rom com film script HOT POTATO has plenty of action, partly inspired by experiences we had while living in Europe.

If you’re a writer of romantic comedies or even a lover of romantic comedy films and TV — get Morgan Pichinson’s RoadmapWriters.com February 10, 2019, webinar “Deconstructing RomComs” (not an affiliate link.)  And while you’re on the RoadmapWriters.com site, check out the other offerings. I’ve gotten valuable advice from all the ones I’ve taken.

And read Liz Meriwether’s TheCut.com September 8, 2016, article “Sex Is Funny. Love Is Funny. So Where Are All Our Great Romantic Comedies?”