As couples constitute the bulk of their audience, is it too much to suggest that romantic comedies occasionally cater to a broader demographic than deluded hetero women?
It's been kicking around since the double-shot of Jerry Maguire and As Good As It Gets. Currently, it can be seen in Maid in Manhattan, where Ralph Fiennes only gets some J-Lo after adopting her beliefs. In 2000, it was brought to a new low by What Women Want and The Family Man (where the male leads learn that in order to be with the desired females they must become female.) The trend lives on in Two Weeks Notice, a movie about Hugh Grant feeling pressure to be like Sandra Bullock. As couples constitute the bulk of their audience, is it too much to suggest that romantic comedies occasionally cater to a broader demographic than deluded hetero women? To its credit, there are some redeeming facets in this tale of Lucy Kelron, a lawyer (Bullock) dedicated to helping flailing districts through pro-bono work, who uses a job offer from nemesis millionaire George Wade (Hugh Grant) as an opportunity to stop his plans to build a casino in the place of a community center. Grant maintains his About a Boy wise-assisms against Bullock's straight-edged demeanor, and together they manage a certain comic energy. In introducing a rival for George's affections played by Alicia Witt, it's also noble of Marc Lawrence's screenplay in permitting his movie to have fondness for a character that Lucy despises. The story, however, lacks a consistent narrative momentum, especially in its scattershot first half, which is more preoccupied with business dealings than human relations. Whenever Two Weeks Notice comes close to working, it collapses under the realization that it has nothing new to offer.
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