Taylor Watches Rom-Coms Vol. 10
The good, the bad, and the beautiful (because there's never any ugly in these movies)
It's that time again!
I have seen so many great movies recently, many of which have been excellent and new-to-me rom-coms. Hopefully some of these are new to you as well, or at least inspire a rewatch.
As I'm writing this and reading it back to myself, this is a very rambly but intense love letter to rom-coms and also women. This article is best read with the intensity, passion, and heartache that Saoirse Ronan has when she delivers the line "WOMEN!" as Jo March in Greta Gerwig's Little Women. Please continue.
Housesitter (1990)
After building his dream house, architect Newton Davis proposes marriage to his girlfriend, only to be summarily rejected. He seeks solace in a one-night stand with a waitress, never imagining that a woman he slept with once would end up posing as his wife. Gwen’s ruse is so effective that by the time Newton learns of his “marriage,” the entire town feels like they know him.
If you read every entry of this series (I <3 you), then you know my mom is a recurring character. A series regular, if you will. During her last visit, she wanted to watch Diane Keaton movies and we agreed to rewatch the Father of the Bride which I covered in the fourth volume of Taylor Watches Rom-Coms. Well, she visited me once again, and this time I told her to pick any movie she wanted and I would rent it from my local video store. She was torn between a Sam Shepard flick (why does every mom love Sam Shepard?) and something starring Goldie Hawn, so I persuaded her to go the Goldie route. She suggested a movie I had never heard of before and that was 1992's Housesitter starring not only Hawn but Steve Martin, who, despite my better judgment, I love.
The movie shouldn't work. It's about Newton (Martin), an architect, who builds a house as a proposal surprise to his long-time partner. When she says no (to the house and the proposal), he doesn't know what to do with himself or the house. When he meets Gwen (Hawn), a nomadic, free-spirited, compulsive liar (harsh, but kind of true?), she realizes a huge house is sitting vacant and decides to go live it up there by herself. Instead of unplugging from the world around her and enjoying a vacation in a dream home, she just can't help herself and tells the whole town she and Newton are engaged. She also tells the town about a million other lies. Hijinks and chaos ensue!
This movie works SOLELY because Hawn is ADORABLE in it. If there were a Mount Rushmore of adorable rom-com leading ladies, this performance may just have to go up there. I think Steve Martin is excellent in most things, especially rom-coms, but she acts circles around everyone in this film including him. Both her as Hawn and her as Gwen are the human embodiment of "It's her world, we're just living in it."
The movie is very rough around the edges and it's not always successful in what it's trying to achieve, but it is a blast if you are along for the ride and go into it ready to bask in the light of Goldie Hawn.
The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020)
Lucy is a young gallery assistant who collects mementos from her relationships. She discovers that she must let go of her past to move forward, and comes up with a lovely, artistic way to help herself and others who have suffered heartbreak.
While Housesitter shouldn't work but does, The Broken Hearts Gallery should work, and doesn't...but also does? Let me explain…
The idea of this movie is so pitch-perfect for people who read (and write, hi!) this column. It has a really fun cast: Geraldine Viswanathan (who I fell in love with in Blockers and is so much fun in Drive Away Dolls), Dacre Montgomery (of Stranger Things fame), Molly Gordon (Shiva Baby, Theater Camp), Phillipa Soo (Hamilton), and about a dozen other familiar faces from all corners of the industry. The script has terrific bones…but if I were to be a real ~critic~ I would describe it as worse than the sum of its parts.
Dacre sadly can't get the American accent down and it hampers his confidence. Geraldine seems to be finding her footing as an actress still. The language and music already feel very outdated. Those things are unfortunate but didn't diminish what a great time I had watching this. If I were in the business of only recommending things to you that were worthy of an Academy Award, this would be an entirely different column. THIS BEING SAID! It's a really FUN watch! I suggest movies that, despite their flaws, make me laugh and feel. This does that! Does some of the laughter come from laughing at it rather than with it? Sure. But who cares? I can easily see how this is someone's comfort movie and I can see myself coming back to it again when I just need to turn my brain off and indulge in something sweet.
Get Over It (2001)
When Berke Landers, a popular high school basketball star, gets dumped by his life-long girlfriend, Allison, he soon begins to lose it. But with the help of his best friend Felix’s sister Kelly, he follows his ex into the school’s spring musical. Thus ensues a love triangle loosely based upon Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, where Berke is only to find himself getting over Allison and beginning to fall for Kelly.
I've been in a big Kirsten Dunst mood lately. I just recently saw Civil War (which I highly recommend, if you're curious!) and the re-release of Spider-Man 2, and a few months ago I finally got around to Drop Dead Gorgeous (SO GOOD!) - every time I see her in something, I go to her Letterboxd page and add just about everything she's been in to my watch list, which is how this got there.
I don't know if I'm the only person on Earth to have seen this movie, or maybe the last person, but this is going to live rent-free in my mind for a looooooonnnnnggg time. If my brain was what powered ChatGPT (that's a terrifying thought) and someone asked me to write a rom-com for their screenwriting class that they're taking as a required arts credit at their liberal arts school (too real?), this is what my brain would spit out. It has everything I could ever want in it. It's loosely inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream. It STARTS (!!!) with a SINGLE SHOT dance performance walking through a neighborhood where THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE AND VITAMIN C (!!!!!!!!!!!) VERSION OF “LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER” IS PLAYING. It has the most STACKED cast a 2001 rom-com could possibly have. It has the most OTT transitions and effects. IT IS EVERYTHING TO ME. I need everyone to go watch this right now. I cannot believe I am only now discovering this. Who would I be - who COULD I HAVE BEEN!!!! IF I HAD SEEN THIS SOONER! I will ever know and will always wonder. Kirsten, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Party Girl (1995)
Although Mary has little income, she still finds ways to spend her nights at clubs. After being arrested for throwing an illegal rave, she asks her aunt Judy for bail money. Judy then finds Mary a job at her library so that Mary can repay her. Initially, Mary finds the job as a clerk boring and stifling, and prefers to get to know a street food vendor whom she likes. However, Mary must refocus her life once she loses her job and apartment.
I'm cheating. This isn't really a rom-com, but I watched this recently and literally can't stop thinking about it and just need to put my thoughts into the world so I can finally sleep peacefully and get work done without just replaying this absolute gem of a movie on loop in my mind at all times. To be fair, there is romance, and there's also a lot of self-love, and it is very funny, and sure, maybe the most stable love interest is between a girl and the Dewey Decimal System, but who am I to judge?
I have very mixed feelings about Parker Posey due to a performance of hers that I can't name or else I think I will get a cease and desist. But, it's pretty undeniable that she has a truly mysterious and enchanting je ne sais quoi about her. She is so completely captivating and I would argue that this may be one of her most captivating performances of all. She makes this movie. No one else could do this movie and achieve what she did. If they tried, it would be a completely different film, and frankly, all the worse for it. Both she and her character, Mary, are the IT girls that the rest of the world strives to be today, and they do it effortlessly.
Letterboxd user phoebe 💫 wrote the review: "This is like if the most interesting and beloved side character in another movie somehow got her own feature film. Summer Roberts Core."
This is the perfect description of this movie. My one addition, that will only resonate with an extremely niche audience, is that the side character they are referring to is 1000% her character in The Daytrippers, which is also a phenomenal movie that I never stop thinking about. This movie really does feel like a peek inside someone's life who doesn't, on paper, deserve their own feature, but it's their palpable energy that makes it impossible to look away from. I really, truly cannot get enough of this movie. It is a bit outdated, but it was 1995 so go easy on it.
I just had to get that out. Thanks for always listening.
Credit: Each plot synopsis comes from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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