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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Saturday 16 February 2019
Learning to love the rom-com in 'Isn't It Romantic'

By LINDSEY BAHR romantic comedies, is ac-
Associated Press tually evil.
Even when done well, the Cut to adulthood and
romantic comedy is easy to Natalie is a normal, messy
pick on. They're so earnest adult. Her apartment is
and full of clichés and unre- small and dirty. Her hair is a
alistic fairy tale standards. little frizzy. Her clothes are
Intelligent women have ill-fitting. Her co-workers at
been taught that there the very ordinary looking
should be a healthy serving architecture firm where she
of self-hatred with what- works treat her like an assis-
ever enjoyment you might tant and she can't seem to
glean from a well-done see that her friend with the
makeover montage. You 90s Jim Carrey haircut, Josh
don't have to look much (Adam Devine), is in love
further than the phrase with her.
"rom-com" (like chick-lit) to Much like Amy Schumer's
know that. The dismissive underappreciated and
term seems to have been thematically similar "I Feel
thrown at the genre to take Pretty," it takes a traumatic
it and its fans down a few head injury for her to wake
pegs, as if to say, no no, silly This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Rebel Wilson, left, and Liam Hemsworth in a up in rom-com land, where
girl, that's not cinema or lit- scene from "Isn't It Romantic." Manhattan smells like lav-
erature or even art. Associated Press ender, cupcake and wed-
This is the world we and ding shops adorn her city
Natalie, the heroine at the Nora Ephron, the only pur- It Up"), Erin Cardillo and wine float. On the screen street, her apartment is pa-
heart of "Isn't It Romantic ," veyor of rom-coms who has rom-com veteran Dana is a young Julia Roberts in latial and clean and looks
live in, where these addic- undeniable crossover film Fox ("The Wedding Date," a bubble bath in "Pretty like a magazine spread,
tively appealing and oc- snob appeal. ''What Happens in Vegas") Woman." Natalie's mother a handsome billionaire
casionally great films come And that's kind of the prem- and directed by Todd tells her not to expect any- named Blake (a wonder-
our way that we have to ise of "Isn't It Romantic" in Strauss-Schulson. thing like that out of life. fully goofy Liam Hems-
relegate to guilty pleasures which a rom-com hating Natalie is introduced as a They don't and never will worth) wants to date her
or couch with disclaimers. woman played by Rebel young girl glued to the tele- look like Roberts and so the and everyone is very, very
And it can get rather ex- Wilson bonks her head and vision in a run-down apart- fairy tale is out of the ques- nice (except her best friend
hausting that the justifica- ends up in one herself. It's ment where her mother tion. Pretty harsh, but her at work, Whitney, played
tion always has to come written by Katie Silberman is off to the side making mom is right, "Pretty Wom- by Betty Gilpin, who has
back to a comparison to (who wrote the great "Set an ice cream and boxed an," unlike so many great turned into a rival).q

Spielberg, Gaga, sign get-well card for

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Jones, have signed a card
that's being overnighted
to Ginsburg on Thursday.
The 85-year-old Ginsburg
has missed a month of Su-
preme Court arguments as
she recovers from the lung
cancer surgery she had in
December.
In the card, Lee refers to
Ginsburg as the "Judge
of Brooklyn." Regina King
wrote that she is the true,
"Super Diva" in reference
to a shirt Ginsburg wears
in the documentary "RBG."
Laura Dern wrote, "You are
In this Dec. 15, 2018 file photo, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader our grand reminder to use
Ginsburg appears at an event organized by the Museum of the
City of New York with WNET-TV held at the New York Academy voice + fight for truth."
of Medicine in New York. Director Barry Jenkins even
Associated Press stopped to do a plank in
honor of Ginsburg's famed
By LINDSEY BAHR preme Court Justice Ruth workouts after signing.
Associated Press Bader Ginsburg: Get well Other signatories include
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ste- soon. Amy Adams, Ron Howard,
ven Spielberg, Lady Gaga, They and three dozen Ted Danson, Helen Mirren,
Spike Lee and Glenn Close Hollywood A-listers, from Stephen Colbert and Mer-
have a message for Su- Bradley Cooper to Quincy edith Vieira.q