The Holiday (2006)

Dir: Nancy Myers
Writer: Nancy Myers
Starring: Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black

Over the holiday break back at home, I picked The Holiday to watch because I hadn't seen it in a while, and hey, it has to do with Christmas...sometimes. My husband reminded me of the first time we watched the movie, which was about a month into our relationship. The next day he left for tour for the first time, and also told me he loved me for the first time. I think that's why he likes the movie. (Plus, he gifted me the DVD several Christmases ago.)

I like it for that reason, too, but I also just enjoy a good rom-com with the likes of Kate Winslet. Her character is not as pathetic and amazing as Bridget Jones, but she'll do. The rest of the cast holds their own, though Diaz can be grating and Black isn't that believable as a love interest, but the light comedy does the feel-good trick.

When I saw This is 40 this weekend, there was a line in the movie about widowers and how everyone loves a widower more than a single guy or divorced guy. I immediately thought of Jude Law's character in this movie (perhaps it signaled my DVD choice the next afternoon). The characters are all extremely 'set up,' as is the house-swapping plot, but suspending my disbelief is one of my favorite things to do. As the Beach Boys put it, wouldn't it be nice?

The Best: Winslet. I love when she's on screen and when the focus is her character. I do wish she'd been given a love interest she had more chemistry with (oh would that Leonardo DiCaprio even considered doing a rom-com!), but she's still dazzling.

Fact: Dustin Hoffman had been driving by the Blockbuster used in the movie when he saw all the cameras inside. He knew the director, Myers, and they filmed his cameo on the spot, which made the final cut of the film.

Rating: ******* (7 out of 10)

Friends with Kids (2012)

Dir: Jennifer Westfeldt
Writers: Jennifer Westfeldt
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph, Kristin Wiig, Scott O'Down, Jon Hamm

I saw this movie earlier this year in the theaters, but my thoughtful brother sent me the DVD as a birthday gift a couple of months ago.

I've been a huge fan of Jennifer Westfeldt since I saw Kissing Jessica Stein when I was in college, and a few years ago when I saw Ira & Abby. She wrote both of those movies, which are smart, funny, and not your run-of-the-mill rom-com or lady comedy. Friends with Kids is her directorial debut, and I liked it a lot, too.

Overall, this film is about three couples, two who are in romantic relationships and have kids, and another who are strictly platonic but decide to have kids due to the ol' biological clock and because they observe that kids can take all the romance out of a relationship. It can seem a bit winded when typing it all out. But the movie is funny and charming, while there are some things I have to ignore in order to like it, but that's the case with most films, isn't it? I think Westfeldt understands that her characters are not the most realistic or smart -- but there wouldn't be an interesting movie without these two best friends agreeing to a slightly kooky life plan. So, I have to suspend my disbelief, and Westfeldt puts in some great scenes to demonstrate that yeah, this is kind of crazy. The supporting cast (all plucked from Bridesmaids) are particularly great in these scenes.

Westfeldt and Adam Scott play off each other really well, and I love them both. You root for all the characters, and there are moments of sadness throughout, even though it's more of a comedy. I do like how odd and different the plot was from most movies out these days--it seemed more thoughtful--but the ending still seemed a little trite against the rest of the movie. I mean, I feel great that it all works out, but sometimes I want the characters to be challenged a little more!

The Best: When the other two disapproving couples come over to the new parents' apartment for the first time and think they're about to walk into a harried scene, but it ends up exactly the opposite. The outtakes on the gag reel from this scene are also hilarious.

Fact: Westfeldt's been dating co-star Jon Hamm in real life for over ten years. He had bit parts in all of her movies pre-Mad Men era!

Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)

27 Dresses (2008)

Dir: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns

After watching some pretty heavy movies, I turned towards the lighter side of my collection (but also just tried to get back on the alphabetical nature of this endeavor). The husband was off on tour, and this meant I had full reign of the usual "to watch a rom-com or not to watch a rom-com" argument I have with myself--they can be the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, and the husband won't usually join me in such viewings.

There have been a lot of wedding-based rom-coms in the 2000s. You could make the argument that most rom-coms are about weddings because that's usually what happens in the end. But, the wedding-centric ones came fast and furious. I'd say this is one of the best of the bunch. It has a likable protagonist with a sarcastic best friend, a villain wrapped up in a too-perfect sister, a hunky crushworthy boss, a cute journalist and a whole lot of bad bridesmaid dresses.

Of all the wedding rom-com movies I recieved as gifts for becoming engaged years ago, I think this is the only one I kept. Bride Wars and Made of Honor were awful, awful films that had none of the pleasure you're supposed to get out of a rom-com. I had to give them away; they weren't even unintentionally funny. But Heigl's character here is relatable, smart, and seems like perhaps the best friend a girl could have should she be planning to get married. I also like that Marsden finally got the girl after several movies of being the nice to guy who loses out. Enjoyable, through and through.

The Best: The opening of the movie where Heigl races between two different weddings--one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn--and has to change her bridesmaid dress in the cab rides between.

Fact: Malin Akerman plays Katherine Heigl's much younger sister in the movie, but she's actually older than Heigl in real life.

Rating: ****** (6 out of 10)

13 Going on 30 (2004)

Dir: Gary Winick
Writers: John Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Mark Ruffalo, Andy Serkis

On Saturday I met my friend Jaime for brunch and when we realized that the L train was not running into Manhattan from Brooklyn, we decided to spend the afternoon on the couch watching movies. While I was scanning my DVD collection, I mentioned, "Well, you've probably already seen 13 Going on 30..." and to my astonishment, she had not. I popped in the DVD and gleefully jumped onto the couch next to her, to watch her watch it for the first time.

I want to say that this movie was critical to my adolesence, but since it came out when I was 21-years-old, I think that statement is probably pushing it. There are many things wrong with the 'rom-com' genre, but I absolutely love some of them--usually the least offensive ones to my tastes as a woman who likes good comedy.

13 Going on 30 is probably one of the most sugary rom-coms in existence - it stars Jennifer Garner as Jenna Rink, a girl who at 13 faces all those awful mean girls, and then wakes up at age 30 in a swanky apartment with her dream job--but finds out all the things she wanted at 13 aren't as glossy as they seemed. Garner is absolutely perfect in her role; I may even use the word delightful.

I've loved Garner since the tv show ALIAS, and this movie made me love her even more. She plays the 13-year-old brain in a 30-year old body so well! Add in perennial sidekick Judy Greer (who really needs a starring role already, she's so good) and  a romantic interest played by Mark Ruffalo (hubba hubba - I am not ashamed), I'm smiling the whole way through!

The plot sure is sweet, but I enjoy the lighthearted every once in a while. Garner and cast are pretty convincing, and in the land of the woeful rom-com, it's 10 stars. When it was over, Jaime exclaimed, "Why haven't I seen that?!" in the way that one does when she's a rom-com lover that hasn't seen a good one in a while.

Best: Garner, in every scene. There are so many good scenes to love, too. The scene where she wakes up as a 30-year-old, the scene where she makes an entire elitist party of magazine snobs dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the scene where she has a sleepover with other 13-year-olds as a 30-year-old and teaches them that "love is a battlefield," or the scene where she finds her massive walk-in closet--I can't choose!

Fact: The girl who plays young Jenna Rink is currently on my favorite new television show, Revenge, and also played the younger Jennifer Garner in Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past--an example of a truly terrible, no good rom-com.

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)