Of Rom-coms and Sappy Disasters

When I hear the word 'romantic comedies' (rom-coms), the first name that pops into my mind is Hugh Grant (this is neither a compliment nor an insult). I shudder, truly. Being an international star for the past fifteen years, the man goes through nothing but romantic comedies. In fact, he's famous for them. OK lar, it isn't really fair to say all this guy does is rom-com (he did play a doctor in Extreme Measures, but it was received with mixed reviews). So, that movie aside, I sincerely believe that he could do rom-coms effortlessly, even in his sleep.

That's why this is a list of his more bearable movies (I said bearable, not acceptable or entertaining). I watched them once and refused to watch them again for fear of getting sucked back into mushy-dom.

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Four Weddings and a Funeral - Wikipedia described Hugh's character as a "debonair but faux-pas-prone Englishman" and I couldn't agree more. Because the whole movie's literally about four weddings and a funeral, all he ever wears are suits. Ugly, totally unimaginative suits. Anyway, the movie is about Charles (Hugh's character) and an American woman (played by Andie MacDowell) who bumps into each other at four weddings and a funeral. But yes, Hugh has also been described as "endearingly awkward" in the movie. I mean, is he anything but?

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Mickey Blue Eyes - Same old, same old, but with an extra twist: gangsters! But Hugh plays the kind of character you'd expect him to play - British and stylish with not a hair out of place and eyes like a lost puppy. This time he plays an auctioneer who proposes to his girlfriend only to be turned down. It turns out that his girlfriend's family is deeply involved in a mafia crime family and she doesn't want him to get sucked into a life of crime. Amidst all the fumbling and bumbling, count on his character to get involved with a serious crime that brings the FBI to his doorstep. It's more crime-comedy than rom-com, and Hugh Grant in crime-comedy is like oil and water, isn't it?

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Music and Lyrics - Yet another romantic comedy. So Hugh is a former pop music idol who belonged in the fictional 80's band PoP! His career has since then nosedived and now now he earns a living singing his old hits to his middle-aged fans. This is the part where I roll my eyes. What's with Hugh Grant and middle-aged women! His voice being...OK is his only saving grace, methinks. But really, as rom-coms go, boy falls for girl, girl leaves boy, boy projects his puppy-eyed stare onto our side of the idiot box (that makes women go all warm and fuzzy and mushy), then boy gets back together with girl lives happily ever after

*heavy sighs*

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Notting Hill - OK, this rom-com I kinda like. But really, the character Hugh plays (Will Thacker) is so stereotypical I want to smack the director over the head: he's British, he owns a bookstore and he's the awkward and bumbling type. But Julia Roberts is a nice addition - she plays a Hollywood actress who goes into his bookstore to get a book and they find themselves attracted to one another. However, I must say that I draw the line at cheesy phrases like "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy asking him to love her". Absolutely puke-inducing.

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Two Weeks Notice - This is a typical Hugh Grant sort of movie, where he plays an "immature billionaire real estate tycoon", a greedy and reckless lout of a playboy (adjective overload, sorry). Sandra Bullock, on the other hand, is a liberal lawyer specializing in environmental law. In exchange for his word to protect the Coney Island community center she agrees to work for him as his Chief Counsel. But again, the storyline is as predictable as my pinkie finger, but I ran out of the more bearable Hugh Grant movies and after much contemplating, I decided on this.

*Sighs* Well, if you'd noticed, Hugh Grant only ever plays two types of characters in his very impressive span of fifteen years as a Hollywood star - the bumbling English idiot or the suave businessman who is also a jerk.

Don't get me wrong, though - I have no qualms against these kind of characters, but Hugh, please go get yourself killed or chopped to pieces (in the movies) already! (It might also give your career the boost it sadly needs right now)