At this point,Mr&Mrs Smith is a cinematic landmark,like,say,Matrix:Reloaded,in the sense that it elevated our cosmic understanding. After decades of Hollywood whispers of behind-the-scenes hookups on productions,we finally had explosive proof,showcased in an extended scene where Pitt and Jolie,in character,try to kill each other before making sweet love. It showed us real,living,romcom chemistry (albeit,you know,born from adultery).
There was a time – let’s call it the Boring Age – when people weirdly didn’t require their romcom leading duos to hook up off-screen. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan made three hit movies together between 1990 and 1998,displaying an onscreen chemistry for the ages,and no one ever once thought,“Oh,they f---in”. Why? Because even in their early 30s they had grandparent vibes? Because who would ever cheat on sweet Greek princess Rita Wilson? Yes,probably,to all of these reasons. This was not a particularly fun time for romcom fans.
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Earlier this year,Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon tried to give us the “Don’t get confused,we’re just actors and extremely platonic friends” treatment with their Netflix romcom,Your Place or Mine. Their red carpet chemistry was so muted that,following a public roasting,even Kutcher’s wife Mila Kunis asked them why they were being so awkward. “Here’s the thing,” Kutcher later explained. “If I put my arm around[Reese] and was,like,all friendly with her … the rumour would be that I’m having an affair with her.” To which we all said:correct,that is your job right now as a romcom actor,to have a fake affair with Reese Witherspoon till we’ve all seen the movie.
Real-life intrigue,however sordid,always helps a romcom’s sell. In late 1991,Woody Allen madeHusbands and Wives,co-starring his then-partner Mia Farrow. In the film,the pair break up after Allen’s Gabe,a writer,shares an erotically charged moment with a 21-year-old student who’s just insulted his novel,played by Juliette Lewis. The film was released in September 1992,just eight months after Allen and Farrow split when Allen’s affair with Farrow’s 21-year-old adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn was made public.
Keen to capitalise on the gossip circus,the film’s studio TriStar rushed through a wide release the same week as its premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. People flocked to see it,scoring Allen,largely an arthouse attraction,the biggest opening of his career at the time. Jami Bernard of theNew York Post calledHusbands and Wives “a voyeur’s treasure hunt”;that was a positive review. “Not since the Taylor-BurtonCleopatra affair has it been so difficult to separate happenings on the screen from what has been screamed in the headlines,” wrote theAssociated Press’ Bob Thomas,adding that the film “ranks with Allen’s best”. Morally sketchy,great film:there’s a lesson there forAnyone But You. A horrible lesson,but a lesson nonetheless.
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Of course,sometimes real-life relationships can get in the way of romcoms,too. Who can forget the saga that was Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez,Volume One? We ran them out of town! “Get out of here,” we yelled at the couple in 2003,“and takeGigli with you! (Jersey Girl can stay.)” The pair had to wait 20 years till we all simmered down,just to be able to reignite a love that was clearly written in the stars (or asMarisa Tomei might say,“il destino”). They haven’t made a romcom together since,which should weigh heavily on our collective conscience.
I hope this isn’t the fate of Sweeney and Powell because they’ve been brave in their public commitment to a film that until two weeks ago was so sexily known asUntitled Will Gluck Project. Our obsession with their story might be grossly voyeuristic,a sign of immature delusion,of an inability to distinguish between fact and fiction,or of simple wish fulfilment. But whatever it is,it’s keeping romcoms alive.
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