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Why We Need Romantic Comedies More Than Ever at This Moment

One woman explains their value in the face of a crisis

Naomi Shah is the founder and CEO of Meet Cute , a new entertainment company that makes short, audio romantic comedies. An ideal night for her is a rom com movie marathon with her friends and a big bowl of popcorn (which translates well to social distancing!). Before starting Meet Cute, she was a member of the investment team at Union Square Ventures, a technology venture capital firm in New York, where she spent most of her time talking to companies in the well-being space. She shares an essay about why the romantic comedy is more important than ever during a bleak time in our history – namely, the coronavirus pandemic .

In the last couple of weeks, a lot of articles and tweets have talked about the influence of the Black Death on the Renaissance. During that time, people explored and patronized art and other creative endeavors that made them feel good as a means of coping with the misery of mass death and bad news. This historical tie-in points to a similar future that might be full of modern-day Midsummer’s Night Dream s.

In the 1930s, during The Great Depression, entertainment and specifically romantic comedies (rom-coms) burgeoned. The decade before, movies had just transitioned from silent films to “talkies”, setting up Hollywood well to make stories about human connection. Movies like Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Holiday (1938), Ninotchka (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and Woman of the Year (1942) were entertaining people during the crises of a severe worldwide economic depression and the Second World War.

This same time period saw a rise in slapstick comedy that functioned similarly to rom-coms as escapism: Charlie Chaplin helped pull people out of difficult times by making them laugh and Disney also released their first feature-length film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs . About 30 years later, Woody Allen entertained the masses in the Vietnam era of the 1970s with movies including Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1977).

In fact, the modern “renaissance” of the rom-com — the ’90s — is an outlier in the genre, since movies like Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride thrived during a relatively peaceful era. This could be why the romantic comedy developed a reputation as being somewhat frivolous. Sure, these usually aren’t the movies that are shortlisted for awards, but this is a category that deserves a few moments of attention for helping us get through the tougher times and giving people a much-needed escape.

First, rom coms are hopeful and happy . They always end with a happily ever after. Many times, I feel like I’m watching a rom com for that one scene that I love (for example, this final scene on the bridge , from How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days ). We sit through the 90 minutes of the movie to get the feeling that this scene brings out. It leaves us feeling like anything is possible and believing in serendipity.

Second, rom-coms are incredibly consistent . Each story has the same narrative arc; there’s some sort of “meet cute” moment between two characters where two people meet in a way that the audience knows they are destined to be together, even if they start out hating each other like Kat and Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Then there’s some sort of conflict that arises, a journey in which their connection grows stronger, the resolution, and the happily ever after. Because the narrative arc is not particularly innovative, it allows the audience to relax into the story because they know that the characters will end up together by the end of the story. The audience knows not to expect shocking deaths or tragic twists, and therefore it is okay to emotionally invest in the characters.

Third, rom-coms are about human connection . An interesting coincidence is that the pandemic kicked off around the same time as the Netflix series Love is Blind , a show about whether or not you could achieve human connection without being able to physically make contact. It’s not such a coincidence that the show took off — in an almost poetic way, mirroring the experience we were on the cusp of living. Right now, people want to feel as though they can connect to others, even if they are not able to physically.

Will we be feeling the need to live vicariously through others’ connections during this time period? Rom-coms remind us that there are so many ways for people to form connections and that there is an incredible amount of diversity in the characters and settings that keep the stories fresh. In highlighting some of the mundane, yet very important, moments – like an awkward pause or a regretful glance – that define human connection, these stories about love remain super-relatable in the most trying times.

Finally, rom-coms are bingeable . They are like macaroni and cheese for your brain; and therefore it’s not surprising that during times of economic or emotional hardship humans have turned to rom-coms as a way to escape from uncertainty in the world, and in the headlines. So, while you are socially distancing yourself from other people over the next few months, turn off the news for a bit, grab some actual mac and cheese, sink into the couch, and put on your favorite rom-com. It might “just what the doctor ordered.”

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section American Romantic Comedy

Introduction, general overviews.

• Critical Anthologies
• Reference Works
• Film Comedy Studies
• Studies of Individual Classical Romantic Comedy Films
• Studies of Individual Screwball Comedy Films
• Studies of Individual Contemporary Romantic Comedy Films
• Allen, Woody (1935–)
• Capra, Frank (1897–1991)
• Cukor, George (1899–1983)
• Hawks, Howard (1896–1977)
• Wilder, Billy (1906–2002)
• Lubitsch, Ernst (1892–1947)
• Sturges, Preston (1898–1959)
• Grant, Cary (1904–1986)
• Hepburn, Katharine (1907–2003)
• Monroe, Marilyn (1926–1962)
• West, Mae (1892–1980)
• Comedy Studies outside of Film
• Studies of the Culture of Romance

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American Romantic Comedy by Leger Grindon LAST REVIEWED: 24 July 2012 LAST MODIFIED: 24 July 2012 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791286-0131

Romantic comedies, from classics such as Trouble in Paradise (1932) to 21st-century hits like Knocked Up (2007), have been a cornerstone of Hollywood entertainment since the coming of sound. Success in romantic comedy has created stars from Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant to Julia Roberts and Ben Stiller. In spite of being popular movies with a long and continuous history of production, romantic comedies have won only a few Oscars for Best Picture: It Happened One Night (1934), You Can’t Take It With You (1938), The Apartment (1960), Annie Hall (1977) and Shakespeare in Love (1998). Romantic comedies are often dismissed as formulaic stories promoting fantasies about love. But these comedies have a pedigree that includes William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Oscar Wilde. Moreover, these films reward study because they deal with dramatic conflicts central to human experience. From those conflicts arise the familiar conventions that form the foundation for the romantic comedy and portray our social manners surrounding courtship, sexuality, and gender relations. Romantic comedy films create a comic climate through a series of cues to the audience: subject matter is treated as trivial, jokes and physical humor make fun of events, and characters are protected from harm. Even though the story poses serious problems, such as finding a life partner, the process appears lighthearted, anticipating a positive resolution. The plot of most romantic comedies could be presented with the earnestness of melodrama, but the humorous tone transforms the experience. The movie assumes a self-deprecating stance that signals the audience to relax and have fun, for nothing serious will disturb their pleasure. However, this sly pose allows comic artists to influence their audience while the viewers take little notice of the work’s persuasive power. If humor establishes the tone, courtship provides the plot. In a broad sense the subject of romantic comedy is the values, attitudes, and practices that shape the play of human desire. The transforming power of love is an overarching theme. More than sexuality, these films portray a drive toward marriage or long-term partnership. Indeed, romantic comedy portrays the stories that allow men and women to reflect upon romance as a personal experience and a social phenomenon. As a result, scholars such as Celestino Deleyto speak of romantic comedy engaging in the discourse of love, representing the shifting practice of, and the evolving ideas about, romance in our culture.

Romantic comedy films are of interest to fans, students of cinema, and scholars. These books provide an understanding of the tradition that can introduce the reader to the principal types, familiar motifs, and canonical films shaping the genre. Grindon 2011 and McDonald 2007 organize the subject and offer a digest of the chief conventions, major historical cycles, and principal works in the field. Babington and Evans 1989 focuses on prominent artists and a more unusual selection of films. Kimmel 2008 offers stories surrounding the production history of classic movies. Mernit 2000 writes a manual for screenwriters. Rowe 1995 develops a feminist perspective. Rubinfeld 2001 applies a social science approach to romantic comedies from 1970 to 1990. Deleyto 2009 offers a more theoretical understanding and argues for the influence of movies on the margin of the genre.

Babington, Bruce, and Peter William Evans. Affairs to Remember: The Hollywood Comedy of the Sexes . Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1989.

An eccentric, insightful survey. Chapter 1 addresses Bringing Up Baby (1938) and screwball; chapter two profiles Ernst Lubitsch; chapter 3 covers Bob Hope, Mae West, and Woody Allen; chapter 4 is on the 1950s, particularly Pat and Mike (1952), Pillow Talk (1959), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Douglas Sirk. The final chapter takes stock of romantic comedy in the 1970s and 1980s.

Deleyto, Celestino. The Secret Life of Romantic Comedy . Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2009.

After discussing genre theory, this intelligent book presents a theory of romantic comedy addressing the importance of laughter, the function of the mid-plot, and the space of romantic comedy. Analyses of films on the margins of the genre follow: To Be or Not To Be (1942), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), Rear Window (1954), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Before Sunset (2004).

Grindon, Leger. The Hollywood Romantic Comedy: Conventions, History, Controversies . Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Fluent survey explains the conventions of dramatic conflict, plotting, characters, setting, and humor. The history of the genre since the coming of sound reviews nine distinct cycles, and ten key films are analyzed from Trouble in Paradise (1932) through There’s Something About Mary (1998) and beyond. The literary heritage, function of humor, and cultural politics of the genre are addressed.

Kimmel, Daniel M. I’ll Have What She’s Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies . Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2008.

This popular treatment collects revealing stories about the production history of fifteen well-selected classics including Trouble in Paradise (1932), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Adam’s Rib (1949), Some Like It Hot (1959), and When Harry Met Sally (1989), among others.

McDonald, Tamar Jeffers. Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre . Short Cuts 34. London: Wallflower, 2007.

Introduction provides a review of generic iconography and ideology before reviewing four key periods: screwball, the sex comedy, the radical transformation of the 1960s and 1970s, and the neo-traditional patterns of contemporary romantic comedy. Each chapter includes a detailed commentary on a representative film, such as Pillow Talk (1959) or Annie Hall (1977).

Mernit, Billy. Writing the Romantic Comedy . New York: HarperCollins, 2000.

A “how to” screenwriting manual presents a well-grounded sense of the history and conventions of the genre with case studies of classic movies. One can analyze humor, but it is impossible to teach someone how to be funny.

Rowe, Kathleen. The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter . Texas Film Studies Series. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

The second half of the book offers a detailed survey of Hollywood romantic comedy from Mae West through Moonstruck (1987), stressing a feminist interpretation of the comic performances of actresses such as Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, and Marilyn Monroe. After a general introduction emphasizing the antiauthoritarianism and transformation in romantic comedy, Rowe presents a detailed commentary on ten key films.

Rubinfeld, Mark D. Bound to Bond: Gender, Genre, and the Hollywood Romantic Comedy . Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.

The book offers a quantitative, sociological approach with a range of tables and statistics analyzing the romantic comedy from 1970–1990. Rubinfeld poses four common plot types: pursuit, redemption, foil, and permission. He finds that though some challenging works emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, most romantic comedies reinforce orthodox gender roles and traditional family values and support patriarchy.

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A Study On The Influence Of Romantic Comedy Films In Cultivating Unrealistic Perception Of People About Love and Relationship

The concept of romance has changed throughout the centuries. In the past, the ideal of love was expressed through poetry. Love stories were commonly depicted in plays and novels. People read Shakespeare or Jane Austen and formed a concept of love based on chivalry, love at first sight, and damsels in distress saved by the knight in shining armor (Lubomir, et al., 2009). In these days, love and romantic stories are mostly depicted in films. Romantic comedies and chick flicks are the main genres which include these themes. The intended audience is generally women and teenagers. The popularity of these films leads to the thesis statement: People’s perception of love is greatly influenced by films, and this leads to false expectations about “ideal romance.” It has become increasingly apparent to researchers that with its rise in popularity, film and television have become teaching tools for how to behave in society. This ability for the media to shape social interactions, has led many to theorize on how mass media alters the individual. Two of these theories are: cultivation theory (Gerbener, et al.) and social cognitive theory (Bandura). “Social cognitive theory suggests that individuals may actively observe media portrayals of behaviors in romantic relationships for insight into how they themselves could behave in their own relationships”.

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For ages, the neo-liberal Hollywood has relied on its formulaic approach, which often takes the form of genres such as Rom-Coms to attract the unsuspecting audience. The study analyzes the content of Hollywood made romantic comedies. Using Social Cognitive theory and Cultivation theory as the basis, the study carried out content analysis of top five highest grossing romantic comedies of all times, produced in Hollywood. The study found repetitive relationship-based elements in these films indicating that Hollywood uses formula approach to ensnare the audience around the world. The study also concluded that Hollywoodmade-rom-coms had a negative effect on the perception of romantic love among its viewers.

International Journal of Indian Psychology

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Media has become saturated with messages about romance. Yet, very scarce work has been done in studying the effects of romance oriented media on beliefs about romantic relationship. The present study aims at investigating the relationship between exposure to romantic media, perceived realism of the media and beliefs about romantic relationship among adults. An Expost facto research design was used and a sample of 439 individuals (121 males and 318 females) over age 18 was selected through purposive sampling. Online portals were used to circulate the survey. Sprecher and Metts Relationship Beliefs Scale (1989) and Rubin’s Perceived Realism Scale (1985) were used. The data was analysed inferentially by using Person Product Moment Correlation to establish relationships and t- test to study gender differences. The findings revealed that exposure to romantic media was not significantly related to beliefs about romantic relationships (except for beliefs about love at first sight), but per...

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This study analyzed the romantic content of a sample of 40 romantic comedy films using a basic grounded theory methodology. Analyses revealed that such films appear to depict romantic relationships as having qualities of both new and long-term relationships; that is, to be both novel and exciting, yet emotionally significant and meaningful. Further-more, relationships were shown to have both highly idealistic and undesirable qualities but for any problems or transgressions experienced to have no real negative long-term impact on relationship functioning. The potential for viewer interpretations is discussed and the need for future research highlighted.

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Media has grown in popularity throughout time, and with it, so has media’s ability to influence those who watch it. Specifically, romantic media has the potential to influence personal romantic beliefs. However, to date, research has typically relied on self-reported questionnaires for determining associations. Therefore, the present study examined the influence of romantic reality media on a specific set of romantic beliefs (i.e., individuals’ implicit theories of relationships) using an experimental procedure. Participants from a small liberal arts college first completed an online, prevideo survey (N = 128) assessing their prior romantic media consumption and their current romantic beliefs. A subset of the participants (n = 81) then came into a computer lab and watched 1 of 3 videos: emphasizing growth beliefs, emphasizing destiny beliefs, or a nonromantic media video. Immediately after the video, participants filled out a postvideo survey assessing their romantic media consumpti...

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The mass media have been saturated with messages and stories about romantic love-fed to us through various channels, including television, movies, music, books, and the Internet. In addition, it is currently believed to be a critical love coach, as well as a source of idealized views of love and romance, for today's youth. This research aims to examine the potential impact of romanticized media on generation Z's understanding and expectations of romantic relationships. By systematically investigating relevant scholarly literature, we analyze and review how individuals develop perceptions of romantic relationships through media exposure. By engaging in an online survey with 152 young people aged from 17 to 26, this study attempts to explore the relationship between the consumption of romance-related content and generation Z's perception of romantic love. Overall, the result suggests that romanticized content preference is significantly associated with highly idealized beliefs and unrealistic expectations of romantic relationships.

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Understanding Love: Philosophy, Film, and Fiction

Susan Wolf and Christopher Grau (eds.),  Understanding Love: Philosophy, Film, and Fiction , Oxford University Press, 2014, 397pp., $29.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780195384505.

Reviewed by Alessandro Bertinetto, University of Udine

Artworks can offer insights through which we can understand ourselves, our thoughts and emotions, and our relations with other people, as well as our place in nature and in the social world, by means of illustrating or exemplifying perspectives on us and on our world. Through the perspectives offered by art -- which can be judged right or wrong -- we may enhance our understanding of ourselves and of our world (see James O. Young, Art and Knowledge , Routledge, 2001). Moreover, they may also inspire new or enrich existing philosophical reflection about some topic. Some art forms, especially narrative ones such as literature and film, seem particularly suited to this purpose.

This book takes seriously the idea that art can help us understand aspects of life and the world in a non-trivial, sometimes actually profound, way. Its seventeen essays are dedicated to the exploration of different perspectives that literature and cinema present on various kinds of love -- for example, love for animals, sexual or erotic love, romantic love, familiar love, interracial love, homosexual love, love for objects -- and the possible different relations between those kinds of love as well as with other feelings. The essays are claimed to be either interdisciplinary or non-disciplinary "exercises in thinking and writing that, while inevitably reflecting the author's training and temperament, engage with a text or explore an idea in a way unconstrained by disciplinary boundaries" (p. 6). Correspondingly, the book is not driven, at least not openly, by a single encompassing philosophical or thematic view. The  editors arranged the essays alphabetically by author's name because there is no special order in which they should be read.

The articles can indeed profitably be read separately, as each can be taken as outlining a philosophical strategy for understanding a particular movie or novel with reference to the question of love. Here are some examples. "The Untold Want of Now, Voyager " by Maria DiBattista offers a close reading that illuminates Irving Rapper's 1942 cinematic melodrama, while Douglas MacLean's "Between Desire and Destruction: A Reading of The Go-Between " is an interpretation of Joseph Losey's 1971 movie about "the failure of love and the destructive power of sexual desire" (p. 164). If you want to grasp the point of the Coen brothers' movie The Man Who Wasn't There, you will certainly profit from reading George Wilson's "Love and Bullshit in Santa Rosa: Pastiche in The Man Who Wasn't There ". If you are instead about to read Ian McEwan's novel Saturday , you'd be well-advised to spend some time with Frances Ferguson's "Communicating Love: Ian McEwan, Saturday , and Personal Affection in the Information Age". Moreover, if you are in doubt about the general meaning of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt , you would do well to turn to Gilberto Perez's "Hitchcock's Family Romance: Allegory in Shadow of a Doubt ".

Each essay assigns proper philosophical reflection a different place and weight in order to offer a hermeneutical perspective on the novel or film on which it focuses. However, all endorse the idea, explicitly stated by Frederick Neuhouser (p. 230), that novels and movies address us , our imperfect world, and precisely for this reason are philosophically intriguing. After all, as Toril Moi observes, "philosophy can be found anywhere ordinary human beings act in ordinary ways" (p. 191). Some of the essays directly invoke elaborate philosophical arguments or theories in order to explain the way in which a film or a novel approaches the issue of love. But many other essays are rather excellent exercises of literary or cinematographic criticism, which, while focusing on the way in which a movie or a novel addresses the issue of love, do not do so in an explicitly philosophical way.  That is the case, for instance,  with Nick Halpern's psychological-sociological discussion of the "embarrassing fathers" of famous writers like Yeats and Henry James, with Judith Smith's political-sociological analysis of the ordinary love stories presented in postwar American films ("Talking Back to Hollywood: Ordinary Love Stories on Film, 1946-1964"), and with Lawrence Blum's moral-political criticism of the "False Racial Symmetries in Far From Heaven and Elsewhere ". (Those are, by the way, films that endorse the false view that "a particular type of immoral problematic behavior is assumed to carry the same moral significance when its target is whites as when it is blacks; or when a race-neutral principle is applied as if there were no significant difference between white and black, when there is" (p. 37).)

In any case, despite the diversity of topics and perspectives offered in the essays, there is a common thread that implicitly binds many if not all of the contributions. It is the relationship between love and knowledge, which is not at all strange, considering that the book is about the philosophical potential of fiction and that philosophy does, after all, deal centrally with knowledge. This relationship can be specified as the possible gain that love can offer in terms of knowledge and vice versa as the idea that true love requires a solid ("objective") knowledge of reality, and cannot be based only on subjective projections guided by private idiosyncratic visions, wishes, or fears, although those elements are often important in love relations.

Rae Langton addresses this issue directly, drawing upon Hume's theory of projection. According to Hume, a human being's relation to the world and to other persons is governed overridingly by three mechanisms, phenomenological gilding, wishful thinking, and pseudo-empathy. As a result, beliefs are generated through which the world is colored by sentiment, our knowledge is influenced by desire, and our minds tend to harmonize with the minds of others. As William James observed, projection plays an important role in love, by projecting "an image of the other that is rosier than the reality" (p. 148). However, projection may also be involved in sexual love, running the risk of objectifying the loved person as "an object of appetite," as Kant said. Both good and bad aspects of projection in love are well illustrated in Ian McEwan's love story and spy thriller The Innocent (1990), which is set in Berlin in 1956 at the beginning of the Cold War. John Schlesinger transposed the book to film in 1995, but according to Langton, while the novel succeeds in showing the duality of projection -- as both a source of joy and a present danger -- in the love affair between the young English technician Leonard Markham and the older German girl Maria, the movie still fails to capture the complex phenomenology of projection.

The complexity of this phenomenology is the focus of Toril Moi's "'Something That Might Resemble a Kind of Love': Fantasy and Realism in Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf " and of Susan Wolf's "Loving Attention: Lessons in Love From The Philadelphia Story ," both drawing on Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy. Moi observes that Ibsen's play exemplifies the "intrinsic connection between realism -- the attempt to see others as they are -- and love" (p. 193) and that "The fundamental oppositions between fantasy and reality, and between selfishness and love" organize the thematic structure of the text. Wolf, for her part, discusses "The ideas of loving attention and of the (loving) knowledge such attention yields" (p. 370). Loving attention -- "[the] attention that portrays its object as good" (p. 371) -- is accurate and positive (and for this reason it differs from a careful, but more neutral, attention). This amounts to saying that "love is not blind, but blinkered. To attend to someone lovingly is to accentuate the positive, not necessarily to fabricate it" (p. 372). However, this does not mean that acknowledgement of the flaws of the beloved always results in an attenuation of love. George Cukor's romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940) illustrates the point very well. Dexter (Cary Grant) loves Tracy (Katharine Hepburn) despite her flaw of demanding perfection in other people. The film illustrates that "A love is not better for casting its object in a purely positive light. The best love is an attentive love, that sees its object as it really is, and can love completely and unreservedly even in light of that knowledge" (p. 375). So, "The denial of the positive light ideal of love is a veritable theme of the movie" (p. 375). In other words, true love is not nonjudgmental. The movie rejects perfection as an adequate standard for love, not judgment. The compatibility between the epistemic correctness of love and the benevolence towards the beloved is granted by the selfless character of loving attention, as a kind of "attention that is not geared to or distorted by self-interest" (p. 380). "The best kind of love . . . tries to see its object clearly," but "does not require universal love" (p. 381-2). To sum up: the philosophical lesson of The Philadelphia Story is that the authentic object of love is reality itself, and a consequence of this is that one need not love cruel persons.

Nor even animals, as defended by Werner Herzog's documental film Grizzly Man , according to the interpretation of Macalester Bell. Bell's " Grizzly Man , Sentimentality, and Our Relationships with Other Animals," discusses the argument developed by the German director in his documentary movie about the dramatic, and perhaps tragic, story of Timothy Treadwell. After living unarmed for thirteen summers with Alaskan grizzly bears, he and his girlfriend were devoured by a bear. Treadwell thought that men and wild animals can be friends and that this friendship is valuable. Love for animals, John Berger says, can indeed offer an escape for the loneliness of man as species. However, Herzog shows in his film that "Treadwell's interactions with the bears were irredeemably marred by sentimentality" (p. 19). According to Bell, Herzog worries that Treadwell's sentimentality is motivated by his "skepticism about the possibility of knowing another animal" (p. 20), and if we cannot know something, we cannot love it: "loving attention involves genuine knowledge of the other, while sentimental affection involves feeling of affection in the absence of genuine knowledge of the other" (p. 22). Herzog's point is exactly that love for wild animals is inappropriate, because it is merely sentimental and unrealistic. Different from loving attention, sentimental emotions misrepresent reality in some way, because they are self-congratulatory, self-indulgent and simplistic: they project qualities of innocence onto their target, and falsify it. However, Bell observes that Herzog, who strangely ends his movie in a sentimental manner, is wrong in maintaining that it is simply impossible to know animals and love them in the right way. After all, we do know animals to a certain extent, and Treadwell too knew the bears, at least to some extent.

Not only that. Against Wolf's thesis on "loving attention," Bell claims that

Sentimental affection is valuable when it is a perspective we occasionally take up and is balanced by loving attention [otherwise it would be simply unrealistic]. A loving relationship completely devoid of sentimental affection may fail to provide the reassurance that loving relationships often require. (p. 34)

Because, "The simplification characteristic of sentimental affection allows us to attend to the other without being overcome by the anxiety that can accompany careful attention" (p. 35). This is due to sentimental emotions being more easily communicable than loving attention, which is idiosyncratic. Hence Bell concludes that it is not Treadwell's sentimentality that is objectionable, but the harm caused by considering bears as symbols of innocent virtue, which they are not. Therefore at the end Bell agrees with "Herzog's apparent ambivalence toward sentimentality" (p. 35). For "we have reasons to be critical of those who always respond to the world in a sentimental way. But the criticisms of sentimentality should not lead us to be critical of all sentimental responses. Sometimes, responding sentimentally is what is called for by love itself" (pp. 35-36). Yet Bell's point about sentimentality and loving attention -- the key to her argument -- is somehow unclear. Why is loving attention idiosyncratic? And in what sense is the easy communicability of sentimentality valuable? Moreover, Herzog's attitude towards sentimentality seems to be coherently critical to me, and fits pretty well his whole filmography. Still, Bell's essay is one of the philosophically more successful articles in the book.

Equally rich and intriguing is Christopher Grau's discussion of Steven Soderbergh's Solaris (2002), a remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film, which is in turn an adaptation of Stanisław Lem's 1961 science fiction novel. The complex story narrated raises important questions about love and personal identity, which Grau examines with the help of Derek Parfit's philosophy. Viewers face a "vivid thought experiment": "If confronted with a near duplicate of someone you have loved and lost, what would your response be? What should your response be?" (p. 106). The force of the experiment relies on the tension that can exist in real life between loving a person and loving his/her qualities. The philosophical core of the film is the question, discussed for example by Robert Nozick, as to whether we love the person or the qualities that are manifested by the person and that could be maybe found in someone else. The question seems strange, because usually we cannot distinguish between the person and his/her qualities, since the particular bundle of qualities presented by person A could hardly be found in persons B, C, etc. However, if one is simply attached to physical qualities, for instance, he/she can indeed find someone else possessing them. Moreover, as DiBattista's essay on Now, Voyager also shows, it makes sense to ask whether the beloved and the sensations and experiences offered by love really are unique and irreplaceable. Solaris makes us reflect precisely on the focus of our loving attachment, while taking an ambiguous stance on the issue. On the one hand, it seems to defend a Parfitian answer to the problem, according to which personal identity is unimportant: qualities, not persons, matter. On the other hand, it does not give up the language of identity: knowing who is the person we are attached to still seems to be a condition for authentic love.

A reflection about the importance of knowing reality for achieving good love relationships is also offered by David Paletz. His article seems to deal with a documentary: Ross McElwee's Sherman's March. A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation (1986). I said "seems" because the main question at issue is precisely whether "love is made for fiction" or can be also the topic of a documentary, which aims at depicting reality. This seems to be difficult precisely because "documentarians deal in reality," which makes documentary an odd place to explore "the idealistic belief that romance is possible" (p. 233). However, suggests Paletz, "the film is indeed about a quest, no matter how improbable, for romantic love" (p. 237). The improbability of this quest is the most interesting point of Paletz's discussion. He notices a tension between the intimacy sought by the protagonist and director with the women who are the potential target of his romantic love, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the intrusiveness of the camera. At the end the possibly narcissistic love for the camera prevails over the romantic and sentimental love for the filmed women, which turns out to be the result of the projection (the word is here very appropriate!) of the camera "eye" (or "I"). The conclusion seems inescapable that the movie fails either as a true documentary or as a film about romantic love. It cannot succeed as both. (Obviously, it can fail as both, and after having watched the movie, that is my personal critical verdict on it). After all, as Ferguson's article on Ian McEwan maintains, one of the features of love seems to be the "paradox of incommunicability -- the lovers' inability to explain their love to observers and the documented inability of non-lovers to understand" (p. 86). McElwee's camera is ultimately just an observer, and the confusion between participation and observation is likely the reason why his project fails.

There are reflections about the connection between love and knowledge in some of the other essays. Gilberto Perez's essay on Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt is an allegorical reconstruction of the film as a cinematic reflection about the dangers of knowledge, which often is knowledge of evil. C.D.C. Reeve's " Lessons in Looking " is an interpretation of Krzysztof Kieślowski's A Short Film About Love which ,while drawing attention to the voyeuristic inclinations of love, makes us reflect on the ambiguity of the link between love and knowledge: on the one hand, looking, as expression of sexual desire masked as will to know, "can . . . feed the obsessive circle of fantasy," while distorting reality; on the other hand, "when done with love, it can lead to seeing and understanding" (p. 285). An analogous conflicting relation holds between the "limitless communication ideal," which is "the strongest positive attribute of omniscient narration," and its "dark corollary": "limitless manipulation," i.e., "the compulsive stage managing of others' lives for one's own prurient delectation, an exercise of a not-so-secret will to power" (p. 324). George Toles' "Dipping Into Omniscience With Willa Cather: Authorial Knowledge as Love" deals with this topic. Focusing on the relation between a narrator and her characters, Toles observes that the ideal of "limitless communication," while aiming at overcoming the problem of solitude, risks being excessive and manipulative.

Finally, there is a sense in which Rousseau's novel Julie also offers a view of the connection between love and (self-)knowledge. Frederick Neuhouser, in his excellent "Rousseau's Julie : Passion, Love, and the Price of Virtue," observes that the problem at the core of Rousseau's novel is certainly the conflict between virtue, love, and sexual desire. However, an important role in the existential attempt to solve this conflict is the epistemic self-transparency gained by Julie at the end of the novel, and of her life, when she understands that sexual love is egoistic, while love is attentive toward the beloved's true good. Leaving aside the moralistic implications of Julie 's ending, the point seems to be again that a robust knowledge of reality is important for healthy love experiences. Still, it remains true that love -- or at least some kinds of love -- is not healthy, but is often a disease, or like a disease, as plenty of novels and movies do not cease to remind us. A merit -- and maybe the main merit -- of this book is to focus intelligently on this apparent paradox, which is often explored, in different ways, by both good and bad novels and films.

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Life Isn’t Like the Movies (Even if You Write the Movies)

A director of romantic comedies finds herself attending weddings with her ex-husband. Who wrote this script?

By Nancy Meyers

Once I turned 69, if anyone asked me my age — not that anyone ever did, but if I offered it up in conversation — I always said, “I’m almost 70.” I went straight from 68 to “almost 70,” as if 69 didn’t amount to anything other than the year before being a decade away from 80 (as I’ve since come to see it).

It was in this year of being “almost 70” that I emailed my ex-husband, Charles, and asked him if he could give me a ride to our younger daughter’s best friend’s wedding in Solvang, just north of Santa Barbara. He and I live in Los Angeles, and I didn’t want to drive to the wedding alone. It was maybe the first time in the 20 years since we broke up that I said out loud that I didn’t want to do something alone.

I have spent the last two decades not only being single but writing a couple of movies about divorced women my age — purposely defying the clichés that being older and single meant you were destined to be undesirable, lonely and isolated. I wrote about women in my films who blossomed post-divorce, much as I had done in some ways.

I was driven by a desire not to be put in a box by my age or divorce, and I wanted to project a positive spin for women like me. And in my movies, I wanted to try to be funny about it all. Why not laugh at some of what life throws at us?

[ Sign up for Love Letter, our weekly email about Modern Love, weddings and relationships. ]

So it was a big thing for me, at almost 70, to ask my ex-husband, of all people, to give me a ride to an out-of-town wedding.

Not only had I not been in a car with him in over 20 years, I hadn’t been alone with him in all that time. But something about being almost 70 made me not care as much about the past or what led to our breakup.

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Screen Rant

15 best fantasy romance movies ever made.

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20 Romantic Movies With Tragic Endings

The 15 best period romance tv shows ever made, 8 things fantasy movies & tv need to do to start being great.

• The best fantasy movies often focus on relationship dynamics between characters, showcasing the complications of love and overcoming mistreatment.
• Fantasy romances can vary in definition, from mythical creatures to human struggles, but they generally offer a cheerful or less extreme portrayal of love.
• Movies like The Princess Bride , Legend , and The Shape of Water exemplify the blend of fantasy and romance, creating magical and heartwarming love stories.

The combination of fantasy and romance , especially in movies, is a magical one. The cinematic universe has introduced all manner of whimsical and beautiful stories in this subgenre , but some stand out more than others. Many of these titles come from books that perfectly blend fantasy and romance and are then adapted for the silver screen, bringing some of the most beloved fictional characters to life. However, fantasy, especially in regard to romance, can vary in definition. Not every fantasy movie includes mythical creatures or a duel between the hero and villain.

The majority of the best fantasy movies of all time focus on relationships or have a subplot that delves into the complications of love. But sometimes, the definition of the concept is murky. Some movies about cheating and infidelity are considered romance because a character overcomes their mistreatment and finds someone better. However, in fantasy, romances are generally more cheerful or, at least, less extreme. While a stunning and mystical world is life-changing enough, some movie characters are also fortunate enough to find their true love.

While most love stories have a happy ending, these tragic tear-jerkers end in sadness - and fans love them for it.

15 The Princess Bride (1987)

The ultimate fantasy comedy.

The Princess Bride

Not available

Based on the 1973 novel by William Goldman, The Princess Bride is a comical fantasy adventure film that tells a swashbuckling tale of a hero and a princess, read to a young, sick boy in bed by his grandfather. The story itself follows farmhand Westley, who embarks on an epic journey to save his beloved princess from an evil prince as he meets strange but reliable companions along the way.

The Princess Bride not only merges fantasy and romance but also includes some amazing comedy for good measure . The journey to save Buttercup from the abhorrent Prince Humperdinck is an enjoyable one, and it becomes even better with hilarious lines like Westley's repetitive " As you wish " quote .

The Princess Bride ’s main romance, which is set in the backdrop of the fictional kingdom of Florin, makes the film not only exhilarating and action-packed but also endearing. Buttercup and Westley’s love story, while comedy-focused, is relatable and heartfelt throughout, making it easy to root for the pair.

14 Legend (1986)

A classic tale of good fighting bad.

In a fantastical realm, Jack must save Princess Lili from the clutches of the sinister Lord of Darkness, who plans to bring eternal night by killing the last unicorns. Teaming up with a group of mystical companions, Jack ventures through dark forests and treacherous terrains to stop Darkness and ensure the survival of their magical world.

Legend , Tom Cruise's only box office bomb , is a fabulous tale about the romance between Jack and Lili. While Legend ’s story of good vs. evil isn’t an original idea, Jack and Lili’s love story raises the stakes significantly. Jack’s compelling battle against the Lord of Darkness results in some brilliant pacing in Legend , but the hero’s motivation to save the world and Lili makes it even better. The use of fantasy creatures is prominent in Legend , too, with Jack crossing paths with elves, unicorns, and even an ogre throughout the film.

13 The Shape Of Water (2017)

A difference in species can't stop love.

The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water is set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962, and follows Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a shy, mute woman who works as a custodian at a secure government facility. While at her job, Elisa meets and falls in love with a human-amphibian hybrid man, who is being held and experimented on at the facility by the evil Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon). Risking her life and the lives of her friends, Elisa hatches a plan to help her amphibian lover escape, pursued by Strickland and his forces in the government. 

The relationship between mute cleaner Elisa and the enigmatic Amphibian man in Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece is deeply emotional.

The Shape of Water features one of the most unconventional love stories in a movie ever. The relationship between mute cleaner Elisa and the enigmatic Amphibian man in Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece is deeply emotional. Despite being set in a version of the real world, the translation of the Amphibian Man’s mistreatment and his developing romance with Elisa is perfection.

Their lack of communication makes their story much more impactful, and the lengths Elisa goes to protect him is a brilliant commentary on appearances, so it makes sense that The Shape of Water is an Oscar Best Picture winner.

12 Enchanted (2007)

A disney princess learns to live in the real world.

Starring Amy Adams as Giselle, Enchanted follows its heroine as she is cast out of her animated fantasy world by an evil queen, ending up in the middle of New York City where she meets Robert, a jaded lawyer who reluctantly takes the clueless Giselle in. As Giselle begins to adjust to life in the real world, and her relationship with Robert deepens, she must reconcile what she thought she wanted with where life has taken her. Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, and Susan Sarandon also star. 

Enchanted is a fascinating take on a naive heroine thrust into a new world. In fact, Enchanted 's director's commentary reveals that it tries to offer a new angle on the typical Disney Princess. Giselle’s abrupt arrival in the real world and her interactions with the straight-thinking Robert highlight the tropes of romance stories, but it embraces them in such a way that it teaches audiences to want more from a partner. Their contrasting views are both correct and even though Giselle is from a fairytale land, she teaches Robert how to take life a little less seriously.

The period romance genre is full of some of the greatest TV shows in general, but the best within the niche are masterworks of story & visual beauty.

11 Labyrinth (1986)

Love from a distance.

Directed by Jim Henson and written by Monty Python's Terry Jones, Labyrinth stars Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, a teenage girl whose accidental wish that her baby brother be taken by the Goblin King results in an epic quest to save the baby from the King through a vast labyrinth, accompanied by its inhabitants. David Bowie also stars as Jareth, the Goblin King, and many of the characters are played by puppets created by Henson. 

Labyrinth isn’t an immediately obvious romance movie, but the budding fondness between Jareth and Sarah is subtle. While the one-sided connection between the Goblin King and a 16-year-old isn’t exactly appropriate, it’s apparent that Jareth feels something for Sarah that is more than just general approval.

Sarah’s creativity and love for her brother attract Jareth’s attention, a refreshing change of pace for him, but his failure to defeat her fuels the fire even more so. Labyrinth celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, honoring one of the most fantastical and eerie films of all time.

10 Stardust (2007)

An ethereal love story.

Stardust (2007)

Stardust is a fantasy-based romantic adventure-comedy by director Matthew Vaughn and based on the original novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. In the film, Tristan, a young man who lives in an English town near a magical border wall, decides to catch a fallen star to win the affection of a woman named Yvaine. However, Tristan soon learns what - or who - the star is, and a grand adventure back to England begins.

Stardust focuses on the love story and often bickering of human Tristan and star Yvaine. The contrast between the fictional town of Wall and the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold illuminates the differences in its characters, but despite the world's attempts to keep them apart, their romance blooms.

Tristan’s quest before and after meeting Yvaine is dramatic and enthralling, especially because of the threats he faces along the way, such as the witches and even his romantic rival Humphrey, Henry Cavill's Stardust character . The Neil Gaiman adaptation is heartwarming and wholesome, with a happy ending that is impossible to argue with.

9 The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

Marriage is complicated enough, let alone in the wrong order.

The Time Traveler's Wife

In the 1970s, Henry DeTamble discovers he's a time traveler after a tragic accident. His life intersects with Clare Abshire's repeatedly, as she's known him since childhood. Despite marrying, their relationship is challenged by Henry's uncontrollable jumps through time, leaving Clare to wait for his return. As they navigate the complexities of love and loss, they confront the limitations of Henry's condition and the impact it has on their family.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of Rachel McAdams' multiple time travel movies . McAdams plays Clare, a woman who meets librarian Henry, who has a genetic disorder that makes him time travel at random. From the get-go, their relationship becomes increasingly more complicated, especially after they marry.

While Henry’s lack of control over his movements is far from ideal, the fact that they have to appreciate every second they have together strengthens their bond. However, Henry meeting his wife out of order also allows him to be the ultimate romantic and to commit fully.

8 Ladyhawke (1985)

Animalistic needs has a brand new meaning.

Ladyhawke is a fantasy adventure film directed by Richard Donner. The story follows a young thief, a disillusioned knight, and a beautiful noblewoman cursed to transform into a hawk by day. Set against a medieval backdrop, the trio seeks to outwit the malevolent bishop responsible for the curse. Starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer, the film combines elements of romance, action, and supernatural intrigue.

The medieval fantasy movie Ladyhawke introduces an unusual love story to the screen. The relationship between Lady Isabeau and Captain Etienne Navarre is eternally doomed due to a curse that keeps them in the form of a hawk and a wolf, respectively, but at different times of the day.

The sacrifices the two make are heartbreaking, but the journey they take across the imaginary kingdom of Aquila to defeat the villainous Bishop and hopefully break the curse provides hope. Luckily, the two succeed in their efforts, which makes their near-supernatural experience even more satisfying upon every rewatch.

7 Mirror Mirror (2012)

Snow white's stepmother plays a much bigger role in her love story.

Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror is a new adaptation of the original Brothers Grimm tale Snow White that stars Lilly Collins and Julia Roberts as Snow White and the enchantress Clementianna. When Snow White's father goes missing,  her stepmother assumes control of the kingdom, hiding Snow White away from the world, and jealously banishes her into the nearby woods. As time passes, Snow White, with the help of the dwarves that helped raise her, decides to fight back and reclaim her kingdom from her cruel stepmother.

The 2012 movie Mirror Mirror is an intriguing retelling of Snow White , with the princess fighting back against her evil stepmother, Queen Clementianna. However, Mirror Mirror abruptly cuts off certain fairytale tropes, most notably in the relationship between Snow and Prince Alcott.

Snow faces Clementianna as a romantic rival, and although her primary goal is to regain her throne, she falls in love with Alcott. While there are several fantastical elements in Mirror Mirror , like magical creatures and curses, the development of feelings between Snow and Alcott never becomes more important than their quest at hand.

6 Shrek (2001)

Happily ever afters come in many shapes and sizes.

Based loosely on the children's book of the same name by William Steig, Shrek tells the story of an ogre (Michael Myers) who sets with his new friend Donkey (Eddie Murphy) out to regain his swamp from fairytale characters. Tasked with rescuing Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in return for the restoration of his solitude, Shrek discovers that he's not the loner he always thought he was, and that looks aren't always everything.

The hit children’s movie establishes that any creature, no matter their size or appearance, is deserving of affection and that true love is about what’s within.

Every Shrek movie is famous for subverting many romance tropes on its head, but the original breaks the mold. The hit children’s movie establishes that any creature, no matter their size or appearance, is deserving of affection and that true love is about what’s within. Even dragons and donkeys find happiness.

The titular character and Fiona’s relationship is realistic yet endearing, and the fact that they don’t fall for each other immediately makes it easy to cheer for them. Their fairytale world is stubborn, but their feelings are powerful enough to scrap its standards and form a new society.

Fantasy has become one of Hollywood's biggest markets, but there are still significant improvements that need to be made for the genre to be great.

5 Ella Enchanted (2004)

An unintentional boyfriend on the hunt for freedom.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted is a fantasy film directed by Tommy O'Haver, based on Gail Carson Levine's novel. The story follows Ella (Anne Hathaway), who is under a spell that forces her to obey any command given to her. As she embarks on a quest to break the enchantment, she encounters various characters and challenges. The film also stars Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, and Minnie Driver, blending humor, romance, and adventure.

Ella Enchanted is a loose retelling of Cinderella . While Ella doesn’t set out with the intention to meet someone, as she seeks out her fairy godmother Lucinda in the hopes of having her powers of obedience reversed, she becomes smitten with Prince Char.

Ella’s main motivation is initially to be free of her woes, but it eventually becomes a rescue mission to save Char from poisoning. Even though the kingdom of Lamia is full of various beasts and all types of magic, Ella and Char’s love ensures that the focus of the film is on their relationship and seeking justice.

4 The Age Of Adaline (2015)

Eternal life makes relationships difficult.

The Age of Adaline

The Age of Adaline tells the story of Adaline Bowman, who stops aging and becomes a recluse after suffering a car accident, but sees her world turn upside down when she meets a charming man. Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, and Harrison Ford star in the 2015 romance.

The touching moral of The Age of Adaline is directly connected to the relationship between the titular character and philanthropist Ellis. After a freak accident, Adaline is stuck in time and spends decades watching her loved ones grow old around her.

She struggles with her developing feelings for Ellis, as she knows he can’t know the truth about her and, like everyone else she knows, will eventually die. Adaline is living a bizarre fantasy in an otherwise normal world with no end in sight. Thankfully, The Age of Adaline 's ending makes her generations of watching life passing by worth it.

3 About Time (2013)

Changing the past isn't always for the best.

When Tim Lake learns that he, like all the men in his family, has the ability to travel back in time, he decides to use this ability to help him find love and improve his and his loved ones' lives.

About Time is another film that uses the time travel sci-fi trope but in a mythical way. Tim’s ability to jump across timelines is fully within his control, but the lessons he learns while reliving crucial moments in his life make him discover that nothing else matters other than focusing on the present with the dazzling Mary.

While there aren’t any enigmatic figures or supernatural creatures in About Time , Tim’s changes to his past create his own ideal fantasy. Tim’s love for Mary is his driving force for traveling in time , and it also becomes his reason for stopping, too.

2 Yesterday (2019)

Love is more important than the beatles.

Written by famous rom-com director Richard Curtis, Yesterday follows Jack Malik, a struggling musician who one day wakes up to discover that he is the only person who remembers famous 1960s rock band The Beatles. As Jack begins using his exclusive knowledge to his advantage, he must reckon with the burden of it and the price that comes with his newfound fame. The film stars Himesh Patel as Jack, with a supporting cast of Lily James, Joel Fry, Kate McKinnon, and Ed Sheeran. 

The implementation of fantasy in Yesterday is subtle. Jack Malik’s story after waking one day to find that the iconic music group The Beatles never soared to fame is easy to invest in. One thing that remains from his original life, however, is that he is deeply in love with his childhood friend Ellie .

He achieves his dream of being a famous performer, but Ellie’s absence stops Jack from being truly happy. Unlike similar movies like Yesterday , Jack never reverses the changes in the world, but he learns that he isn’t the person he wants to be without Ellie.

1 Twilight (2008)

Fantasy creature love triangles.

Based on Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls madly in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who she soon finds out is a vampire. Falling in love with her at the same time, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles to preserve their forbidden relationship.

Twilight is an unforgettable teen romance movie about vampire Edward Cullen and human Bella Swan and the hardships they face as a mixed-species couple. The tension between the two as Bella tries to break down Edward’s walls is nothing short of spectacular, especially considering the risks he takes to be with her.

Bella’s normal life changes forever after she discovers the existence of vampires and werewolves. Bella’s love triangle with Edward and Jacob keeps things interesting in all the Twilight movies , and the angsty tone is a great twist on the fantasy romance genre.

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Joaquin phoenix exits todd haynes’ gay romance movie days before filming was to begin.

Phoenix had helped to develop the period feature after bringing the project to the director.

By Ryan Gajewski

Ryan Gajewski

Senior Entertainment Reporter

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Joaquin Phoenix has exited Todd Haynes ‘ planned romantic drama feature, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The untitled project is no longer moving forward after the actor dropped out just five days before filming was set to begin in Guadalajara, Mexico. The role will not be recast for the movie that Phoenix had initially brought to Haynes and developed with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker.

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THR has reached out to Phoenix’s team for comment.

Haynes most recently helmed last year’s Netflix title May December , which starred Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman and earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. His previous features include Far From Heaven , I’m Not There and Carol , with the latter co-starring Phoenix’s longtime partner, Rooney Mara. Haynes received an Oscar nom for his screenplay for 2002’s Far From Heaven .

Phoenix can next be seen opposite Lady Gaga in director Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux . Hitting theaters Oct. 4, the Warner Bros. movie is a follow-up to the 2019 film Joker , which earned Phoenix an Oscar.

The actor’s recent credits include Napoleon , Beau Is Afraid and C’mon C’mon . He is set to co-star alongside Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler in the feature Eddington from Beau Is Afraid filmmaker Ari Aster.

IndieWire was first to report the news of Phoenix’s departure.

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'It Ends With Us' movie premiere: Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, more stars attend

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Joaquin phoenix quits movie 5 days before filming due to ‘cold feet,’ leaving project in ‘peril’ as role can’t be recast.

Joaquin Phoenix backed out from his latest movie project at the last minute, leaving the film at risk of getting scrapped altogether, Page Six can confirm.

The Oscar winner, 49, was set to play the lead role in a gay romance flick directed by Todd Haynes.

However, sources told Variety Friday that Phoenix allegedly got “cold feet” and abruptly quit the movie just five days before cameras were to start rolling.

According to Deadline , who broke the news of the movie star’s departure, the film about two gay lovers who leave California for Mexico allegedly had “dicey intimacy scenes.”

A source tells Page Six exclusively that the “subject matter of the film was a factor.”

We’re told the “Joker” star’s last-minute withdrawal sparked confusion because he was heavily involved in the screenplay alongside Haynes and Jon Raymond.

“The next film is a feature that’s an original script that I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some thoughts and ideas he brought to me,” the director, 63, told IndieWire in May 2023.

“We basically wrote with him as a story writer. Me and Jon Raymond and Joaquin share the story credit. And we hope to be shooting it beginning early next year. It’s a gay love story set in 1930s LA.”

Phoenix’s exit is further complicated by the fact that his role cannot be recast because it was pitched to distributors with Phoenix in the starring role, according to our source, and that’s a big reason it got sold.

Sources told Variety that Haynes’ project is now in “peril” as a result and that the crew is out of work.

Stakeholders in the film reportedly still need to be paid, though, allegedly creating a debt that could exceed seven figures.

Reps for Phoenix and Haynes did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

Phoenix is known for his method acting and it has seemingly taken a toll on his mental health over the years.

In 2017, he opened up about checking into rehab because he found himself drinking and partying too much after playing Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line.”

“There’s too many things I enjoy doing and I don’t want to wake up feeling hungover,” he previously told the New York Times .

“It’s not a thing I fight against — it’s just the way I live my life. Some of it’s probably age.’’

Sources close to the actor then gave Page Six insight into his reclusive lifestyle in 2018.

A film producer who worked with Phoenix told us at the time, “He’s better at being a character than being himself. He really thinks he’s boring. Hiding is just a natural state for him.”

The insider added that the “Her” star was “good at playing traumatized” because he “was traumatized.”

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The producer pointed out that Phoenix “grew up … in a cult. His brother died in front of him. None of that presupposes someone who’s going to turn out normal.”

However, the “Hotel Rwanda” star has seen some personal highs in recent months.

Phoenix and his wife, Rooney Mara, announced in February they were expecting their second child .

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Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Banned in Qatar Due to Kissing Scenes

By Ethan Shanfeld

Ethan Shanfeld

• Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Banned in Qatar Due to Kissing Scenes 2 hours ago
• Joaquin Phoenix Abandons Todd Haynes’ Gay Romance Movie, Just Five Days Before Filming 3 hours ago
• Michelle Pfeiffer to Lead ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff ‘The Madison’ 1 day ago

Blake Lively’s romance drama “ It Ends With Us ” has been banned in Qatar due to kissing scenes.

The country’s censorship committee has blocked the PG-13 film, from Sony Pictures and Wayfarer Studios, from a theatrical release, sources close to the film tell Variety .

“It Ends With Us” features kissing scenes and a non-graphic sex scene in which the characters keep their undergarments on.

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In 2021, Disney refused to comply with censorship cuts requested by Qatar for Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” It’s understood that the censors were not approving of Anybodys, a character who is transgender and portrayed by non-binary actor Iris Menas. Films with LGBTQ references or characters have been routinely targeted by censors in the Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, as well as China.

“It Ends With Us,” directed by Justin Baldoni, who stars opposite Lively, follows a florist named Lily who falls in love with a neurosurgeon. After Lily runs into her childhood friend (Brandon Sklenar), Ryle gets jealous, and their relationship takes a dark turn.

An adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular romance novel, the movie cost only $25 million to produce and is expected to turn a profit . It opened with $7 million in Thursday previews, leading some estimates to reach $40 million to $50 million.

Deadline first reported the news.

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