An in-depth celebration of the romantic comedy's modern golden era and
its role in our culture, tracking the genre from its heyday in the '80s
and the '90s, its unfortunate decline in the 2000s, and its explosive
reemergence in the age of streaming, featuring exclusive interviews with
the directors, writers, and stars of the iconic films that defined the
genre.
No Hollywood genre has been more misunderstood--or more unfairly
under-appreciated--than the romantic comedy. Funny, charming, and
reliably crowd-pleasing, rom-coms were the essential backbone of the
Hollywood landscape, launching the careers of many of Hollywood's most
talented actors and filmmakers, such as Julia Roberts and Matthew
McConaughey, and providing many of the yet limited creative
opportunities women had in Hollywood. But despite--or perhaps because
of--all that, the rom-com has routinely been overlooked by the Academy
Awards or snobbishly dismissed by critics. In From Hollywood with
Love, culture writer and GQ contributor Scott Meslow seeks to right
this wrong, celebrating and analyzing rom-coms with the appreciative,
insightful critical lens they've always deserved.
Beginning with the golden era of the romantic comedy--spanning from the
late '80s to the mid-'00s with the breakthrough of films such as When
Harry Met Sally--to the rise of streaming and the long-overdue push for
diversity setting the course for films such as the groundbreaking,
franchise-spawning Crazy Rich Asians, Meslow examines the evolution of
the genre through its many iterations, from its establishment of new
tropes, the Austen and Shakespeare rewrites, the many love triangles,
and even the occasional brave decision to do away with the happily ever
after.
Featuring original black-and-white sketches of iconic movie scenes and
exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers behind our most
beloved rom-coms, From Hollywood with Love constructs oral histories
of our most celebrated romantic comedies, for an informed and
entertaining look at Hollywood's beloved yet most under-appreciated
genre.
