Summer lovin’: Male perspectives in movies
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 07, 2009 00:00
LOS ANGELES - During this summer, romantic movies - comedic or otherwise - have usually been just 'he said, she said' counterprogramming to all the robots and superheroes blasting the box office. This season, what 'he' said is getting more screen time with new movies.
In this summer's crop of romantic movies, what "he" said is getting more screen time.
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," for example, stars Matthew McConaughey as a philandering photographer who is visited by the spirits of his past trysts Ğ all the way back to his first love (played by Jennifer Garner). The role represented new ground for McConaughey, who democratically tussled with Kate Hudson onscreen in "Fool's Gold" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."
"Usually in romantic comedies, the girl has the guy by the leash," said McConaughey. "This story isn't a battle of the sexes. It's not about me and Jennifer Garner going back and forth, back and forth. Something I've strived for is to find comedy in not being the guy who thinks he has everything figured out, but [in] being the guy who figures out he doesn't."
In "Management," Steve Zahn plays an aimless motel manager who falls so deeply for a traveling corporate-art saleswoman played by Jennifer Aniston that he follows her around the country after their fling in the motel's laundry room. Zahn said he thinks "Management" is more like 1989's "Say Anything" than a typical modern romantic comedy."Most guys have pretense, and we walk around thinking we're John Travolta in 'Saturday Night Fever,"' said Zahn. "We're not. I felt this guy was accessible and vulnerable, but also very honest and real. I'd never really read a character like that before."
Also taking an over-the-top shot at love is Dennis Cooverman, played by Paul Rust in "I Love You, Beth Cooper." During his graduation speech, the nerdy valedictorian nervously professes his love for the most popular girl in school, Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). Much to his surprise, she shows up at his door later that evening for a crazy night out on the town."The central mystery of this movie is, 'Who is this person, Beth Cooper?"' said Larry Doyle, who wrote the screenplay and the 2007 book of the same. ""While the nerd and cheerleader only have one night together, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has "500 Days of Summer." In this offbeat, time-bending romantic comedy, Gordon-Levitt plays a lovesick greeting-card writer named Tom who has a monumental on-again, off-again relationship with his boss' freethinking assistant Summer (Zooey Deschanel) over a year and a half. "Most of what Hollywood presents as love is false," said Gordon-Levitt. "It's pandering to an audience. It basically tells the audience what they want to hear instead of telling them the truth. I'm proud of '500 Days of Summer' because I don't think it does that. I think it's an honest look at what it is to be in love and fall out of love."
Other romantic highlights for summer 2009 include:
-"Love N' Dancing": Sparks fly and hips shake when a married schoolteacher who thinks she can dance (Amy Smart) unexpectedly finds love with her deaf dancing instructor (Tom Malloy).
- "Easy Virtue": Jessica Biel goes across the pond in this comedy about a gaudy American gal who marries an Englishman (Ben Barnes)
- "The Brothers Bloom": Con-artist siblings (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) attempt to swindle a reclusive heiress (Rachel Weisz), but one of the brothers falls for the eccentric woman.
- "The Proposal": Sandra Bullock plays a rigid, Canadian-born boss who plots to marry her American assistant (Ryan Reynolds)too stay in the U.S.
-"Cheri": Michelle Pfeiffer plays a very different type of catwoman in director Stephen Frears' saucy 1920s tale about a retired Parisian courtesan who has an affair with her friend's 19-year-old son (Rupert Friend).
- "Adam": Love is complicated in this Sundance discovery, written and directed by Max Mayer, about a schoolteacher intimate connection with Adam, her autistic neighbor (Hugh Dancy).
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," for example, stars Matthew McConaughey as a philandering photographer who is visited by the spirits of his past trysts Ğ all the way back to his first love (played by Jennifer Garner). The role represented new ground for McConaughey, who democratically tussled with Kate Hudson onscreen in "Fool's Gold" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."
"Usually in romantic comedies, the girl has the guy by the leash," said McConaughey. "This story isn't a battle of the sexes. It's not about me and Jennifer Garner going back and forth, back and forth. Something I've strived for is to find comedy in not being the guy who thinks he has everything figured out, but [in] being the guy who figures out he doesn't."
In "Management," Steve Zahn plays an aimless motel manager who falls so deeply for a traveling corporate-art saleswoman played by Jennifer Aniston that he follows her around the country after their fling in the motel's laundry room. Zahn said he thinks "Management" is more like 1989's "Say Anything" than a typical modern romantic comedy."Most guys have pretense, and we walk around thinking we're John Travolta in 'Saturday Night Fever,"' said Zahn. "We're not. I felt this guy was accessible and vulnerable, but also very honest and real. I'd never really read a character like that before."
Also taking an over-the-top shot at love is Dennis Cooverman, played by Paul Rust in "I Love You, Beth Cooper." During his graduation speech, the nerdy valedictorian nervously professes his love for the most popular girl in school, Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). Much to his surprise, she shows up at his door later that evening for a crazy night out on the town."The central mystery of this movie is, 'Who is this person, Beth Cooper?"' said Larry Doyle, who wrote the screenplay and the 2007 book of the same. ""While the nerd and cheerleader only have one night together, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has "500 Days of Summer." In this offbeat, time-bending romantic comedy, Gordon-Levitt plays a lovesick greeting-card writer named Tom who has a monumental on-again, off-again relationship with his boss' freethinking assistant Summer (Zooey Deschanel) over a year and a half. "Most of what Hollywood presents as love is false," said Gordon-Levitt. "It's pandering to an audience. It basically tells the audience what they want to hear instead of telling them the truth. I'm proud of '500 Days of Summer' because I don't think it does that. I think it's an honest look at what it is to be in love and fall out of love."
Other romantic highlights for summer 2009 include:
-"Love N' Dancing": Sparks fly and hips shake when a married schoolteacher who thinks she can dance (Amy Smart) unexpectedly finds love with her deaf dancing instructor (Tom Malloy).
- "Easy Virtue": Jessica Biel goes across the pond in this comedy about a gaudy American gal who marries an Englishman (Ben Barnes)
- "The Brothers Bloom": Con-artist siblings (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) attempt to swindle a reclusive heiress (Rachel Weisz), but one of the brothers falls for the eccentric woman.
- "The Proposal": Sandra Bullock plays a rigid, Canadian-born boss who plots to marry her American assistant (Ryan Reynolds)too stay in the U.S.
-"Cheri": Michelle Pfeiffer plays a very different type of catwoman in director Stephen Frears' saucy 1920s tale about a retired Parisian courtesan who has an affair with her friend's 19-year-old son (Rupert Friend).
- "Adam": Love is complicated in this Sundance discovery, written and directed by Max Mayer, about a schoolteacher intimate connection with Adam, her autistic neighbor (Hugh Dancy).