The 5th Annual Asta Awards

The Best in Romantic Comedy 2009

[Our Astas are named for the terrier film star who upstaged Cary Grant in such screwball classics as Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth.  Award winners from 2008 can be found here, 2007 here, 2006  here, and 2005 here.]

A fairly thin year for our genre, with only two romantic comedies that are likely to endure and find their place in the greater rom-com canon, one a trailblazer and one decidedly old guard traditional.  Herewith, the categories.

Best Female Performance: Yes, it's been Sandra Bullock's year, but I'd say the funniest, sexiest woman on screen in '09 was the unsinkable Meryl Streep, who gives It's Complicated the emotional credibility it needs, along with some peerless mugging, just for fun.

Best Male Performance: It's taken me years to warm up to this guy, who I initially dismissed as just another pretty six-pack, but I gotta admit that - while Bullock got all the attention - Ryan Reynolds showed new depth in The Proposal (Best Romantic Comedy to Watch on an Airplane) and did a great supporting turn in Adventureland, as well.

Best Couple: This year's Best Rom-Com Chemistry lit up a non-romantic comedy.  There's no denying that George Clooney and Vera Farmiga generated the year's most memorable sparks in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, bringing a sorely missed Golden Age gleam to their wittily erotic encounters.  2009's Best Cute Meet is also found in this dramedy, a deftly played scene in that most mundane of milieus (they meet in a bar, fer chrissake) with timing and tones that positively sing.

Runners-Up Couple was also in a non-rom-com - Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep, delightfully married in Julie & Julia, which also featured the year's Worst Couple: the spark-less "Why is He With Her and Why Should We Care?" duo of Chris Messina and Amy Adams.

Best Bellamy: It's always fun when a romantic comedy features a good Mr. Wrong for our heroine to tangle with, and in the interest of non-spoilage (and a hat-tip to the movie's canny triangle-tweaking), the Asta goes to both Wrong-But-Maybe-Right-Guys Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in It's Complicated.

Best Performance by an Octogenarian: Bless her heart, how great is booty-shaking Betty White, who gamely transcended the ridiculous excesses of her role in The Proposal?

Best Future Stars of Romantic Comedy:  Ginnifer Goodwin made the most of a tacitly thankless role as the embodiment of the title in He's Just Not That Into You, suggesting she's a rom-com lead to watch for in the 'Teens; Jesse Eisenberg gave Michael Cera some Future Tom Hanks competition in Adventureland.

Best Meta-Rom-Com Moment: Sooner or later, someone had to do it, so let's give props to the totally nude "Crash Into You" scene (a wry commentary on the time-honored sex-gag high jinks that invariably ensue in such pics) in The Proposal.

Best Clinch: Meanwhile, the most deeply satisfying resolution to a rom-com storyline was found on the small screen at the end of Curb Your Enthusiasm's just-about-perfect season finale, as Larry David, literally within seconds of finally reconciling with ex-wife Cheryl Hines, proved just how precarious their happily-ever-after would be.

Best Teen/Twenties Rom-Com: The Old Wine in New Bottles winner of '09 was Greg Mottola's warm, wise Adventureland, a stealth missile of rom-com pleasure that brought an uncharacteristic level of sophistication to a sub-genre that's like, not necessarily known for that.

Best Bromantic Comedy: No competition - Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's pas-de-dudes made John Hamburg's I Love You, Man the best in a still-hardy brother genre, a movie that out-Apatow-ed Judd Apatow, whose overblown Funny People was only half of a great movie.

Best Rom-Com Hybrid: I realize I'm in a minority here, but must cite Tony Gilroy's clever Duplicity as the year's best "It's a Breath Mint And a Candy Mint" cross-breeding of genres.

Rotten Tomatoes Sidebar: We interrupt the Bests with special Astas to be bestowed on 2009's Most Overrated Romantic Comedy,  He's Just Not That Into You, the Ugliest Rom-Com Ad Campaign, for  the equally gross The Ugly Truth, and the year's Best Trailer That Saved You From Actually Having to See the Movie: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

Worst Romantic Comedy:  There was stiff competition at the bottom of the barrel in 2009 (from hideous chick flick Bride Wars to quirky-ed to death indie All About Steve) but hands-down winner was the execrable Couples Vacation.  Vince Vaughn, my life called, and it wants the two hours I wasted watching this piece-o-hack movie back.

Best Direction: Marc Webb proved that video directors can indeed make a full-length feature snap, crackle and pop with his impressive helming of (500) Days of Summer, one of the most visually entertaining romantic comedies of the decade. 

Best Screenplay: (500) Days of Summer, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, breathed fresh air into a sometimes deflated genre, being alert to detail (e.g. from the parens of the title to the use of the numbers-titles device throughout) and delivering the substantive goods - it's a romantic comedy that's actually about something: in part, the danger of buying into the ethos of romantic comedies.

Best Romantic Comedy: For the first time in Astas history, it's a tie - between (500) Days of Summer, the Youthful Rom-Com of the Year, and It's Complicated, a Triumph of the Ageless.  The films also share Best Rom-Com Set Piece awards, one for Summer's nifty "You Make My Dreams" musical number, and one for Complicated's delirious pot-smoking sequence.  Some day, someone (keep your eye on Jason Reitman) may marry the edgy cinematic panache of Summer to the savvy Old School showboating of Nancy Meyer's movie to create one platonic ideal of rom-commery, but in the meantime, these two pics together form an inclusive portrait of Funny Movie Love in 2009.

Disagreements?  Secondings?  Outraged "How could you overlook...?!" comments?  Tell Living the RomCom, as we bid 2009 adieu and send happy new year's wishes out to you.

Comments

[E.C. Henry]

Billy,

You deserve an Oscar for being able to make heads or tails out of the romantic comedy genre this year. Because I haven't seen "(500) Days of Summer," "Up in the Air" or "It's Complicated" yet I don't really feel like I've done due the genre the due dillegence it deserves as pertains to citing this year's best. But from what I did see...

Romantic couple that moved me the most in 2009: Guido and Luisa Contini (Daniel Day Lewis and Marion Cotillard) from Rob Marshall's "Nine." "Nine" is more of a tragedy than a comedy, but it is suprisingly moving. Get past the dance numbers and there's a very moving cautionary tale for those with a creative bend... Anyway, when opportunity allows, I highly recommend you see it.

Woman who tried real hard, but had little to show for it in 2009: Nia Vardalos. Remember "My Life in Ruins" OR "I Have Valentine's Day?" Neither were big $$ makers but boy-o-boy did Nia Vardalos ever try with both films. And of all the rom-coms I did see that were released in 2009, "I Have Valentine's Day" had the best romantic ending.

Great post as always, Billy. Been looking forward to reading this year's Asta awards for about 2 months now. Thanks. :-)

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

[Sam Wasson]

Billy, you are the guru, so it is with great humility and infinite deference that I say: "It's Complicated"? That was two hours of sub-par television! Well, there was Meryl of course and Alec, but that doesn't account for the senseless filmmaking. That thing was laid out like a high school play!

[mernitman]

EC: Thanks for the NINE nod. Technically it's a musical dramedy, but Astas aside, I'm very curious to see it.

Sammy: Even your favorite critic gave it up for COMPLICATED, a movie that made me laugh (out loud) more than most this year, so either she and I are drinking the same koolaid, or it's a matter of taste.

Said critic's grudging "yes, she IS an auteur but she has no visual style or cinematic interest" is pretty much my take - if you read my COMPLICATED review (scroll down a bit), you'll see all my embarrassed apologia, etc. but STILL, for all its wretched MOR bourgie excesses, I think it's a funny pic. And given the absolute dearth of rom-coms featuring leads over age 29 (name me one other one this year), I guess I'm giving it extra props.

[Christina]

I just saw It's Complicated tonight with my mom and my aunt and we all laughed a lot. I believe (500) Days of Summer is a better film, but I enjoyed It's Complicated more because the former hit a little too close to home. I also agree with your assessment of The Proposal - great movie to see on a plane. It had some great moments but I didn't buy the set-up or Alaska.

My favorite bromance was between the Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen characters in Funny People. The movie was bloated, but that main storyline worked for me.

[binnie]

Hey, Billy, see NINE, even though it's no CHICAGO. Two of your favorite singers (me and Margaret; we are, right??) on the soundtrack and in the credits.
Happy New Year!
xoxox

[Watch Full Movies]

ME and husband watched it last night. It was too good. We laughed lot.
Happy New to all of you !

[Rachel Hauck]

Thank you for this "award" column. I learn so much from you, even if I disagree now and again.

I loved The Proposal and have been wanting to see 500 Days of Summer.

And yes, love Ginnifer Goodwin in He's Just Not That Into You.

The Ugly Truth was the ugliest movie I'd seen in awhile. MY life called wanting those two hours back.

Happy New Year!

Rachel

[Patrick]

I also liked Duplicity. I have a theory on why it didn't do well at the box office, although this theory being correct depends on people thinking like I do, which rarely seems to be the case. Anyway, the ads for Duplicity seemed to show every snarky smirking exchange in the movie between Owen and Roberts, and before seeing it I had the feeling it might be a movie with someone's idea of clever dialog and not a lot of substance, no real feeling between the characters. I went anyway and it was nothing like the trailers, thank god. wonder how many people might have been put off by those promos for the movie.

I liked Adventureland too, I think it got a boost from Stewart in a supporting role, she was quite good.

[thegirlinthecafe]

Always one of my favourite posts of the year on this blog. Up in the Air is not out yet here. I agree with the nods to The Proposal (way to go Betty White!) and It's Complicated, but where is "Last Chance Harvey"? I loved loved loved that one, Harvey and The Proposal are my favourite romcoms of 2009.

[mernitman]

Christina: Yep, the FUNNY bromance was quite good. I was Asta-ing on "total bromantic movie," though, and FUNNY is three movies in one.

Binnie: Of course I'm in the NINE line - if you remember, me and Maury Yeston used to be like This (now we're like That) - so I'm way looking forward to it and to hearing them favorite singers. Happy New Year to you!

Watch Full Movies: I think you comment is spam. But I love idea of laugh lot.

Happy New Year, Rachel - Glad we're seeing eye to eye on some things!

Patrick: Interesting. It may well be that the trailer put people off. I also think that the whole vibe of the thing - sleek, glossy, corporate espionage - hit a particularly wrong chord when the economy was seriously tanking. And yeah, Stewart was good in ADVENTURELAND; fie on those who diss her due to TWILIGHT overkill.

Girl in Cafe: HARVEY was a 2008 release (at least here in the states)! Hence the omission. PROPOSAL did have its fun bits, didn't it?

[Ben]

I definitely agree. Ryan Reynolds took awhile to warm up on me as well, but now I really like him as an actor, and especially in the romantic comedy role. I also really liked Ginnifer Goodwin, who you mentioned for "He's Just not that Into You." I never saw "I Love You Man." I'll need to check that one out per your recommendation.

[The Proposal]

Thank you for this column. I learn lot from this column. I have seen the " The Proposal" movie last night and really liked it very much. Thank you for sharing information !!

[best romance movies]

I recently saw Meryl Streep in "It's Complicated"- and as usual Meryl delivered. She is the only actress in Hollywood that can completely disappear in her character. Just compare her character in "It's Complicated" in the one in "The Devil Wears Prada"... see what I mean...