10 Great Films That Reclaimed Rom-Coms For Men

In a previous post, I put forward the theory that mainstream romantic cinema has seen a seismic shift in recent years, away from the female-centred romantic comedy that dominated the last two decades and towards a masculine-centred template designed to be more gender-neutral and to appeal to audiences tired with the old romantic tropes. These ManComs, as I not-so-subtly label them, can be reduced into 5 essential components: The main character is at best an Everyman with a dead-end job; at worst a slacker, designed to be as relatable and as average as possible. Mr Everyman is usually the comedic straight man, with a best friend or friends who provide most of the comedy. Said friends have a particular identifier around which much of their humour revolves - they might be gay, or consistently stoned, or a womaniser, or just a bit useless. Mr Everyman conveniently meets the girl of his dreams, often blessed with quirky and endearing character traits which cast a spell over our protagonist. To everyone's great surprise, they get together. After an initial honeymoon period, their relationship will gradually deteriorate as her apparent quirks cease to be so charming, or as a more manlylove rival appears, and the pedestal the Mr Everyman has built comes crashing down around his ears - indeed, it's often the breakdown of the relationship that provides the core of the film. Generally €“ but with some exceptions €“ Everyman and Wondergirl learn to move past these problems and to accept each other as they are, either as a couple or just as friends. This list features 10 great films with a strongly ManComic streak in them. As a caveat, not all the films below can be automatically designated as comedies, and some can more easily be categorised in other genres entirely. However, each of the following films sticks to the above formula, but each also does something with it that makes it more than just an exercise in ticking the boxes, bringing life to the genre and making each film more enjoyable as a result.

10. She€™s Out of My League

This one doesn€™t really require much explanation €“ you could box it and sell as an instructional film for anyone with aspirations to enter the genre. It's about a subtle as a kick in the balls, with humour as gentle as a buttered crumpet, but that doesn't mean it isn't jolly good fun. Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is pretty much the most ordinary man you can imagine, a bit beaten-down, introverted and low on confidence, surrounded by friends and family who mess with him constantly. Through a chance encounter he meets Molly (Alice Eve), and the two embark on a tentative relationship in which Kirk's inferiority complex is achingly apparent. I'll stop there so as not to include spoilers, but you can probably imagine where it all goes - straight along the lines of the ManComic template. The film suffers from its fairly obvious premise, and the script is neither knowing nor edgy enough to overcome its own internal predictability. However, it has its fair share of enjoyable moments and it acts as the perfect example of the phenomenon I'm trying to explain. While far from the best film on this list, you could easily write a drinking game to incorporate the classic ManCom traits. In fact, doing that for any film on this list would make for a brilliant night.