10 Most Ridiculous Rom-Com Premises In Cinema History

9. Harold And Maude €“ Spring-Winter Romance, Sudden Death

A far less accessible and unconventional rom com is Hal Ashby's dark comedic masterpiece Harold and Maude, which depicts the growing pains of young Harold (Bud Cort), as he eventually comes to fall for a 79-year-old woman named Maude (Ruth Gordon), resulting in one of the most ickily bizarre rom-coms in cinema history. The two meet at a funeral (they both enjoy attending them), and his bleak outlook on life contrasts with her more carefree one, to the point that they eventually decide to get married, much to the disgust of Harold's mother and pretty much everyone else he knows. However, things take another turn when Maude turns 80, and decides that she is at the right age to die, swallowing down an overdose of sleeping pills and passing soon thereafter, despite Harold's attempts to save her. Harold is a dejected mess, and aims to commit suicide by driving his car off a cliff, but gets out at the last minute. It is a romance in the most obtuse sense, a romance for life which was taught to Harold by Maude's fiery spirit. It might sound depressing, but rest assured that Ashby's film is a demented treat for fans of dark humour.