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Romantic Comedy

A subgenre of comedy that focuses on the complications arising from the search for romance, courtship or a new relationship. Humor in such films tends to be of a verbal, low-key variety or situational, as opposed to slapstick, although the form evolved from the generally raucous romantic screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s (It Happened One Night, The Lady Eve, The Shop Around the Corner). In these early examples, couples usually started off disliking one another, only to slowly overcome such obstacles and fall in love by the upbeat conclusion. Sharp dialogue was a hallmark of these films. Though a different take on the form -- that of the plight of the divorced -- began surfacing in the late '70s (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Choose Me and Something Wild), the emphasis on "happily-ever-after" continued in Hollywood through the '80s with hits like When Harry Met Sally, Bull Durham and Say Anything. By the 1990s, the romantic comedy had increasingly begun to include elements of cynicism, which in many films replaced the traditional fairy-tale outcome and can be seen in subversive films like My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary.

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