I have no hard evidence to back up this theory, but I’ve always figured that one of the many reasons the studio romantic comedy slipped from view is that we ran out of patience for contrivances. When you have two winsome characters who clearly like each other, you have to come up with some reason to keep them apart for long enough to sustain a movie, and those reasons felt increasingly labored in the 21st century. You had your journalists sidling up to their eventual objects of affections under false pretenses (27 Dresses, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), and your foes forced to work together (Two Weeks Notice, The Ugly Truth), and your smorgasbord of stars doing holiday stuff over the course of minimal shooting days (Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve). Meanwhile, an undercurrent of sexier…
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