From the Publisher
"If you already enjoy settling in at night with a glass of wine and your favorite rom-com, this book will evoke the same sensation of fun escapism. Who knows if Meslow did that on purpose or if it was just a happy accident. Either way, I’ll have what he’s having." — Joshua Axelrod, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A sprightly homage to a popular, seemingly evergreen film genre." — Kirkus Reviews
"Meslow tells lots of engaging making of stories (for example, how Pretty Woman was transformed from a fallen-woman tragedy into a Disney fairy tale), but it’s his overarching theme, that romantic comedies are much more than lovey-dovey fluff, that really holds our interest." — Booklist
“Fans of the popular but often under-appreciated genre of romantic comedy will appreciate Meslow’s book, which offers insight on the development of landmark films and how some of Hollywood’s biggest names launched their careers.” — Library Journal
"A lively history of the modern rom-com, Scott Meslow's book reveals the often surprising ways that films like Pretty Woman and Waiting to Exhale got made, and why they continue to matter." — Melissa Maerz, author of Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused
“From Hollywood With Love gives rom-coms the analysis and respect they finally deserve, especially since part of the snobbery around them is rooted in misogyny.” — Rachel Bloom, comedian, actress, writer and author of I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are
"A romantic comedy is bigger than two people working towards a climactic kiss. It's dozens of people—writers, producers, actors and their director—falling in love with an idea and coming together to walk it down the aisle into theaters. What Scott Meslow reveals here is that the making of each of these landmark rom coms is itself a tumultuous story of heartbreak, trust, and serendipity. The arguments and seemingly magical coincidences behind the scenes are as riveting as the hijinks onscreen." — Amy Nicholson, film critic and co-host of the Unspooled podcast
“If you miss and love romantic comedies as much as I do, this book will scratch that itch!” — Judy Greer, actress and author of I Don't Know What You Know Me From
Rachel Bloom
From Hollywood With Love gives rom-coms the analysis and respect they finally deserve, especially since part of the snobbery around them is rooted in misogyny.
Amy Nicholson
"A romantic comedy is bigger than two people working towards a climactic kiss. It's dozens of people—writers, producers, actors and their director—falling in love with an idea and coming together to walk it down the aisle into theaters. What Scott Meslow reveals here is that the making of each of these landmark rom coms is itself a tumultuous story of heartbreak, trust, and serendipity. The arguments and seemingly magical coincidences behind the scenes are as riveting as the hijinks onscreen."
Judy Greer
If you miss and love romantic comedies as much as I do, this book will scratch that itch!”
Booklist
"Meslow tells lots of engaging making of stories (for example, how Pretty Woman was transformed from a fallen-woman tragedy into a Disney fairy tale), but it’s his overarching theme, that romantic comedies are much more than lovey-dovey fluff, that really holds our interest."
Melissa Maerz
"A lively history of the modern rom-com, Scott Meslow's book reveals the often surprising ways that films like Pretty Woman and Waiting to Exhale got made, and why they continue to matter."
Joshua Axelrod
"If you already enjoy settling in at night with a glass of wine and your favorite rom-com, this book will evoke the same sensation of fun escapism. Who knows if Meslow did that on purpose or if it was just a happy accident. Either way, I’ll have what he’s having."
Booklist
"Meslow tells lots of engaging making of stories (for example, how Pretty Woman was transformed from a fallen-woman tragedy into a Disney fairy tale), but it’s his overarching theme, that romantic comedies are much more than lovey-dovey fluff, that really holds our interest."
Library Journal
01/01/2022
Entertainment writer Meslow's first book is a delightful and humorous love letter to the romantic comedy flick. Meslow's study sticks to a specific set of criteria—movies made between 1989 and the early 2020s that achieved critical and commercial success, were influential, and revealed something unique about culture or the romantic comedy genre. He explores 16 films, many of which spawned sequels or "spiritual successors." The book begins with the 1989 meeting between Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron that eventually led to When Harry Met Sally and launched a wave of rom-coms in the '90s. Meslow also provides tantalizing tales of script overhauls (Pretty Woman was originally a darker tale that involved drug addiction), casting controversies (the choice to cast the American Renée Zellweger as the British Bridget Jones), and tensions between costars (Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz apparently had a rocky relationship on the set of My Best Friend's Wedding). Meslow notes that Hollywood has been slow to offer more inclusive and racially diverse romantic comedies, but he argues that the commercial success of movies like 2018's Crazy Rich Asians (the first Hollywood film since The Joy Luck Club to feature a cast made up primarily of people of Chinese descent) illustrates that audiences are eager for movies that reflect a diversity of experiences. VERDICT Fans of the popular but often under-appreciated genre of romantic comedy will appreciate Meslow's book, which offers insight on the development of landmark films and how some of Hollywood's biggest names launched their careers.—Lisa Henry
Kirkus Reviews
2021-11-30
An enthusiastic fan traces the evolution of modern romantic comedies.
Beginning in 1989 with Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally…, the “most romantic rom-com of all time,” first-time author Meslow’s comprehensive film history focuses on 16 of the most significant of these character-driven films over the past three decades. Along the way, the author provides informative, in-depth “essays” on key performers—Meg Ryan, Hugh Grant, Adam Sandler, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Will Smith—and insightful backstories about directors, writers, producers, and others who were also responsible for this genre’s success. Regarding Pretty Woman, the author writes that the “confused, inefficient, eventually serendipitous development and production process is what ended up giving [the film] its unique texture.” Love Potion No. 9 “set the template for the rom-com and rom-com-adjacent roles on which Bullock would build her career.” In 1995, when the “full-blown cultural phenomenon” that was Four Weddings and a Funeral was nominated for a best-picture Oscar, it gave the genre more critical credibility. Waiting To Exhale proved that a rom-com based on a Black female writer’s book and four Black actresses could reach a wide audience. In 1998, There’s Something About Mary, the “raunch-com” written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, “expanded Hollywood’s understanding about what a rom-com could look like.” Three years later, writes Meslow, the “constant blizzard of skepticism around [Renee] Zellweger’s casting” in Bridget Jones’s Diary was “both premature and unwarranted, but it was also a reminder to the movie’s creators that the stakes were perilously high.” Now an established, successful genre, it could explore new territory—e.g., aging in Something’s Gotta Give, a “vague hand-waving” over abortion in Knocked Up, and a “major and important step forward” with Asian American director Jon Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians. Meslow predicts ups and downs in the future, like with any genre, but “real love stories never have endings.” Included throughout are bits of trivia.
A sprightly homage to a popular, seemingly evergreen film genre.
