And if right now looks bad for the romantic comedy, the frenetic 1970s were almost worse. Some of the movies may have been better — “What’s Up, Doc?,” “Shampoo,” “Annie Hall,” “Starting Over” — but their approach to relationships was cockeyed. He’s crude, and a lech, and he hits on her, which she can’t believe (“Amanda is my friend! He says, to her bafflement, that friendship’s impossible: No man could coexist platonically with a woman, because he’d rather be having sex with her. Each is given a respective life and point of view; the molecular composition of the movie is different when they’re together than when they’re apart.

Source: New York Times April 24, 2019 09:00 UTC