CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on January 27th, reviewing the new TV series “Shrinking,” featuring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford. Currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Romantic Comedy
'Marry Me' Works With Owen Wilson & Jennifer Lopez
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 11, 2022 - 3:32pm![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I’ll admit that based on the ubiquitous trailers, The latest attempt for Jennifer Lopez to reclaim the throne as Queen of the Rom-Com seemed like the sort of enterprise meant to make you bury your face in your hands. So I was pleasantly surprised to find “Marry Me” is just innocuously bad, not egregiously bad… and with the state of rom-coms these days that’s something of an accomplishment.
A Little Drama! On-Air Review of ‘Stars Fell on Alabama’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 11, 2021 - 5:27pm![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on January 7th, 2021, reviewing the new film “Stars Fell on Alabama,” which is available now through Video-On-Demand.
Something for Everyone in Delicious ‘Isn’t It Romantic’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 13, 2019 - 4:36am![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Isn’t It Romantic” knows exactly what it is, and what it wants to be. It is simultaneously for people who love Romantic Comedy, and those who profess to hate them … but may secretly love them. It’s an amusing trifle that’s about as surprising as a heart shaped box of chocolates, but sometimes that’s what you want.
An Unnatural Approach to Romance in ‘What If’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 8, 2014 - 6:02pm![]() Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “What If” is a really bad title, but that is the least of the film’s concerns, apparently, as the old can-man-and-women-be-friends canard rears its indecisive but predictable head (snicker). This time it’s interpreted through Harry Potter and Elia Kazan’s granddaughter, if this is to be believed.
‘Obvious Child’ is a More Authentic Romantic Comedy
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 14, 2014 - 10:43am![]() Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Real life is not a romantic comedy, unless you’re willing to understand the levels of clownish tragedy that sometimes accompanies it. The new film “Obvious Child” comprehends all that, and has an unforgettable performance from Jenny Slate in delivering the goods.
‘That Awkward Moment’ Another Dishonest Rom-Com
Submitted by NickHC on January 31, 2014 - 2:28pm![]() Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “That Awkward Moment” posits its cheeky hashtag of a title concept as one relating to when Friday night flings yield from becoming Saturday daytime couplings (to paraphrase Woody Harrelson’s wisdom in “Friends with Benefits”).
‘Qwerty’ Uses Chicago as Backdrop for Word Nerds
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 30, 2012 - 11:00am![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Taking the game of Scrabble and making it a thread for a romantic comedy and competitive intrigue is a wholly original idea. Director Bill Sebastian and screenwriter Juliet McDaniels guides a Chicago cast through the maze of those words in the new film “Qwerty.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel Connect in ‘(500) Days of Summer’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 17, 2009 - 7:37am![]() Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Romantic comedies have been so sanitized, obviously for the protection of the movie consumer, that it is refreshing to meet a reality-based couple as they interact, co-mingle, love and clash in “(500) Days of Summer.”
