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Romantic Comedies


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I enjoyed the Kissing Booth sequel for what it was. I do think it's a better movie in the sense that Netflix clearly gave a higher budget and the maker actually seemed to listen to the critiques people had of the original especially in regards to how creepy Noah was and how they were doing the cheesecake factor with Joey King way too much. 

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I didn’t like how her choice of school was focused on choosing between her boyfriend and her best friend.  I wish it was more about what she wanted as an individual.   Maybe the third Kissing Booth movie will handle that.  I do think the relationship between the best friends is way too co-dependant which the movie did call out with the girlfriend’s understandable frustration.

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Re: Kissing Booth 2.  People on Letterboxd seem to hate it, so I was curious.  It's rated 27% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Although the audience rating is 44% so I guess that's not so bad.  (Oh my god, the first one is rated 17%. That's HORRENDOUS!!!!!)

On 7/11/2020 at 11:05 AM, akiss said:

Has anyone seen Can You Keep a Secret,  which is based on a Sophie Kinsella book? I saw some gifs on Tumblr and it seems cute. I remember quite liking the book although the details escape me. Was there an evil cousin? Is the movie any good?

Oh I really enjoyed it, but somebody here who read the book said the movie was shit in comparison.  I haven't read the book, so honestly I thought the movie was very cute.  It was just up my alley.

Also, I saw "Juliet, Naked" and I was floored.  I loved it.  Really recommend it.

On 7/11/2020 at 10:56 PM, Irlandesa said:

I just watched Palm Springs on Hulu and it was so good.  I wish it were on Netflix because I feel it'd get more buzz.

It's a time loop movie with Andy Samberg and Cristin Miloti (who is amazing and I think she has had chemistry with pretty much all of the leading men I've seen her with from How I Met Your Mother to Fargo and this.)

But it also has the likes of J.K. Simmons and Peter Gallagher.

Letterboxd, Twitter seem to be going crazy for it -- there it could not get buzzier.  Honestly I found the "buzz" overwhelming!  The movie was very good, though.

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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I REALLY liked The Wrong Missy (2020)

If you have ever liked the classic Adam Sandler style movies like 50 first dates, Grandma's boy, Big Daddy, etc... You'll like this one. No, it's not amazingly original and no it's not filled with A list performances, but it's hilarious. This movie was much funnier than other reviewers would have you believe.

Trailer: https://dosmovies.com/film/The_Wrong_Missy#trailer

 

Edited by mikerolland
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I love Caroline Siede's When Romance Met Comedy series at the AV Club and today she reminded me about the existence of Keeping the Faith. The romance was probably my least favorite part of the movie, but I remember enjoying it well enough. It's weird that this is the first of only 2 movies Edward Norton directed because it seems so off-brand for him, but it's too bad he didn't do more roles in this vein because he's so likable and charming in it.

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On 8/14/2020 at 9:33 AM, krankydoodle said:

I love Caroline Siede's When Romance Met Comedy series at the AV Club and today she reminded me about the existence of Keeping the Faith. The romance was probably my least favorite part of the movie, but I remember enjoying it well enough. It's weird that this is the first of only 2 movies Edward Norton directed because it seems so off-brand for him, but it's too bad he didn't do more roles in this vein because he's so likable and charming in it.

I've watched this a few times.  It's not amazing, but it's good enough.  Ken Leung is actually my favourite thing about it.  

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This is completely random but I watched this movie on a plane and then forgot about it. I was just trying to remember the name of it to make a comment on a different site and I found the trailer. The humor is very over the top and silly but I remember thinking it was cute enough for a plane movie. Good lead actors.

 

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This feels like the kind of movie written by old people who have never done any actual online dating. Or who have only used eHarmony. But they cast two lead actors I really like so I will watch it. 

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On 8/22/2020 at 1:24 AM, aradia22 said:

This feels like the kind of movie written by old people who have never done any actual online dating. Or who have only used eHarmony. But they cast two lead actors I really like so I will watch it. 

Damn I was excited for this one (doesn't take much for me these days) but the dialogue sounds so bad and the "humour" is not funny!

But like you said I'll probably still watch it.

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35 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

@Ms Blue Jay My favorite legal rom-com is still Laws of Attraction (2004) with Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan.

I never got through that, but I should try it again.  

I never realized there's so many of these!  I like:  Wedding Crashers, My Cousin Vinny, Big Daddy, Liar Liar, Two Weeks Notice!

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6 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

Nope. Never seen either. 

I vote for Four Weddings because I love and know 90s pop culture a lot better than 80s, but both movies are extremely well liked.  I'm a big Hugh Grant fan, but this is not even in my top 5 Hugh favourites.  I'm sure it will continue to grow on me.

I tried "Moonstruck" once, and I was really confused when it ended.  I couldn't understand why everyone was so crazy about it.  But I'll certainly try it again.  Movies have grown on me in the past.  

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I loved everything about Four Weddings and a Funeral except for the love story. But as a comedy about friends and the passage of life, I thought it was utterly delightful. 

It has been a very long time since I've seen Moonstruck.  I believe I liked it but this was before Nicolas Cage got weird and became somewhat of a caricature.  I don't know if I'd be able to put that aside. 

Edited by Irlandesa
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Four Weddings and A Funeral is one of my favorites.  I'd like it better if they'd cast someone other than Andie MacDowell, but I still love it.  And am

gutted at the funeral every single time I watch.

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1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I loved everything about Four Weddings and a Funeral except for the love story. But as a comedy about friends and the passage of life, I thought it was utterly delightful. 

It has been a very long time since I've seen Moonstruck.  I believe I liked it but this was before Nicolas Cage got weird and became somewhat of a caricature.  I don't know if I'd be able to put that aside. 

Wow, these closely mirror my thoughts on both films.  When I read the two choices, I thought, "Oh, two of the handful of rom-coms I like."  And then I realized I don't like the rom part of Four Weddings and a Funeral and don't really remember anything about Moonstruck other than liking Cher and Olympia Dukakis.

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56 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

 I'd like it better if they'd cast someone other than Andie MacDowell, but I still love it.

Andie is hit and miss for me.  I actually liked her in Groundhog Day.  She certainly wasn't able to rise above what she was given to make the romance work here but most of why it didn't work for me was the writing for the couple.  In fact, looking back on the details, I'm surprised that it shares so many similarities with a movie like The Wedding Planner which I loathe.  What a difference a good script makes. 

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I picked Moonstruck because it went with my dinner. I mostly hated John Patrick Shanley's last two plays but I liked this script.

People talk a lot about actors/characters having chemistry. Loretta and Ronny had chemistry. From the start I noticed that 

Spoiler

Johnny doesn't say any love words when he's proposing to Loretta. And Loretta later tells Rose that she doesn't love him. 

But from the moment Loretta and Ronny meet in person, their energies just vibe. He's angry. She talks to him with a combination of the gentle compassion he needs and also a healthy dose of not taking his shit. He responds to this by settling down and accepting the bloody steak she cooks him. Cher and Nicholas Cage are also perfectly cast. Cher has that perfect rom-com heroine quality that makes you want to root for her. And Cage gets to do his thing but it fits the character and the over the top humor of the movie. 

This movie has big My Big Fat Greek Wedding energy but more antagonistic and less sentimental. Both lead actors totally get the vibe. They're over the top emotional when they need to be and completely deadpan the rest of the time. This is not a naturalistic movie. They get how to play it.

There's a rom-com makeover but I kind of preferred Loretta's look before she became 80's Cher.

I love the moment when he takes off her coat and says "thank you."

I really appreciated that this movie was not just about two people falling in love. It was unabashedly ROMANTIC.

Spoiler

All the romance she didn't get from Johnny, Ronny provided in spades. Carrying her to the bed. Telling her in a gruff voice that she looked like an angel in the moonlight. Taking her to the opera. Looking thunderstruck the first time he sees her post-makeover. Gently taking her hand in his at the opera when she starts to cry and lifting it to his lips so he can kiss the back of her hand. The romantic speech/declaration of love in the snow. (Btw, love that as aggressive as the speech was, he reached a hand out to her that time instead of physically moving or coercing her.)

Also, something about Cher in this movie reminds me of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Julia is more ingenue-ish but I definitely got that vibe at the opera. 

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On 8/22/2020 at 1:24 AM, aradia22 said:

This feels like the kind of movie written by old people who have never done any actual online dating. Or who have only used eHarmony. But they cast two lead actors I really like so I will watch it. 

I ended up liking it!

I am pleasantly surprised!

Thanks for bringing this movie up here.

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On 8/22/2020 at 12:24 AM, aradia22 said:

This feels like the kind of movie written by old people who have never done any actual online dating. Or who have only used eHarmony. But they cast two lead actors I really like so I will watch it. 

The main female certainly with how little she knew about online dating. 

And I guess the guy for taking the "guaranteed" literally. 

I think the first half hour of the movie worked for me.  I liked it when they were not serious and flirty--even a touch antagonistic.  But once they introduced a hint of feelings, the movie got bogged down in seriousness. 

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It seems like Rachel Leigh Cook even pitched the idea for the movie.  I'm happy for her.  She was VERY cute in it.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/10003236/rachael-leigh-cook-love-guaranteed-producer-career-interview?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter_share

15 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think the first half hour of the movie worked for me.  

I believe I thought the first hour was the strongest chunk of it, then it got pretty cliched.  But like I said, I expected worse.  LOL.

The highlight of the movie for me was 

Spoiler

Damon Wayans Jr. going on all of those dates.

 

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On 9/5/2020 at 1:40 AM, twoods said:

I really enjoyed the movie. It was a nice pace from all the serious stuff that Netflix has been putting out recently. Thanks for the recommendation guys!

I thought the movie was really cute. The two leads were both likable and had amazing chemistry. Plus, they were both funny without being over the top. Was it cliched and dull of common tropes? Sure. But so are superhero movies and horror films.

I had to look up Rachel Leigh Cook because while I thought she looked like the actress who played Shawn’s girlfriend on Psych like 12 years ago, she barely looks any older. She’s the poster child for SPF.

Lastly, I liked the diversity of the cast. And the fact that the main romance came from an interracial couple was never even mentioned. It just was.

 

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On 8/25/2020 at 2:09 AM, aradia22 said:

I picked Moonstruck because it went with my dinner. I mostly hated John Patrick Shanley's last two plays but I liked this script.

People talk a lot about actors/characters having chemistry. Loretta and Ronny had chemistry. From the start I noticed that 

  Reveal spoiler

Johnny doesn't say any love words when he's proposing to Loretta. And Loretta later tells Rose that she doesn't love him. 

But from the moment Loretta and Ronny meet in person, their energies just vibe. He's angry. She talks to him with a combination of the gentle compassion he needs and also a healthy dose of not taking his shit. He responds to this by settling down and accepting the bloody steak she cooks him. Cher and Nicholas Cage are also perfectly cast. Cher has that perfect rom-com heroine quality that makes you want to root for her. And Cage gets to do his thing but it fits the character and the over the top humor of the movie. 

This movie has big My Big Fat Greek Wedding energy but more antagonistic and less sentimental. Both lead actors totally get the vibe. They're over the top emotional when they need to be and completely deadpan the rest of the time. This is not a naturalistic movie. They get how to play it.

There's a rom-com makeover but I kind of preferred Loretta's look before she became 80's Cher.

I love the moment when he takes off her coat and says "thank you."

I really appreciated that this movie was not just about two people falling in love. It was unabashedly ROMANTIC.

  Reveal spoiler

All the romance she didn't get from Johnny, Ronny provided in spades. Carrying her to the bed. Telling her in a gruff voice that she looked like an angel in the moonlight. Taking her to the opera. Looking thunderstruck the first time he sees her post-makeover. Gently taking her hand in his at the opera when she starts to cry and lifting it to his lips so he can kiss the back of her hand. The romantic speech/declaration of love in the snow. (Btw, love that as aggressive as the speech was, he reached a hand out to her that time instead of physically moving or coercing her.)

Also, something about Cher in this movie reminds me of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Julia is more ingenue-ish but I definitely got that vibe at the opera. 

Yeah, 

Spoiler

But doesn't she get mad at Johnny for breaking their engagement, even though she is slept with his brother? Cher is a good actress, but I hate the trope when someone gets pissed at their significant other, even though they had started emotional and in some cases physical affairs with someone else. And someone please call them out for being so wishy washy themselves?

 

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On 9/6/2020 at 7:26 AM, topanga said:

Lastly, I liked the diversity of the cast. And the fact that the main romance came from an interracial couple was never even mentioned. It just was.

Another thing that's cool - Rachael is 3 years older than Damon!  I love that.

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Romantic Comedies I've seen or rewatched recently that I enjoyed:

Heartbreakers (2001) - 3/5
Wishful Thinking (1996) - 4/5 - Drew Barrymore looks iconic in this, and Jon Stewart and Jennifer Beals are very cute.
Love Guaranteed (2020) - 3/5
Bed of Roses (1996) - 3/5 - okay not exactly sure I can say I ENJOYED this.  It was fine.  Christian Slater was cool.
Mr. Destiny (1990) - 4/5 - I really liked this one.  LOL.  
Management (2008) - starts out terribly, but got a lot better.  3/5
Return to Me (2000) - It was okay.  Sad.  Didn't love it.  3/5
The Back Up Plan (2010) - 2.5
Date Night (2010) - 3/5

Old Favourites:
Mickey Blue Eyes, What's Your Number (probably because of this thread), When You Were Sleeping, Soapdish, Scoop, Nine Months

 

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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I think people in this thread recommended "Jersey Girl" 1992 with Jami Gertz and Dylan McDermott.  If so thank you because I watched it and I loved it.

Great:  

Mystic Pizza (1988).  Really feels like a prequel to Pretty Woman
Imagine Me & You (2005). Really liked it

Good/Ok:

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) - it's just too slow and boring for me, I'm sorry
The Wedding Date. - This movie has potential but unfortunately, it is edited so horribly.

Bad:

Some Kind of Wonderful - I dislike all of the characters

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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Watched a great little movie on Netflix called The Breaker Upperers. The stars are also the writers and directors and it has a bit of a low budget feel but if you can get past that, it's a very entertaining feel good watch. It's more of a female friendship movie with rom-com undertones.

It's all about love and relationships because the two lead characters run a service where they will break up with your significant other for you. There are lots of wacky set ups and costumes and silliness and the kind of comedy I'd expect in a rom-com. Towards the end, it really starts hitting more of the tropes. There is a shopping montage. There is a declaration of love musical performance at the rec center. It is AMAZING. If nothing else, watch that performance. But also, watch the whole movie. Unlike these two hour slogs, it doesn't overstay its welcome so you'll be done in 80 minutes. I do think it fails at landing all the jokes in the script but when it works, it really works. If you like the kind of comedy where a stranger is listening to the main characters have a conversation and there are these quick edits to their reactions... this is the kind of rom-com you will love. The comedic beats felt very comfortable and familiar but not tired and lazy. 

It's also great to see a movie where characters acknowledge race but not in the way that American movies are over the top about it. I can't quite explain it but even with the silly comedy, the script of this movie felt very natural. It was also refreshing to see characters who were supposed to be around 40 played by actresses who looked like normal women around that age. Also, one of the characters is openly bisexual and the movie isn't weird about it. Yay! 

I do feel a little weird about the whole subplot of 

Spoiler

a 35-year-old woman hooking up with and having a baby with a 17 (going on 18) year old boy.

 

Edited by aradia22
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12 hours ago, aradia22 said:

OMG who greenlit this movie with this cast? Is this one of those projects Kathie Lee produced herself?

Ha.  She wrote it.  And honestly, if it weren't for her acting in it, I'd be unreservedly all over this movie.  It looks gorgeous.  I like Liz Hurley well enough.  I love Craig Ferguson too.

But whenever I see Kathie Lee acting in anything, all I see is Kathie Lee, the talk show host.  And since I see her as a talk show host, I see Craig the talk show host as opposed to Craig the actor.  But in his scenes with Liz Hurley, I see Craig the actor or as a character.  So if he had the "get drunk" scene with Liz Hurley, I'd go with it.  Since he had it with KLG's character, I found myself screaming "noooo, don't give up your sobriety!"

Anyway, I wonder if it'll end up on a streaming service or even Hallmark.  I can't picture her doing anything too salacious.

Edited by Irlandesa
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7 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I saw Bride & Prejudice on Amazon Prime. It was easy and cute. I can’t believe I missed this one all these years. From the director of Bend It Like Beckham.  

I like that movie too. Its fun and cute.

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Melissa McEwan's piece in The Guardian that's linked to in that article is also good:
 

Quote

 

Unlike the Disney princesses I'd outgrown, and unlike the one-dimensional female protagonists of popcorn rom-coms I'd never grow into, Baby was smart, funny, reckless, tenacious, awkward, curious, righteous, strong – and instantly real to me in a way most female protagonists were not.

She was a revolution.

Baby isn't apologetic for being smart or ambitious. She stands up for herself, and she confidently sticks to her ethics and accepts the consequences of her decisions. She admires other women without competing with them and ignores perfectly adequate male suitors with no qualm of being unpartnered.

She stands up to men, Robbie and Max Kellerman and her own father, exposing their prejudices and privileged assumptions. She helps Penny get an abortion and medical care. She doesn't leave her life or change her plans for her beau when he's fired and skips town.

Any one of these things would have made Dirty Dancing leagues better than most of the claptrap aimed squarely at teenage girls.

And then there is this: Already primed at 13 to regard sex as something that happened to girls in movies, and to expect the worst to befall a girl to whom sex happens, I sat in the theatre and watched Baby Houseman choose and enthusiastically consent to sex, outside of marriage and everything, to enjoy it, to not regret it and to suffer no tragic karmic consequences as a result.

It's difficult to overstate how important a message that was to receive at a time when every slumber party I attended was incomplete without a slasher film in which the slutty girl was always the first to die, when a girl at school my age who said she hadn't kissed a boy yet was a loser but a girl who said she had was a skank, when my minister admonished me in front of my peers for expressing doubts about doctrine that I would be "pregnant or dead" by the time I was 16. (I was neither.)

 

And Jezebel ran a piece by Irin Carmon around that same time extolling its feminist virtues:
 

Quote

 

The greatness of Dirty Dancing was not lost on me in my near-daily viewings as a child and preteen, re-enacting every dance with my sister. What I learned a little later: it's a great, brave movie for women.

That it was a wildly successful, commercial film, widely seen as "ugly duckling gets the guy" doesn't change that, although screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein told me this week it always dismayed her that that's how people saw it. In her mind as in mine, Jennifer Grey's Baby is a strong-minded idealistic young woman with her own interests, who doesn't have to change herself to get the guy even as she undergoes a transformation from gawky wallflower to confident onstage dancer. But Patrick Swayze's Johnny, too, changes and learns from her, under the force of her stubborn, naive belief that you can "fight harder."

"I conceived of her and made her a fighter. A girl who just won't give up... and who doesn't expect the world to be handed to her. There's a lot she doesn't understand, but she works very, very hard," says Eleanor.

Along the way we get some great dancing, yes — more on that in a sec. But we also get some subtle, retrospectively sharp-eyed critiques of class and gender.

 

 

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I watched "Plus One" and it was pretty cute, I really liked the two leads.  If you recommended this, thank you.  One of the stars is Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid's son Jack and he looks exactly like if Joshua Jackson and Joel McHale had a kid.  It's so odd!  And the other star Maya Erskine is half Asian and they gave her a full Asian family so that was some really nice representation.  (One of the two directors is also Asian).  

I tried to get through "Man Up" and ugh, I made it about halfway and shut it off.  I don't know if that's for me and Lake Bell playing British seems nonsensical.

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

By the way you will probably all enjoy the show "Emily in Paris" that was released on Netflix.

Or not. This show was so frustrating to me. There were things I liked (Paris) and things I hated (the unintentional entitlement of the lead character) but it was a quick binge.

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In my opinion it's a useful recommendation for people who enjoy romantic comedies, as is the thread topic.  It wasn't the best thing I've ever seen, but I enjoyed it.  Great clothes, food, travel, men.  

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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The thread topic is about romantic comedies but we've discussed romcoms we like and romcoms we don't and why that is.

Emily In Paris, for all intents and purposes, should have been my jam.  I lived in France for a year.  I love romcoms and Foodie Love is one of my favorite series of the year.  I was so looking forward to the show.  But I found most of her love interests pretty bland.  The things she did with her main love interest kind of turned her into a garbage person, IMO. She didn't know the most basic things about living in France. But instead of this making her look dumb, entitled, and annoying as hell, it's supposed to be adorbs because she's pretty, thin and white--I guess?

I binged it in a day and I'd probably watch a second season in hopes that it gets better but it has some pretty big negatives that people might want to be aware of before starting.

 

Edited by Irlandesa
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I didn’t quite get the point of Holidate, although it had some funny moments. I didn’t quite get why they each needed a date when the family knew and they went to places where they knew no one. For me, it would make more sense to have a Holidate to attend holiday friends parties or work functions, kinda like Pretty Woman. Here, it was like they just wanted a drink buddy but felt inadequate to drink alone. If that’s the case, why not have sex? It was basically No Strings Attached or Friends with Benefits but with no benefits. 
 

Too bad, I liked the concept. The idea of them just seeing each other during a holiday, kinda like Four Weddings and a Funeral. 

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