We all love a good romcom. From the dawn of cinema, moviegoers have loved nothing better than to sit back and watch a beautiful woman and a handsome man overcome some obstacles and get together – all peppered with hilarity throughout. (Romcoms addressing non-straight relationships are less common, alas, but that's another article.)
But the romcom is a deceptively difficult beast to produce. There are far more stinkers than gems in the genre. Success can come down to: "Who's in it?"
A slightly mediocre romcom can be lifted by its stars and, of course, even the best script can be mired in shame by a less-than-convincing lead performance. Here's a collection of romcoms that plain chose the wrong person for the job, from the weird to the bad.
1. Tom Hardy – This Means War
We would forgive you if you haven't seen this one – it is directed by McG after all. The film itself wasn't well received, with Digital Spy saying it "hardly leaves a warm glow".
Also starring romcom heavyweight Reese Witherspoon and Star Trek's Chris Pine (no stranger to the genre), the inclusion of Hardy in this 2012 flick was perhaps misguided. Though it also has a spy element to the story, having an actor who is more known for meatier and action-ier roles in films like Inception and Bronson was a brave move; the same year Tom played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. He's very talented – just not Captain LOL.
2. Ralph Fiennes – Maid in Manhattan
The titular maid in this 2002 film was Jennifer Lopez, who was still trying to convince anyone who would listen that she was from the "block", playing a hard-working single mom. Enter politician Christopher Marshall (Fiennes), who is staying at the hotel where she works; cue slightly creepy romance.
Again, Fiennes is a brilliant actor. And he can do funny (watch In Bruges if you don't believe us). But it's just too much of a stretch to imagine Schindler's List's concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth getting it on with J-Lo.
Besides which, the romance and the comedy (quite important facets of the romcom) could have been handled better. Fiennes' previous attempt at comedy was 1998's The Avengers (the big-screen version to the iconic British television show) and we all know how well that went.
3. Paris Hilton – The Hottie and the Nottie
Sometimes described as "the worst movie ever made", this 2008 offering from the sex-tape celebrity was her only foray into a romcom lead role.
Perhaps the movie producers involved forgot that a good romcom is difficult enough to make with professional actors. The $9 million movie took just over $1.5 million at the global box office.
On the plus side, it pretty much put an end to Paris' "acting" career, such that it was.
4. Jimmy Fallon – Fever Pitch
Without wishing to be unkind, the Saturday Night Live alumnus is not a decent choice for any movie, regardless of genre.
Fallon, who left a successful stint on SNL for big-screen glory, teamed up with romcom queen Drew Barrymore on this 2005 American take on the Nick Hornby book of the same name (which had already been made in the UK with Colin Firth some eight years previous).
Jimmy's main problem is that he's not an actor and possesses little, if any, on-screen charm – essential for a romcom. The man you're meant to sympathise with and root for is nothing but a smug, pudding-faced annoyance.
5. Hugh Jackman – Kate & Leopold
The Wolverine's only outing as a romcom main man (pedant's note, he also starred in 2001's Someone Like You but wasn't the lead) was this odd time-travel comedy from Logan director James Mangold.
Meg Ryan, whose role in When Harry Met Sally remains unbeaten in the genre, didn't exactly set the screen alight and the chemistry between the two was flat. Not a terrible film, but Hugh was perhaps better than what Kate & Leopold had to offer, his adamantium skills too strong for the part.
Despite receiving a rather surprising Golden Globe nomination for his role, Jackman left the world of the romcom for good and stuck, for the most part, to dramatic action roles. Plus the odd bit of singing.
6. Ellen DeGeneres – Mr Wrong
Now more famous for being a talk show host and the voice of a forgetful fish in the Pixar movies Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, Ellen quickly shot to stardom in the early '90s with her own self-named sitcom.
Mr Wrong was her first lead role in a feature film and was supposed to launch her cinema career. Sadly, as you perhaps noticed, this was not to be. Like a number of entries here, DeGeneres is just too damned quirky to be a mainstream romcom lead (having said that, Billy Crystal managed it once).
Her being gay is irrelevant, if you were wondering. For one thing she wasn't even publicly out in 1996, and for another, you seriously think she was the first gay actor to play a heterosexual romantic lead?
The film's poster goes beyond a parody of romcom and looks like something The Simpsons might mock up. Thankfully for DeGeneres, her career took off in different ways. Ellen hasn't forgotten Mr Wrong though, and she often self-deprecatingly references this particular disaster on her talk show.
7. Usher – In the Mix
The multi-million selling R&B and pop singer turned his charm to movies, and what better way than to sell yourself than playing the lead in a romcom? (With a bit of crime thrown in.)
Unfortunately for Usher, he didn't make anyone wanna go and see the film, and there was no love in the club as critics burned both the lead and the film itself.
Since then, he's starred as an usher in Muppets Most Wanted (we LOVED that gag) and Scary Movie, erm, 5 (no, we didn't know about that one either) and later this year he'll be seen in drama Burden alongside Andrea Riseborough and Forest Whitaker but crucially not playing Usher. Hopefully, he'll take it nice and slow.
