I'll Have What She's Having

September 22, 2008
Film writer Kimmel (The Dream Team, The Fourth Network) goes behind the scenes of 15 genre classics to examine what made them great romantic comedies, still able to work their magic years later. Beginning with 1932's Trouble in Paradise and ending with 2003's Love, Actually, Kimmel dishes the dirt on everything from creative teams birthing miracle scripts to sets locked in such tension it's a wonder a movie got made at all. On-set drama is plentiful, including director Billy Wilder driving Humphrey Bogart up the wall with rewrites on Sabrina, and Marilyn Monroe driving Billy Wilder up the wall-and his film half a million dollars over budget-showing up seven hours late to the set of Some Like it Hot. Not all the films suffered such turmoil, evidenced by Katherine Hepburn's 1940 comeback vehicle The Philadelphia Story and Julia Roberts' star-making Pretty Woman, both of which are recalled with candor and affection. There's lots of minutiae and last-minute tweaks that make a film (like When Harry Met Sally's signature happy-couples interludes) to broaden readers' appreciation; the reading experience is akin to watching a classic with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic friend, and sure to revise readers' to-rent lists and Netflix queues.

August 15, 2008
Film critic and author Kimmel ("The Dream Team: The Rise and Fall of DreamWorks; The Fourth Network: How Fox Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television") dishes out movie recommendations with some interesting facts. He outlines 15 of what he considers to be the greatest romantic comedies and shows how they came together, detailing the casting, controversies, script changes, edits, and ironies that came into play. He also discusses how each movie was received and the subsequent career turns for those involved. There are many informative tidbits, like how Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" was an "incoherent mess," according to Kimmel, until editor Ralph Rosenblum sculpted it. Kimmel includes only one movie that was released this decade ("Love Actually"), so libraries that have his earlier "Love Stories: Hollywood's Most Romantic Movies" or "Isn't It Romantic" (both written with Nat Segaloff) may not need to add this one. Worth considering for public libraries with decent-sized collections of film books.Lani Smith, Ohlone Coll. Lib., Newark, CA

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.