You’ve seen it a hundred times before: a suave Manhattan man meets a quirky Brooklyn gal, and they immediately hate one another! And then they find out they have some common interest which naturally causes them to fall deeply in love and eventually get married on a city rooftop.
If you’re as tired as I am of the trope, go find “They Came Together,” a witty parody starring Amy Pohler as Molly, the clumsy, quirky, unlucky-in-love woman, and Paul Rudd as Joel, the charismatic careerist. She owns a quaint little candy shop, and he works for a big corporate candy company. He has a hot but mean girlfriend, and she has a best friend whose only purpose is to cheerlead for her and be relentlessly selfless.
The couple is relaying their love story to their friends over dinner, and as the film goes on, the other couple regrets ever asking about the love story between Paul, Molly, and “the third character in our love story: New York.” Their companions, played by Ellie Kemper and Bill Hader, try unsuccessfully to leave – several times.
As the story goes, the couple falls in love when they realize they both like…fiction books! From there, one thing leads to another until eventually they’re in a Nora Ephron-esque montage as they frolic through New York, giggling and kissing.
About two-thirds of the way through, they get into a fight over Joel’s ex-girlfriend and break up. They go their separate ways until Molly’s wedding day, where right before she’s about to marry her new husband – well, I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself.
The smart, funny movie pokes fun at these cliches in a way that’s affectionate, not caustic. As it’s said, you have to have some appreciation for the thing you’re parodying. Combine the quality writing with an all-star cast – Cobie Smulders, Ed Helms, and Max Greenfield all give good performances, as well as the actors named above – and you’ve got a movie well worth your time.
Strangely, the movie doesn’t seem to be getting much press, possibly because it’s in limited theatres. It’s currently streaming on Google Plus and Amazon for $6.99.
