“Romance has been reduced to a boob graze”

Or so says Johanna Schneller, “The Moviegoer” columnist at The Globe and Mail. And who can argue?

“What I want for Christmas can’t be found. I am pining for a strong, smart, sexy, grown-up romance. Not a romantic comedy, where everything is fey and giggly. Not romance as a subplot in an action/adventure picture. I want a movie where love is the point — face-flushing, heart-racing, tears-streaming love....

“....Hollywood has lost faith in love. It has lost faith that watching a couple go through legitimate ups and downs is inherently interesting — to both sexes. It’s lost faith that words alone can seduce, that romance can be serious, and that it can be funny without pratfalls, fart jokes and fake sobs. It’s lost faith in the unhappy ending, the glorious torture of watching two people who are meant for each other but can’t work it out .... And that loss is a terrible shame, because any adult knows that often the greatest romances are the ones that end.”