2010: The return of the intelligent rom-com?

Pictured: Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman in "The Switch"


As of late, the romantic comedy has perhaps become the laziest of all genres. Gone are the days of the genuinely decent rom-coms of the 90s, the decade in which the genre arguably saw its greatest golden age thanks almost entirely to Meg Ryan. But now what do we have? Dozens upon dozens of the same thing: successful woman in her late 20s/early 30s, doesn't really know what she wants in life and is defensive about it therefore she remains single, may or may not be baby crazy. Oh and her best friend is Judy Greer.

Enter effortlessly successful man, terribly charming in a vaguely toolish way. He immediately can see right through any front of iciness our heroine has and begins calling her out on all her insecurities as soon as the first date. They will bicker and banter but ultimately realize their affection, and just when they finally approach the point where they're ready to admit their feelings, someone does something to mess it up but for some reason it's always her that ends up asking for the second chance. They end up happily ever after. If you notice, (with a few exceptions) I have just described the plot of 27 Dresses, Notting Hill, 13 Going on 30, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sweet Home Alabama, etc...

But somehow, 2010 seems to be ushering in some very promising new forays into this factory-produced genre. The first (I hope) will be 'The Switch' starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. All things considered, it does have a fairly original device when it comes to bringing the two main characters together. Plus those two could have some seriously sweet chemistry. I'm hoping for the best.

But in case that doesn't work out, here are the trailers for three upcoming romantic movies (they're really dramadies, but frankly I think those make for the best ones) that actually look pretty good. They include: 'Love and Other Drugs' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway (which looks the most cliche of all of them but in a Jerry Maguire kind of way), 'The Romantics' starring a whole bunch of people (more of a drama, but it actually looks quite good and may prove that Malin Akerman can act) and 'How Do You Know' which stars Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd so...rom-com gold.

Follow the jump to see them!