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Romantic comedies tap Gen X sentiment

Since the advent of motion pictures over a century ago, love stories, in any form, have been embraced by movie audiences of all ages. From the epic to the incomprehensible, people have found escape and enjoyment in watching the romance between two -- or in some perverse cases three or four -- characters on screen.

In the '30s, comedy was fused with romance to make more amusing, memorable films. Once the two genres merged, romantic comedies began incessantly flooding movie theaters, starting with film god Cary Grant and later featuring fallen angel Hugh Grant.

The ensemble romantic comedy, popularized in the '80s by "Diner" and "The Big Chill," flourished temporarily, but audiences soon found the formula obsolete. Pressured to revive the genre, studios in the '90s turned to people in their 20s, those unfortunately labeled Generation X.

With the release of "beautiful girls," interest has again been generated in Generation X ensemble romantic comedies. The genre originated with the release of Cameron Crowe's "Singles." Depicting the misadventures of single people, Crowe's film created the standard to which every ensemble romantic comedy currently follows.

According to the "Singles" model, a film must have: A good-looking cast (Bridget Fonda, Matt Dillon), characters in similar predicaments (uncertainty in both career and love), a hip city and backdrop (Seattle -- the high point of grunge) and a soundtrack that includes at least one classic song (Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love").

The film was certainly not an astounding critical or commercial success upon its release. Nonetheless, it did spawn many imitations and a multi-platinum soundtrack. In fact, strangely enough, each imitation has also done poorly at the box office and produced a relatively good soundtrack.

Though other films borrowed many elements from "Singles," the first bona fide clone was "Reality Bites." This film tells the story of attractive singles Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke struggling to find love and the right job in Houston after graduating from college. The movie was underscored by classic songs from Peter Frampton and Squeeze. Do you see a pattern?

The next "Singles" look-alike occurred in the peculiar form of "Threesome." Starring Stephen Baldwin, this is the tale of three people searching for friendship and sexual identity in their first year of college, to the tune of, appropriately, "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order.

This film suffers from a blatant lack of originality. If "Threesome" were any more asinine and intellectually offensive, it would star Pauly Shore. Although, if it did star Pauly Shore, the love scenes would be slightly more nauseating.

1995 brought the unveiling of two more ensemble romantic comedies. Set against the backdrop of New York City and featuring a non-classic but pretty cool song by Sarah McLachlan, "The Brothers McMullen" injected the genre with the efficient quality of independent cinema. This helped the film overcome its predisposed Generation X roots and become a really good movie.

On the other hand, "Empire Records" was also released, or was not, depending on your location. Since it was shown in only two cities, it can be assumed that the fable of record store employees, told to the beat of that peppy Gin Blossoms song, was one of the worst films of all time.

With that infamous film heading directly for video stores, one might think that Hollywood has finally seen enough such Generation X movies. "Beautiful girls" proves this theory wrong.

Taking place in a working class Massachusetts town, "beautiful girls" portrays old and new friends, including Timothy Hutton and Uma Thurman, drinking beer, plowing snow, philosophizing, finding love and participating in a rousing rendition of the questionable classic, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."

More Generation X ensemble romantic comedies are in store for your viewing pleasure -- or discomfort. Despite conspicuous similarities, the forthcoming films seem to promise departure from the "Singles" school of filmmaking.

In March, we will be graced by the presence of Keanu Reeves and Courtney Love in the dark, twisted "Feeling Minnesota." Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer of television's romantic comedy, "Friends," will also throw their respective hats into the ring.

Aniston will be seen with "Brothers" creator Edward Burns in "She's The One" late in the year. Schwimmer will star opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and others in the funeral comedy "The Pallbearer" in the spring.