The romantic comedy boom owed everything to its leading ladies

In the summer of 1989, Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney, began filming what would become the biggest hit romantic comedy of all time (). It was also the third highest-grossing film of 1990 and propelled eventual Oscar-nominated Julia Roberts to worldwide fame.

The movie was, of course, "Pretty Woman," about a depressed sex worker and the wealthy businessman who hires her for a week (and then, of course, falls head over heels in love with her).

More than thirty years later, the film remains a high point of '90s studio cinema in general (it's hard to imagine Disney taking a script from Sundance Labs and turning it into a largely engaging story about "a prostitute with a heart of gold" never again) and romantic comedy in particular. It not only established Roberts as a star, but also the very concept that - even in a story that relies on two people mixing, mingle and fall in love – one of them might shine enough to carry the whole damn thing.
Related Related
Julia Roberts was no anomaly. In the 90s, romantic comedies had a boom period, but even the best of them had no chance of working without some of the best actresses to tackle a subject that romantic and >it funny. Who couldn't help but fall in love with them - and the genre itself?

Romantic comedies have always been a staple of Hollywood cinema (and storytelling itself), and the industry has long gone through different iterations, subgenres, and tropes that fall under the general idea of "these two people will fall". in love, and it will be funny. While romantic comedies were generally considered lighter fare – that is, not awards – in the early days of Hollywood, that was not the case at all (see: “It Happened One Night ", one of only three films to win the Big Five Oscars).

Although the genre has fallen out of studio favor in recent years, becoming more popular in the streaming world (Netflix, in particular, has had great success with the formula, although the streamer tends to focus on stories that skew young people), in the 90s it had a major resurgence. And none of this was possible without its leading ladies.

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The romantic comedy boom owed everything to its leading ladies

In the summer of 1989, Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney, began filming what would become the biggest hit romantic comedy of all time (). It was also the third highest-grossing film of 1990 and propelled eventual Oscar-nominated Julia Roberts to worldwide fame.

The movie was, of course, "Pretty Woman," about a depressed sex worker and the wealthy businessman who hires her for a week (and then, of course, falls head over heels in love with her).

More than thirty years later, the film remains a high point of '90s studio cinema in general (it's hard to imagine Disney taking a script from Sundance Labs and turning it into a largely engaging story about "a prostitute with a heart of gold" never again) and romantic comedy in particular. It not only established Roberts as a star, but also the very concept that - even in a story that relies on two people mixing, mingle and fall in love – one of them might shine enough to carry the whole damn thing.

Related Related

Julia Roberts was no anomaly. In the 90s, romantic comedies had a boom period, but even the best of them had no chance of working without some of the best actresses to tackle a subject that romantic and >it funny. Who couldn't help but fall in love with them - and the genre itself?

Romantic comedies have always been a staple of Hollywood cinema (and storytelling itself), and the industry has long gone through different iterations, subgenres, and tropes that fall under the general idea of "these two people will fall". in love, and it will be funny. While romantic comedies were generally considered lighter fare – that is, not awards – in the early days of Hollywood, that was not the case at all (see: “It Happened One Night ", one of only three films to win the Big Five Oscars).

Although the genre has fallen out of studio favor in recent years, becoming more popular in the streaming world (Netflix, in particular, has had great success with the formula, although the streamer tends to focus on stories that skew young people), in the 90s it had a major resurgence. And none of this was possible without its leading ladies.