Though there are exceptions to every rule, I generally tire of romantic comedies that stick to a limited timeframe while following the generic formula of “meet-cute leads to problem leads to getting together,” only to end the movie right as we finally begin to see happiness within the two people we’ve been following the whole time. Hollywood likes to play with that formula by making giant ensemble pieces out of it so that several couples can follow that same pattern. Maybe I’m just watching all the wrong movies.
Thankfully, the indie scene is alive with romance flicks that feel more genuine, and Milestone Media’s Comet sounds like it fits into that mold, which is odd, given that it takes place in a parallel universe. It will star everyman Justin Long (Going the Distance) and Emmy Rossum (Beautiful Creatures, and will be the directorial debut from Sam Esmail, who also wrote the screenplay.
Comet will bounce back and forth over a six-year relationship between Long and Rossum’s perfectly-paired couple, and according to Deadline, Esmail says the film is “about the drama, comedy and utterly surreal state of heartbreak – a subject in which I am well-versed.” They don’t sound so perfectly-paired if heartbreak is involved. That of course brings to mind Marc Webb’s 2009 indie hit 500 Days of Summer, just over a longer span of time. Let’s keep our 500 fingers crossed that this tells a different story.
Long wrote his own rom-com that’ll be out at some point later this year called A Case of You. Rossum, meanwhile, plays Fiona, the oldest of the six Gallagher children on Showtime’s Shameless).
