First Impressions: DC RomCom

Here’s another try at fleshing out an idea. This logline comes from John (of “College Grad “Real” World” fame. Seriously, it’s a cool blog, check it out.) via the comment system. Remember, you can submit ideas via comments or email (let us know if you wish to remain anonymous) at producer@grad.com.

Here we go:
“Washington, D.C. seems awfully small when this bartender finds out four of his ex-girlfriends are living there too. He seems to be falling in love all over again.”

I have trouble seeing this as anything but a romantic comedy, although it would be interesting to try and force-fit it into another genre. It might work as film noir. I can see the bartender wearing a dark trench coat as he strides through sheets of rain in the seedy neighborhoods of southeast DC. His four ex’s run the gamut from the dependable, caring woman to the duplicitous femme fatale.

I’ll leave that for another writer to work on. Getting back to the romantic comedy: I see the protagonist, our leading man, as a gruff sort of character who works at, and maybe runs a bar, either a biker bar or sports bar, or some other kind of testosterone filled joint. Underneath the hard exterior, he is a hopeless romantic, and perhaps, over time, we see the events that caused him to harden his emotions.

I’m not quite sure what to do with 4 love interests, so maybe none of them actually turns out to be the love interest…

Our hero, Jack, meets each girlfriend in DC and subsequently falls for her again, and after going to lengths to prove that he can be sensitive (to the ridicule of his bar mates) remembers why they broke up the first time.

There are two ways I see this story going, and it’s possible that they are the same story with different characters. The way I see it, either the 4th girlfriend, or a new character, is the last person. Let’s call her Jen. Jack doesn’t fall in love with Jen. He takes her for granted; maybe she’s been around during all of his efforts to win back his previous relationships. She is constantly correcting him, and being a pain in his neck by ‘explaining’ to him why he’s an idiot. H e naturally doesn’t think of her in a romantic way, but somewhere between showing his sensitive side (getting laughed at by the tough guys in the bar, and slowly winning Jen’s admiration) and being himself, they realize that the basis of a true relationship isn’t any of the superficial things that he had with his other girlfriends; It’s trust and challenging each other to grow and learn.

Reading back over that, it sounds almost too sappy, but I think it could be worked with. The set up would have to be good, and hopefully subtle, otherwise it will come across as a sermon, which lessens the appeal of the movie as well as the impact of the message. I’m not sure I like the way this idea came together as much as the last one I looked at. I would love to see another take on this logline. If you feel like adding your $0.02 or taking it in a totally different direction feel free to post in the comments or send me an email. I’d be happy to post someone else’s ideas.

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