Too Sweet, Too Sour

THERE ARE two very sad things about the romantic comedy Only You-, there is no romance in it, and there is no comedy. Meant to be a lighthearted love story against a picturesque backdrop, with two charming people clearly destined for each other having to surmount hilarious obstacles from without and within until they can finally land in an exultant clinch, Only You does indeed meet two of the requirements: the picturesque backgrounds and the concluding clinch. Aside from that, catastrophe.

Europe steadily, and America intermittently, used to manage this sort of thing with consummate aplomb. Now the Europeans seem no longer interested, and the Americans have lost the knack: Sleepless in Seattle is about as good as such things get here, and not all its insomnia could rouse the dormant genre from its lethargy. Only You may put it to such sleep as no Prince Charming could kiss awake.

JS

About the Author

John Simon

THERE ARE two very sad things about the romantic comedy Only You-, there is no romance in it, and there is no comedy. Meant to be a lighthearted love story against a picturesque backdrop, with two charming people clearly destined for each other having to surmount hilarious obstacles from without and within until they can finally land in an exultant clinch, Only You does indeed meet two of the requirements: the picturesque backgrounds and the concluding clinch. Aside from that, catastrophe.

Europe steadily, and America intermittently, used to manage this sort of thing with consummate aplomb. Now the Europeans seem no longer interested, and the Americans have lost the knack: Sleepless in Seattle is about as good as such things get here, and not all its insomnia could rouse the dormant genre from its lethargy. Only You may put it to such sleep as no Prince Charming could kiss awake.