Playing the Lover AND the Fool

Three nods to one master of comedy AND romance

Apr 23, 2025

Welcome back to The Romantic, the love-centric newsletter where I, Meg Oolders, shamelessly “date” myself by talking about “old” romance books and movies like they aren’t that old. And like … I’m not either.

Depending on where you happen to fall on the Gen what-have-you spectrum of pop culture appreciation, today’s subject might conjure a myriad of associations.

From Wild and Crazy Guy to Distinguished Gentleman to Dirty Rotten Scoundrel.

From Jerk to Amigo to Father of the Bride.

From King Tut to Inspector Clouseau.

From Two Brains to Cruel Shoes to Only Murders and all points in between.

For this reminiscing Romantic, comedy legend Steve Martin is film-immortalized between the years of 1984 and 1991, during which time the actor himself said his “mature film career started … and ended….”1

The films he wrote and starred in during that era are some of my all-time favorites, and the three I’m going to highlight today are, of course, Romantic in nature. They’re also hilarious, proving that love and laughter are stronger together than apart, and the writer/performer who can deliver both is worth celebrating via obscure internet blogs for all eternity.

So, if you missed the boat the first decade or two around, I highly suggest you add these ~~old AF~~ CLASSIC rom com gems to your watchlists, asap.

Your hearts and funny bones will thank you. 💕

“Let’s get one thing straight. I never liked you when you were in your body. And I certainly don’t like you in mine!”

All of Me – 1984

In this madcap body-swap romp, semi-serious lawyer and moonlighting jazz musician Roger Cobb (Steve Martin)’s life is turned inside out when he mistakenly becomes host to the disembodied soul of deceased millionaire mega-bitch Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) after a mystical ceremony designed to give the terminally ill heiress a second chance at life in the body of the younger, tauter, Terry Hoskins (Victoria Tennant) goes awry.

Laugh Track

This pic earns top marks for legit-laughs-out-loud, thanks in no small part to Steve Martin’s gift for spine-cracking physical comedy. His chemistry with Tomlin sizzles and pops during their mirror moments (the only time the actors share the screen), not to be undone by Martin’s solo scenes, when he performs both roles. Simultaneously.

The premise is a far-fetching beast, peppered with “this-could-never-happen-but-you-want-to-believe-it-could” magic and plenty of bouncy intrigue, quest derailments, and twisted tropes. Talk about forced proximity. Sheesh!

Love Language

While most of the film’s boudoir scenes are between Roger and the duplicitous bombshell Miss Hoskins (though not without Edwina calling the shots from her undersexed box seat inside Roger’s head), the REAL romance burns ever so slowly between our co-stars behind thickening plot curtains, as Roger and Edwina learn to put aside their differences in service of a shared quest to undo what’s been done. With their guards lowered, their bickering turns to banter, their animosity to admiration, and their embittered rivalry to genuine friendship … something Edwina (along with running, dancing, and sexual arousal) had never experienced before she met Roger.

Best Feature — Protagonist

Martin’s Roger Cobb is knowable, adorable, subtly alluring, and morally upright … without being boring AF.

Watch the Trailer

Watch the flick on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, or Plex (FREE).

“You wanted it all. All the romance and emotion, all wrapped up in a cute little nose and a cute little ass!”

Roxanne – 1987

Steve Martin both wrote and starred in this unforgettable adaptation of Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. You know the one—where the tragically under-attractive Romantic must woo the object of his affections through the body, voice, and face of the hot, unintelligible idiot who begs our hero to help him get the girl?

And so it goes for nasally well-endowed poet/fire chief C.D. Bales (Martin), who falls schnoz over heels in love with earth angel/rocket scientist Roxanne Kowalski (Darryl Hannah) during her serendipitous summer comet-tracking retreat.

Laugh Track

The prosthetic proboscis alone, and Martin’s ability to wax wacky-poetic while wielding it, is worth a round of applause. Apparently, the thing took hours to apply and the actor loathed the experience wholeheartedly.

The film itself runs the comedy gamut from pithy wordplay to full-on slapstick, all while indulging the actor/screenwriter’s propensity for set-em-up, knock-em-down, stand-up style “jokes.” Additionally, the previously mentioned “hot, unintelligible idiot,” played by the hunky Rick Rossovich (Top Gun, The Terminator), holds his own beside Martin and Hannah, delivering a believable performance as the perpetually nauseated, tragically tongue-tied meathead, Chris McConnell.

Love Language

You will rightfully ache for the romantic underdog and his unattainable ideal as the forged love letters and soliloquies flow between them. You’ll ask yourself, is Roxanne really this stupid? Then you’ll remember how stupid love (and blind infatuation) makes us and you’ll willingly suspend your disbelief. You’ll steal Steve Martin’s poetry for your next romantic text exchange and long for the days when a woman could wear flannel, denim, and Estelle Getty glasses—all at the same time—and still be the hottest thing on two legs.

And you’ll think fondly of the sharp-witted guys and gals in your past who you passed over for humorless hotties because you weren’t experienced enough to know that funny people make the best lovers.

Best Feature — Setting

I’m a sucker for a tenacious little town full of loveable weirdos outnumbered by trees under a sky full of stars. 💕

Watch the Trailer

Watch the flick on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, or be like me and “rent” the DVD from your local library.

"So, there I was jabbering at her about my new job as a serious newsman - about anything at all - but all I could think was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful and yet again, wonderful."

L.A. Story – 1991

Steve Martin writes (and stars) again in this sparkling satire of life, love, and cultural lunacy in Los Angeles.

“Wacky” weekend weatherman, Harris K. Telemacher (Martin) has become woefully dissatisfied with his status quo: A stale relationship with a less-than-faithful socialite, a joke job that doesn’t take him (or his PhD) seriously, a life void of magic, and a lack of inspiration to do anything about it. Until that inspiration appears in the form of Sara McDowell (Victoria Tennant AGAIN2), an unfiltered, Tuba-playing, fish-out-of-water journalist on assignment from London to write a story on the L.A. experience while reluctantly reconciling with her stateside ex-husband, Roland (Richard E. Grant).

Harris is smitten with Sara from the start, but he’s going to need a sign from the universe to help him take the first step toward changing his life. Luckily, there’s a sign(post) on the L.A. freeway willing to coach him through his breakup with the cheater, his unexpected career change, his not-so-innocent fling with sexy shopgirl/aspiring spokesmodel, SanDeE* (Sarah Jessica Parker), and his fated courtship with Sara.

Laugh Track

I think ~~Steve~~ Harris ~~wrote~~ said it best:

“Some of these buildings are over twenty years old.”

“Let us just say I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was so happy all the time.”

“I could never be a woman, 'cause I'd just stay home and play with my breasts all day.”

“Sitting there at that moment I thought of something else Shakespeare said. He said, ‘Hey ... life is pretty stupid; with lots of hubbub to keep you busy, but really not amounting to much.’ Of course, I'm paraphrasing.”

Love Language

“All I know is, on the day your plane was to leave, if I had the power, I would turn the winds around, I would roll in the fog, I would bring in storms, I would change the polarity of the earth so compasses couldn't work, so your plane couldn't take off.”

“Forget for this moment the smog and the cars and the restaurant and the skating and remember only this. A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true.”

“Why is it that we don't always recognize the moment when love begins but we always know when it ends?”

“and yet again … wonderful …” 🥰