Hmm, I was typing (and still am) on my iPhone, so I shortened a bunch of gender issues into "making Kate and Petruccio sympathetic and likable."

but I intended all that to be included in my shorthand. The productions I saw include not making Kate a doormat.

I think it's certainly possible to deal with the gender issues in TotS, but it's rare that it's done successfully. In too many cases, productions "fix" the last scene but play the rest of the script straight, as if making Kate's final speech sarcastic makes up for the fact that Petruchio's just spent the last 2 hours being more or less psychotically abusive.

I'd have liked Mr. and Mrs. Smith better with a different Mrs. Smith. She's not someone I see in a fistfight with Brad Pitt. But Brad? I don't think I've liked him more. He cracked me right up. And, weirdly, one of my krav teachers was in it, and I recognised him under all his SWAT gear. Which isn't creepy, honest. He just moves like him.

What about all the Apatow bro-movies like "I Love You, Man(which I really liked, btw.) Rom-com or just coms. "Object of My Affection"...I think it's sort of a romcom and sort of a dramedy.

Oh, I thought of two rom-coms I liked which are generally overlooked.

Only You with Marisa Tomei, RDJ and all of Italy.

Also Housesitter with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn where she plays a very smart cookie instead of a ditz and does it very well.

I think it's certainly possible to deal with the gender issues in TotS, but it's rare that it's done successfully. In too many cases, productions "fix" the last scene but play the rest of the script straight, as if making Kate's final speech sarcastic makes up for the fact that Petruchio's just spent the last 2 hours being more or less psychotically abusive.

Both of the good productions of Shrew were because of the top notch performances of the actors playing the leads, and not due to any modification of the text, or a sarcastic last speech delivery. It's part of why they stood out as performances.

I agree that it's rare and difficult to pull off, but in my experience it's rare and difficult to pull off a really good production The Glass Menagerie. Good theater is difficult to do well.

But you'll never get me to agree that it's impossible to be both faithful to Shakespeare's text and deliver a good, sympathetic, enjoyable performance of the piece, because I've seen it happen twice.

Only You with Marisa Tomei, RDJ and all of Italy.

Speaking of Marisa Tomei, My Cousin Vinnie kind of counts as a rom com, doesn't it? I love that one.

I also tend to think of Fight Club as kind of a rom com, and my adoration of that film knows no bounds.

I think I used to like rom coms more. I also used to like sitcoms, and don't generally watch them any more. I don't know if it's because my tastes have changed, or the quality of rom coms and sitcoms has degraded. Or just failed to keep up with my sensibilities.

I don't think I've ever seen a really good production of TotS that wasn't wrapped inside a production of Kiss Me, Kate.

There's My Best Friend's Wedding. Which I loved the first time I saw it, but not so much the second time. It took two viewings to realize how unlikeable the three sides of the main triangle are. But the luncheon scene alone -- okay, the rendition of "I Say a Little Prayer" alone -- is worth the price of admission. (And Rupert Everett steals the movie, although you have to wonder about his character's motivation at times.)

I quite like My Best Friend's Wedding, mostly because it doesn't end with a neat little bow. The characters are super-flawed (actually, the Cameron Diaz character, despite being "other other woman", fares the best, I think) and the movie is aware of that.

Another recent rom-com without the requisite happy ending: (500) Days of Summer. It slipped my mind, but I loved that one.