Which trailer makes you cringe more: 'Happythankyoumoreplease' or 'A Little Bit of Heaven'?

By Sarah Sluis

Everyone knows the romantic comedy genre is in an exceptionally bleak state. The few survivors have resorted to extreme measures, such as reducing each couple's character arc to ten minutes or so, then adding more couples until the movie gets to the feature-length mark (He's Just Not That Into You, Valentine's Day, 2011's New Year's Eve). Two more of these toxic assets have just released trailers, Happythankyoumoreplease and A Little Bit of Heaven. Happythankyoumoreplease is directed by TV star Josh Radnor, A Little Bit of Heaven the Kate Hudson vehicle (but with a serious twist!). Let's go over the damage:

Happythankyoumoreplease:

Strikes:
-Malin Akerman as a grumpy person with cancer who doesn't know how to be grateful, but eventually learns to say "thank you" and find love. Ploy to insert "serious subject matter" that just feels uncomfortable.
-A young black boy befriends a would-be writer from suburbia. Ploy to insert "class consciousness."
-Writer/actor/director Josh Radnor also plays a writer, makes jokes about Woody Allen, complains about happy childhood that deprived him of "subject matter." I'm embarrassed for him.
-The delivery of these lines: Girl: "You're a mess. I'm a mess too." Boy: "So let's clean each other up."

Why it might still be worth seeing:
-It's set in the Lower East Side. Why, I live in the Lower East Side and I want to know if they shot at my local deli (this may only apply to New Yorkers).
-Three interlocking stories, meaning each character has a 66% less chance of rising above my annoying quota
-The performances of Zoe Kazan and Kate Mara, both of whom reduce the cringe level of their lines in the trailer.

A Little Bit of Heaven

Strikes:
-I try to avoid romance movies with terminal illness looming on the horizon, and in this story Kate Hudson has cancer, and then falls in love with her doctor. Just say no to Love Story /A Walk to Remember plotlines.
-Yet another Kate Hudson romantic comedy.
-Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg having a talk in "heaven," as evidenced by the A+ set design involving white clothing, a background cloud painting, and a little bit of wind machine. I hope this is some kind of elaborate joke not explained in the trailer.

Why it Might Still Be Worth Seeing:
-For camp purposes? To see what kind of mess Kathy Bates, Goldberg, Hudson, and Gael Garcia Bernal got themselves into?

Verdict: Happythankyoumoreplease could possibly be better than its trailer, especially since random YouTube clips actually do the movie more justice. But A Little Bit of Heaven? This one is going straight to international audiences (though not DVD), so I don't think it will be worth anyone's time.