Neo-Traditional Romcom

To have a better understanding of romantic comedies I viewed the film 'Did you hear about the Morgans?'. It has elements of Neo- traditional Rom Coms because of its conservative ending and how it relies on the audience to feel sorry for the characters. As McDonald states in her book 'Romantc Comedy: Boy Meets girl meets genre'  (Pg. 85) " These films, therefore, while close to Annie Hall in their visual elements, adopt a much more conservative and traditional ending".  By traditional ending she means( pg.86) "boy meets girl, boy losses girl, boy gets girl back" unlike the radical romantic movies Woody Allen writes. Where the two people we are following throughout the film do not end up together, but split up or end up with the other guy/ girl in the film. We will never experience this in a neo-traditional RomCom because it does not fit in the mold. Also, "Did you hear about the Morgan's?" relies on our ability to feel for there situation. During the movie the couple has to outwit a hired gun man, forgive each other of infidelity, and learn to love one another again in a foreign atmosphere, the charming, quaint, modern 'old west' town they are hiding out in . This McDonald's says is " The works they reference, however, come not from the ranks if screwball or sex comedies, but from romantic dramas, and it is from this type of film that the newer romantic comedy draws its increased emphasis on the importance of tears". Although, I shed no tears while viewing this film I was compelled to feel sorry for the situation they were "forced" into.Ultimately we as the audience have to buy into their sad situation so that we  root for them to be reunited at the end.