From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to the treatment, which you can also hear at KCRW.com.

My guest, right-air director, Nicholas Stuller, has a way of making romance the center of everything he's done, an ideal romance.

I think, for me, goes back to his work on Undeclare, where I'm guessing he first met Jason Siegel.

His newest film as writer-director, I guess co-writer is five-year engagement.

Before that, we know him from

get him to the Greek and his first collaboration with Jason Siegel, which was, of course,

forgetting Sarah Marshall. Nick, first of all, thanks a much for being here. Thank you so much for

having me. And talk about that, about how much romance means to you. I mean, because you've done

these things really about people pursuing an ideal of romance. Well, the romantic comedy genre is my favorite genre.

It's, to me, the most satisfying movie-going experience I have, personally, as well, you know, seeing a great romantic comedy.

What is it about romantic comedy that really plays so well for you?

Well, great romantic comedy makes you laugh really hard, and you see yourself in the characters,

and then there's just the Shakespearean wish fulfillment at the end of seeing a couple that you're rooting for to get together.

It just makes me feel good when I see a great romantic comedy in a way that, to me, at least, no other genre really hits.

Because for me, what you do is this is this kind of intersection of screwball comedy

where people sort of get themselves in trouble by trying to explain themselves. And also this

thing of sort of like 70s, the great 70s movies, which feel like they're anecdotal, but really

lead us to a point. Was that a fair assessment to me? Yes, thank you. I'm very,

I'm very honored that you see them that way. But yeah, I think for me, the characters get

themselves in enough trouble. A lot of romantic comedies that aren't firing on all cylinders,

I think, rely on miscommunication as a plot device. Like, the girl sees the guy like hugging

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