We’re at a moment when a cohort of actors who cut their teeth in hipster-friendly projects like Party Down and the Frat Pack movies are coming of age. Whether it’s Lizzy Caplan’s emergence as a viable romantic comedy star thanks to her wonderful turn on New Girl; or Adam Scott’s Parks and Recreation-minted heartthrob status; the wave of goodwill Jason Segel is riding right now after his successful reboot of the Muppts franchise; or Aaron Paul’s search for the role that will take him beyond his turn as morally conflicted meth cooker Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad, these actors are all starring in romantic comedies this year. It’s fascinating to see what, if anything, is different about this well-worn trope as taken on by actors less invested in traditional Hollywood glamor than in self-lacerating humor. Mostly it seems that they’re just as invested in marriage and commitment as prior generations, but the obstacles to their happiness are different.

For the younger set, there’s Damsels in Distress, a decidedly odd-looking comedy about a group of college girls (played by actresses way too old for the setting) out to save their classmates from the scourges of depression and cads with donuts and tap-dancing. The movie’s quirky enough that I can’t tell if there’s an abstinence metaphor or there will be an abstinence subplot here. But there’s still something interesting about a college sex comedy framed around a very different framework and with characters who have very different priorities:

Then, there’s Save the Date, which doesn’t have a formal trailer yet, but is one of the movies from Sundance that’s stuck with me most closely. Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan play sisters Beth and Sarah, the former about to get engaged to Andrew (Martin Starr) a drummer in a rock band, the latter shaken by an unexpected proposal from Kevin (Geoffrey Arend), the frontman for that same band. When Sarah breaks up with Kevin, she embarks on casual relationship that turns into something more serious. To a certain extent, it’s a movie with very conventional themes: love can show up at surprising times! Marriages are more important than weddings! But it’s interesting to see those themes play out in a setting and with semi-bohemian characters who might have rejected marriage in another generation of movies:

Bridesmaids let it be known that sometimes women go a little crazy in the process of planning a wedding, even when they’re happy for the bride. Bachelorette, which also stars Caplan along with Kirsten Dunst and Isla Fisher apparently goes much darker, exposing a group of women who get decidedly vicious when the least conventionally attractive of their number gets engaged before they do. I’ll be curious to see if the movie is honest in its darkness or an occasion to paint all women as catty, status-obsessed, jealous, and willing to tear each other up:

The bridge is yours.

-Fans of Lizzy Caplan should be happy to hear this.

-Bad news for Egyptian comedians under the new regime.

-It’s so weird to me that Dave Grohl will be more identified with the Foo Fighters in history than he is with Nirvana.

-Taxing violent video games to pay for programs to combat childhood obesity and bullying.

-Kanye West will dispel your stereotypes about the Middle East.

-M.I.A. has a new video out:

One of the nice thing about being at Sundance is that the festival is a break from watching movies about people who are ostensibly like me: young, white, urban professionals. That said, when I did see a movie about those kinds of people, specifically, Save the Date, it was a pleasure to spend time with a romantic comedy that, with one significant exception, felt vastly more emotionally true and specific than the kinds of relationship stories Hollywood seems convinced women like me want to spend the money we’re not already laying down for shoes to go see.

In Save the Date, Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) runs a bookstore but hopes to make a living from her illustrations (drawn by graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown, who wrote the script with Egan Reich and director Michael Mohan). As the movie opens, she’s moving in with long-term boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend), who’s half of a band with Andrew (Martin Starr, the man in movies who does the most to hide his sexiness), who is engaged to Sarah’s sister Beth (Alison Brie, playing a grown-up Annie from Community). Commitment-shy and career-insecure, Sarah breaks up with and moves out on Kevin when he impulsively proposes to her, then jumps into a new relationship with lovelorn bookstore customer Jonathan (Mark Webber) while trying to deal with helping an increasingly anxious Beth plan her wedding.

None of this is incredibly new territory, but all of the relationships have a specificity that works. Beth and Sarah are clearly playing out long-established scripts as they move through a series of swiftly-unfolding big events. “I’m waiting for marriage,” Sarah jokes to Beth as they drive her stuff to Kevin’s place. “I thought you didn’t believe in marriage,” Beth ventures, torn between being excited about the prospect of her sister joining her on the road to marriage and nerves about whether Sarah can handle the commitment. “I don’t,” Sarah deadpans, “So I’m going to die a virg.” After her breakup with Kevin, Sarah tells Beth, “All I want is to get food that’s really bad for us and for you to give me a lot of sympathy.” But Beth, who disapproves of Sarah’s flightiness, is hesitant. “I’ll get really bad food,” she compromises. “But I’m not giving you sympathy.” Similarly, Andrew and Kevin are friends of long-enough standing that Andrew can muse to Kevin, “Do you think she and Beth are the same at sex?”

And as Sarah gets to know Jonathan, their conversations have a nice tinge of nerves and wonder. “I stalk your friend quietly. Because it’s a bookstore,” Jonathan jokes to Beth as he works up the courage to talk to her at the concert where Kevin proposes. Later, as they get to know each other, Jonathan explains to Sarah that he wants to be marine biologist that “I know there isn’t an ocean in Kansas City. And that’s why I became totally obsessed with it. And waves are amazing.” “It’s just so cool that you care so much about something,” Sarah tells him, recognizing in Jonathan the shared risk of having a dream that could disappoint you if it doesn’t come true. It’s a nice movement that feels of the recession and the generation without being bogged down by it.

Similarly, the movie isn’t afraid to make drama out of human decency and indecency without going over the top. When Kevin confronts Jonathan over his relationship with Sarah, Jonathan says mildly, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have done this, but I’d have been really upset…I want you to know I’m entirely sympathetic to your situation.” “Dude,” Kevin tells him. “I’m just pissed you don’t suck.” Those emotions are big enough.

The one place the movie steps wrong, and that I think male writers and directors tend to get wrong frequently, is in a surprise pregnancy plotline. I understand that continuing pregnancies is a way of keeping a plot going, and of upping the emotional impact of a relationship. But there’s something kind of odd about when male writers think women will be less than careful about birth control. Being uncertain about the state of your career or indecisive about committing to a relationship doesn’t automatically being careless about birth control, be it the Pill, an IUD, or simply regular condom use. And I’m not sure why those two things seem to go together, whether here or in Knocked Up. If anything, if you’re worried about your future, that seems like a time that the well-educated, upper-middle class heroines in these movies would be particularly careful about getting pregnant. At least Save the Date, unlike Knocked Up, has the courage to at least utter the word abortion. But a movie that’s realistic and tender and smart about sex and pleasure seems like it could have been more thoughtful and internally consistent when it comes to sex and reproduction.