The rule of thumb with parody movies says that if you have genuine affection for the source material you’ll make a great film (Shaun of the Dead, Blazing Saddles, Black Dynamite). If you don’t, you won’t (Spaceballs, the Scary Movie franchise). The rom-com parody They Came Together, however, hates its source material so passionately, and eviscerates the rom-com tradition (from When Harry Met Sally to What If) with such fury, that it results in a movie that’s more than great — it’s a standout film that makes the possibility of future rom-coms almost untenable. Everything is pilloried here, and rightly so, as our “meet cute” couple, played by Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, bounce around Manhattan in perky upbeat montages, surrounded by cardboard archetypes (the best friend, the love rival, etc), and through a series of fake crises and fake resolutions — including, yes, the last-minute altar dash. It’s bracing stuff and proof, perhaps, that the genre has indeed run its course. David Wain, 15, 83min