If you’re anything like me, you spent your Valentine’s Day weekend cuddled up with some chocolate covered strawberries watching the cheesiest of rom coms. I’m a hopeless romantic, what can I say. When trying to decide which romantic movie to watch for the special occasion, I realized I’m a BIG fan of this genre. So with that, here are some of my favorite romance movies:
La La Land (2016)
I’m going to start off by saying that this is my favorite movie of all time. I’m in love with every aspect of this film. Casting call rejections, unpaid bills, gridlocked traffic, spilled coffee, —isn’t it just so romantic? This is Damien Chazelle’s love letter to his beloved city of Los Angeles and the classic movies of Hollywood. La La Land captures the hearts of viewers with Mia and Sebestian’s romance. There are an array of eye-catching cinematography, musical interludes, and dance numbers, not to mention the amazing on-screen chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
Fair warning, its 10-minute epilogue has made me cry every single time I’ve watched it.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
As you could tell from my loving description of La La Land, I’m a big fan of the Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling pairing, which brings me to Crazy, Stupid, Love. But that’s not the only reason I love this movie. This is one of those big ensemble romantic comedies with shocking twists that connect each of the storylines. It showcases Steve Carell’s character, a newly divorced man searching for love and taking relationship advice from a young player (Gosling). But little does he know that his daughter (Stone) is beginning a relationship with the player (Gosling) he’s taking advice from.
The Proposal (2009)
I’m a sucker for a good enemies to lovers storyline (and this one even has an added layer of the fake dating trope!). Sandra Bullock plays a boss from hell who needs to convince her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so she can secure a U.S. visa. But before they can try to fool the government into believing their marriage, they’ll need to trick his family into believing it first.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
There’s a shocking lack of diversity when it comes to romantic comedies. Based on the bestselling novel, Crazy Rich Asians is the story of native New Yorker and Chinese American professor Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), who discovers her boyfriend (Henry Golding) is a member of one of the richest families in Singapore. When they travel to Singapore for a wedding, she meets his family for the first time and it doesn’t go as planned.
Also, Kina Grannis’ rendition of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” during the wedding scene never ceases to bring tears to a viewer’s eye.
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
Most of us can agree that Julia Roberts is the queen of rom-coms, having starred in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, and Runaway Bride. But I decided to put this movie on the list instead because this is one of her most impressive performances in the rom-com genre, simply because she plays a character who is so unlikeable, but you end up rooting for her anyway. The whole premise of the film is that two childhood friends made a marriage pact, the caveat being they were both single at 28. However, her best friend happens to be engaged, and Julia Roberts’ character soon realizes she loves him herself. The rest of the movie follows her journey of trying to win him over, with only days before the wedding.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
This is probably my go-to answer when someone asks me what my favorite rom-com is. It’s a great modern adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew set at a high school. Heath Ledger single-handedly raised the bar for teenage romantic gestures everywhere with his performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” (accompanied by a marching band of course).
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Anyone who has tried to have a conversation with me within the last week knows how often I bring up Pride and Prejudice. I would argue that it is the best Jane Austen film adaptation of all time. Here we have another enemies to lovers storyline, but now it’s in the 19th century! Keira Knightley gives an excellent performance as Elizabeth Bennett, and her chemistry and connection with Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) is magnificent.
Roman Holiday (1953)
An oldie but a goodie. This features Audrey Hepburn in her first starring role, which she won an Oscar for! She plays a princess who decides to go sightseeing on her own in Rome, where she meets a newspaperman (Gregory Peck) who pretends that he doesn’t know her true identity. While looking for an inside scoop on the princess, he slowly falls in love with her. This movie will have viewers booking a flight to Italy and renting a Vespa in a heartbeat.
I hope you enjoyed this list and fall in love with these movies!