As a girl who grew up in the early 2000’s, rom-coms have always been a part of me. They were always playing in the background, slowly becoming the soundtrack of my life. They showed me the most beautiful side of life, love. It’s a feeling I’ve never really experienced, but movies like this have made sure to prepare me for that moment. You know, the moment where the love of my life looks me in the eyes and leans in for a kiss. I have got to STOP watching chick-flicks, but whatever, it’s February, my delusions are excused as romantic tendencies this month.
First and foremost, to write this piece I went into Netflix and picked out an assortment of movies I had and hadn’t watched. I proceeded to watch all of them, and give them a rating. The lowest being zero and the highest being five, based on the overall romance of the movie. (It should be noted that these ratings are my opinions and the reader is welcome to share them or not) That said, here are the three best romantic comedies Netflix has to offer.
SPOILERS INCOMING! DON’T TELL ME I DIDN’T WARN YOU!
13 going on 30 (2004):
Retrieved from Entertainment Weekly
Released on April 23rd, 2004, 13 going on 30 is what all rom-coms dream of being. It’s witty, entertaining and adorable. It tells us the story of Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner), a girl who is turning 13 when all she wants to be is grown and part of the popular crowd. Her best friend, Matty (Mark Ruffalo) gifts her magical wishing powder at her thirteenth birthday party and she wishes for just that; to be “thirty, flirty, and thriving.” Trouble begins when she wakes up in a New York City apartment with a life that she doesn’t recognize. She has to learn to live her life as a 30 year old woman/magazine editor and repair her now broken relationship with Matty (who, she finds out, is getting MARRIED).
I wish I had seen this movie earlier. It’s not this thought provoking piece of cinema that blew my mind, but that’s exactly what I love about it, it’s simple. It made me feel warm inside. For example, there’s a scene where Matty is helping Jenna with a photoshoot for her rebranding pitch at her job and the whole montage felt so light. It captured the love these two people had for each other in a way that wasn’t cheesy or sexualized, but just easy.
RATING: 4/5
Silver Linings Playbook (2012):
Retrieved from IMDb
Oh my God! This was my honest reaction to this hectic love story. The human aspect of it all drove me to tears, I found it exceptional. Patrick (Bradley Cooper), the protagonist of the film, is taken out of a mental facility by his mother after eight months of being in treatment and a bipolar syndrome diagnosis. He got there because he caught his wife cheating and almost beat the other man to death. He starts doing everything in his power to get his wife back but never with any luck. One day, while at his friend’s house, he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and discovers she is just as weird and messed up as he is. Pat now has to figure his feelings out and understand how to lead a normal life, even with his diagnosis.
This is such a powerful film for anyone who has ever loved someone with bipolar disorder. I actually live with a person who behaves that way and, as excruciating as it was to watch this, it was definitely worth it. The cinematography is anxiety inducing which makes the viewer feel like they’re a fly on the wall in the midst of all this turmoil. Deep down I could tell Patrick was a good person, that’s why I was so happy when he finally got the girl, just not the one I expected.
RATING: 4.3/5
Someone Great (2019):
Retrieved from Vox
This movie makes me SOB every time I watch it. For the first time in my life I saw myself on the screen. This film is about Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) a puertorican woman living in New York City and her process of dealing with heartbreak. She just found out she got a job writing for Rolling Stone Magazine and, because her boyfriend, Nate (LaKeith Stanfield), doesn’t wanna do long distance, he breaks up with her right before her last weekend in NYC. Jenny and her best friends, Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow), take on the task of attending their favorite music festival, Neon Classic, in hopes to make Jenny’s last weekend in the city memorable. She ends up finding peace in her grief and moves on; but not before reminiscing on all the beautiful times she had in love.
This film is really a romantic comedy about a woman falling in love with herself. The whole thing is so beautiful, in every single aspect. The screenplay is funny and witty and the lighting and cinematography is better than many of the movies I’ve seen recently, it’s able to portray their love in such a unique way with the use of colored lights and camera angles. Sexuality is approached in a way that makes a viewer understand the comfort level the two characters had with each other. Many movies try to oversexualize couples but I feel like every single intimate scene in Someone Great had a purpose and drove the story forward.
Finally, at the end, when Jenny is able to heal, she writes a letter where she fully understands that her relationship with Nate DID end, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t absolutely magical. That’s exactly how this movie felt.
RATING: 5/5
Writing this article was so fun! Like I said in the beginning, romantic comedies have always been a part of my life, but as I grow up, I’m starting to realize that rom-coms haven’t taught me how to behave when the love of my life finally appears, they’ve taught me that the love I have for myself is really the only thing I can’t live without. Like RuPaul says “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gon’ love somebody else?”