The whole ‘dinner and a movie’ date thing has clearly influenced the type of films that get made these days, because barely a week goes by without a new romantic comedy to make you laugh your way to a gooey heart. Except most actually make you want to kill every person in love, and anyone that looks capable of affection, just to be sure. It’s not all bad though – to coincide with the Brighton Comedy Festival here’s some that you could take home to meet your mum.
50 First Dates
Punch Drunk Love isn’t really Adam Sandler’s best film – it actually slides into third place behind Funny People and this, his most watchable movie. Obviously the ever-loveable Drew Barrymore helps, playing a girl with no short-term memory. Drew Barrymore – who plays a girl with no short-term memory – awakes each morning to relive the last day of her life before a horrific accident, meaning Sandler gets another chance to woo her each day. Basically it’s like Groundhog Day, except Drew Barrymore plays – get this! – a girl with no short-term memory. (JK)
(500) Days Of Summer
In a genre dominated by girl-orientated storylines, this 2009 hit succeeds in the rare feat of resonating specifically with the emotionally stunted male population. Sure, it doesn’t take a genius to cast doe-eyed Zooey Deschanel as your leading lady, but when you soundtrack this tale of love and loss with The Smiths, Pixies, Nancy Sinatra and The Clash on karaoke (with a Hall And Oates dancing montage and ‘She’s Like The Wind’ by Patrick Swayze chucked in for good measure), how could any self-respecting alt indie-boy resist? (GY)
Four Weddings And A Funeral
Yes, true, it’s got Hugh Grant in it. And, agreed, Andie MacDowell is typically awful throughout. Alright, the last line – “Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed.” – is widely and justly considered the worst in film history. But despite all this, Richard Curtis’ best film by a country mile is both very funny and very moving, exactly what you want in a rom-com. Grant does bumbling brilliantly and many of the upper-middle class oddballs are rather likeable. And if you don’t cry at the reading at the – spoiler alert! – funeral you’re dead inside. (JK)
Harold And Maude
This controversial cult favourite revolves around the pairing of Harold, a crypt-kicking death-obsessed teenager, and Maude, a life-loving menace to society and fellow funeral crasher, who also happens to be 60 years his senior. Their affair is initially perceived as a bad romance by the other cast members, but soon turns out to prove that true love transcends age limits, as well as pushy mothers. Funny, poignant, dark and heart-stirringly avant-garde, you’ll never look at your granny in the same way again. (KB)
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Back in the 80s there were loads of night-time adventure films influenced by Scorsese’s After Hours. Infinite Playlist brings that idea up to date in a rom-com that starts with a kiss and turns into a hunt to find a secret gig and a missing drunk friend. Michael Cera is – of course – a broken hearted, sensitive dork while Kat Dennings is great as the sassy Nora (which makes it so disappointing that she’s currently heading up the god-awful 2 Broke Girls). Loads of ace music, quirky loveable characters and NYC looking like the coolest place in the world – we’re in love. (JK)
Priceless
When we saw the trailer for this on our La Vie En Rose DVD we thought ‘Oh, just because we like French films we’re expected to want to see this generic Audrey Tautou-vehicle rom-com slush?’ How wrong we were. The story of a luckless hotel porter on the Cote d’Azur that meets a morally-bereft, gold-digging seductress who gives him tips on how to manipulate wealthy women, this cheeky and stylish romantic comedy plays out more in the style of classic Cary Grant than any modern-day deliveries. Literally a hoot. (GY)
Pretty Woman
You can’t mention rom-coms without mentioning Pretty Woman. In fact, you can’t mention Rodeo Drive to this day without flashbacks of “You work on commission, right? Big Mistake. Huge. I have to go shopping now.” Cue Natalie Cole-soundtracked spending montage. Starring Richard Gere as a multi-millionaire and Julia Roberts as a street walker, the film followed the journey of a ‘business’ transaction all the way through to full-on love affair. Mixing business with pleasure at its finest. (CC)
Annie Hall
The Mac Daddy of all romantic comedies. Woody Allen turns his first hand away from cheap gags, innuendo and slapstick to make a serious, sensitive story of the rises and falls of the relationship of a Manhattan couple permanently on the verge of something beautiful or something tragic, and is a timelessly relatable dissection of how relationships can sometimes be illogical, painful and heartbreaking, yet the human condition dictates that we keep putting ourselves through it because “most of us need the eggs”. (GY)
Bridesmaids
From Four Weddings And A Funeral to Wedding Crashers, there are countless nuptial numbers to say “I do” to when planning your rom-com night in. This all-female rival to The Hangover deals with the hot pink sash-clad competitive streak that’s unleashed when the bridesmaid’s duties are dished out. With some outrageously unladylike scenes, clever comicality and a lot of heart, Bridesmaids will have you laughing (nervously) all the way down the aisle. (KB)
Bridget Jones’s Diary
We’ve all been there. Drunk on vodka/rum/gin/wine, singing Chaka Khan or some other iconic soul mama tune into the wee hours in our PJs. Not to mention crying over someone that’s broken our heart. A lot of us have also had crushes on our bosses, faked our way through work gatherings, had wardrobe malfunctions and at some point we’ve sure eaten something questionable out of our fridge. This is why Bridget Jones will always be one of the best rom-coms. In one way or another we can always relate to it. We can also relate to Colin Firth. In a big way. (CC)
Clueless
It’s 1995, you’re 15, in your final year of high school and falling in love for the first time. Okay, it might not be with your step-brother and you might not be living in a million-dollar mansion in Beverley Hills (“whateverrr”) but most girls have one thing in common with Cher (Alicia Silverstone) – the desire to meet ‘the one’. Clueless takes us on that amazing journey from schoolgirl to adult female and was an undisputed rom-com smash. (CB)
Dirty Dancing
Oh Dirty Dancing. Here we have the most iconic of all the rom-coms. The Godfather of the rom-com world if you would. The combination of the meek Jennifer Gray with the rugged mysterious muscle man Patrick Swayze, 60s tunes, swinging dance moves and a tiny bit of raunch was enough to have nine-year-old girls glued to the screens in 1987. It’s still as popular as ever, with it’s own West End show and even interactive pop up cinemas showing the movie to this day. (CC)
50 First Dates
Boy about town (Adam Sandler) meets girl of his dreams (Drew Barrymore). They hit it off, and then girl (who happens to have short-term memory loss) forgets guy overnight. Repeat this cycle and you’ve soon got a spirited recipe of relatable heartbreak, stomach-clenching date openers and goose-pimply sentiment, as love conquers all in the face of Hollywood cerebral-adversity. Set to a stunning Hawaiian backdrop, by the end of the film you’ll either be booking a couples holiday to the romantic island or reaching for your nearest brain-training exercises. (KB)
(500) Days Of Summer
The kooky rom-com of the 00s. A must for anyone who loves Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Not your typical rom-com, this modern love story isn’t as smooth sailing as say your typical J-Lo vehicle but what it lacks in predictability it more than makes up for in its soundtrack. With hits by Regina Spektor, The Black Lips, The Smiths and more it really is a feast for your ears. (CC)
Grosse Pointe Blank
John Cusack is a man who can scarcely do any wrong, and this is no exception. A cool, witty, existential and slick story of an assassin returning to his hometown to win back the girl he once loved (Minnie Driver), punctuated by a Joe Strummer score and carefully chosen soundtrack and a fair share of guns, explosions and Dan Aykroyd having a TV smashed over his head. A classic tale of boy meets girl, boy freaks out, boy joins army, boy becomes professional killer. (GY)
Harold And Maude
In There’s Something About Mary, Cameron Diaz’s Mary declares Harold And Maude “the greatest love story of our time”, and she isn’t wrong. Harold is a morbid, lonely 20-something with a penchant for fantasising about his own death, whose high-society mother is hell-bent on pairing him off with a well-to-do young lady. Then he meets Maude, an eccentric lady in her 80s with a joie-de-vivre that changes his outlook on the world for the better. A sweet and tender tale helped along by a Cat Stevens songbook. (GY)
Mannequin
We’ve all wished our bedroom poster idols to life from the comfort of our beds, but when department store window dresser Jonathan Switcher finds himself a new girlfriend in the form of his perfectly built mannequin cum Egyptian princess Emmy (played by Sex And The City minx Kim Cattrell), the tale takes a turn for the plastic-fantastic as their dynamic window displays win Jonathan promotions and the suspicions of the stores competitors. 80s cinematic silliness, what’s not to love? (KB)
Pretty In Pink
The 80s perhaps had a lot to answer for in terms of the romantic comedy benchmark. Let’s not write all of it off though. Pretty In Pink is the archetypal John Hughes effort of high school romance, only in this instance the quirky, misunderstood heroine secretly yearns for the affections of the rich, fashionable popular boy at school (who against tradition is, well, quite nice), all the while oblivious of the devotion of her best friend the geek. As much of a commentary about class divides and teenage alienation, only with added Psychedelic Furs. (GY)
The Princess Bride
A swashbuckling action adventure of a romantic fable, set to a bedtime story (read satirically by detective Peter Falk of Colombo), this is good, clean, fantastical fun at its purest. When a star-crossed stable boy finds his betrothed allegedly abducted by pirates, the clock-ticking quest begins to be reunited once more, before she is forced to wed an evil prince. Costumes, swordplay, silly accents and catchy quotes aplenty, this witty tale caters to adults and children equally, and lives happily ever after in any film collection. (KB)
Save The Last Dance
Save The Last Dance is like the Dirty Dancing of our time. Regular rom-com actress Julia Stiles moves into a new neighbourhood and has to adapt to life in an inner city school. She catches the eye of rough-around-the-edges Sean Patrick Thomas and the love story begins. Sarah played by Julia is a classically trained ballet dancer trying to fit in. Cue Derek, played by Sean who just happens to be a kick ass hip hop dancer. He teaches her some moves, he helps her get into Juilliard, you can guess the rest. (CC)
Some Like It Hot
Monochrome classic Some Like It Hot follows two jobbing musicians on the run after accidentally witnessing a mob hit who find sanctuary by joining an all-female travelling band. Singing screen siren Marilyn Monroe soon becomes the target of their affections, but to win her heart, and their lives, the pair require a hilarious dose of cross dressing and slapdash in the process. Defying the laws of physics in those glitzy Orry-Kelly dresses, it’s easy to see why this picture gained notoriety on its release for condemnable sauciness. (KB)
When Harry Met Sally
“Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way,” says Billy Crystal’s Harry Burns. We’re firm believers in this statement and also that it’s fine to fake the big O when needs must. Both of these life lessons we learnt from this seminal rom-com masterpiece. Romantic and witty with more one-liners than you can shake a stick at, this film defines the genre and shows genuine heart along the way. (CB)
You’ve Got Mail
Combine Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and you have at least three popular rom-coms. Sleepless In Seattle runs it close but the best has to be You’ve Got Mail. Back when email and chat rooms were at their peak, it told the love story of a guy and a girl both looking for something different than their current relationships. One a quaint quirky book store owner and another a high-powered bookselling businessman. It was the plenty of fish love story for the 90s. Except maybe a tad classier. (CC)
Words by Claire Beveridge, Kerensa Bryant, James Kendall, Gary Yay, Claire Culley
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