Best Romantic Comedies: My Top List Review

The best romantic comedies for me should stand-up to repeated (ad nauseum) viewings, inspire me to cuddle with my husband and make me laugh as well. 

In no particular order, here they are:

1.  When Harry Met Sally  This movie isn't just about romance and humor.  It's also about how friendship is the best possible foundation for a marriage.  The most well-known scene of Meg Ryan faking an orgasm in a diner still makes me laugh, but the rest of the movie does too, especially when Harry and Sally's two best friends, Marie and Jess, ditch their respective title dates in the midst of their double date and run off in a cab together.   A great movie with some poignant moments and a lot of heartfelt romance. 

2.  50 First Dates   This was a movie that surprised me.  A wonderful movie with a sweet romance at it's center surrounded by odd characters and a truly unusual obstacle to the main romance - permanent short-term memory loss!   Drew Barrymore is Lucy, a sweet young woman who suffered permanent short-term memory loss in a car accident.  Adam Sandler is Henry, a womanizer who avoids commitment by dating only vacationers who will leave Hawaii within the week.  Henry meets Lucy and it changes their lives, though Lucy doesn't remember it, which Henry strives to change with comedic and romantic results.

3.  Emma  The Gwyneth Paltrow version is quite delightful and features the always nice to look at Jeremy Northam and Ewan MacGregor.   For those unused to Jane Austen's clever, quick-witted writing style, it may take a short time to get into the rhythm and subtle humor, but it's very worth it.   Emma is a young woman in the early 1800s who loves to play matchmaker, especially with her young friend and every eligible young man who makes a favorable impression.  While busy matchmaking, Emma overlooks her own attractions to her own best friend, Mr. Knightley.

4.  Pride and Prejudice   Every version I've seen, except for one, has done great service to one of the best romantic comedies ever written.  The interplay between the characters as Elizabeth first disdains Mr. Darcy, then loathes him, then falls madly in love with him, is full of wit and humor and deep, passionate romance.   The one version I didn't like was the BBC version with Colin Farrell as Mr. Darcy.  The screenwriters jettisoned too much of Jane's witty dialog, replacing it with much less-witty, more modern dialog instead. 

5.  Sense and Sensibility  Yes, another Jane Austen entry, but I must say in my defense that there's a reason we're still reading her novels and Hollywood is making adaptations of them nearly 200 years after they were written.  Emma Thompson's version is quite enojoyable, though I've yet to run into an adaptation I haven't liked.  Marianne's painful pining for Mr. Willoughby is guaranteed to make your heart break.  The humor sprinkled throughout lightens up all the romantic drama very nicely. 

6.  Ella Enchanted   Not just for kids, this charming movie may feature modern songs in a pseduo-medieval-fairy tale setting, but it's a modern romantic comedy through and through.   And the musical numbers actually add a lot of fun.   A great movie with some unusual casting that really works.  Ella must do what she's told due to a fairy gift bestowed upon her when she just a baby.  As a young woman, Ella is determined to rid herself of this 'curse' after her stepmother and stepsisters figure out they can use and abuse her because of it.  So she sets out to get the gift removed, but ends up falling in with a handsome prince, an elf and a band of ogres along the way. 

7.  The Princess Bride   A classic movie with characters that you'll love and lines you'll still be quoting twenty years from now (I know I am).   Princess Buttercup finds her true love Wesley, but he disappears at sea while trying to earn the right to court her.  Several years later, he returns as she is about to be married to a prince with nefarious plans.  With the help of a giant and a swordsman seeking revenge for his father's death, Wesley sets out to save Buttercup and stop the marriage.  True love has never been so funny. 

8.  A Room With A View   This entertaining romantic comedy surprised me when I first saw it.  Lucy Honeychurch and her chaperon Charlotte Bartlett go to Florence and find they have no view from their room, so two other guests, Mr. Emerson and his son George, offer to give them their rooms.  During several different outings, Lucy's attraction to George grows, but back in England, Lucy's fiance is waiting.  The raw passion exhibited in the couple's first kiss amongst a field of flowers will curl your toes.  Maggie Smith's humorous chaperon nearly steals the movie at times. 

9.  The Cutting Edge   A cult favorite for a reason, this opposites-attract romance is full of humor and verbal-conflict-as-foreplay reminiscent of classics like The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday.   Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney are well-cast as the couple-in-the-making set in the world of competitive ice skating.  Kate (Kelly) is a pairs figure skater in search of a gold medal and new partner after driving the latest of many away.  Unable to find anyone within the world of figure skating who can stand her, her father finds Doug Dorsey (Sweeney), a hockey player with an injury that ended his own hocky gold medal dreams, to be her new partner.  Sparks, comedy and romance ensue. 

10.  While You Were Sleeping   This movie still makes me smile no matter how many times I watch it.  And there's no denying that Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman have great chemistry on the screen.   Lucy admires Peter from afar as she sees him board the train where she works the token booth every day.  One day, Peter falls onto the tracks and she saves him from being runover by a train, but he ends up in a coma.  Due to a misunderstanding, the hospital staff, and then Peter's family, believe she is Jack's finace.  Though reluctant to deceive them, Lucy grows to love feeling like part of a family again after having none for so long, so she doesn't correct the mistake.  When she meets Peter's younger brother Jack, their mutual attraction grows as she gets to know him while waiting for Peter to wake up from his coma.  A great movie to watch with your boyfriend or husband.

11.  The Wedding Singer   This first paring of Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler revels in 80s fashions, music and fads while it showcases a sweet budding romance between a bride-to-be and her co-worker, who's a wedding singer.   Funny lines and an appealing romance make this a modern classic. 

12.  Say Anything  Fleshed out with amusing, yet realistic supporting characters, this chronicle of the romance between Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and Diane Court (Ione Skye) will make you smile while you suffer along with Lloyd who ponders the pen Diane gives him after he gives her his heart. 

13.  The Sure Thing   A favorite for many years now, this romantic travel comedy features Daphne Zuniga and John Cusack as students at the same college who end up sharing a cross-country odyssey to get to California for the school break.  She's going to spend time with her long-distance boyfriend and he's going to meet up with a friend's 'sure thing'.  But what happens on the trip ends up changing everything. 

14.  Romancing the Stone   A fun movie with true chemistry between Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.  Joan Wilder is a well-known romance novelist who goes to Columbia out of the blue to save her kidnapped sister.  On the way she meets Jack T. Colton, a man looking for an opportunity to make money in shady deals.  Sparks fly when he saves her from the bad guys and they team up to hunt for buried treasure to save her sister. 

15.  Wimbledon  A very funny romantic movie about a professional British tennis player, Paul Bettany, on the decline who meets a rising American tennis star, Kirsten Dunst, on her way up.  The attraction is mutual but they encounter obstacles, including her father, who disapproves of the distraction from tennis and her own reluctance to admit just how much she's falling in love.  Great casting and great lines that'll make you laugh out loud. 

Enjoy!

Diana

Honorable Mentions:  Kate & Leopold, Ever After, Crossing Delancey, Moonstruck, Peggy Sue Got Married, Love Actually, Amelie, Four Weddings And A Funeral, Bridget Jones Diary and Roman Holiday.