My Top 80 Favorite Romantic Comedies

I don't care what anybody says.
On this site, I'm sure that it's cool for a dude to admit to liking this movie.
Right guys?



uhmnn...

....guys....?

I always thought that Scott Pilgrim was a weird choice to make as full-length near-end summer flick. Trying to depict this series on screen, it seems to come off as a bit awkward, in it's story, pacing, editing, and just overall, as a concept. Especially to mainstream audiences.
And even though it's hipster alternative plot-line feels a lot more like this should've be done as an independent movie instead of a wide release feature film,
I was still glad that I got a chance to see it with the kind of budget that the average mainstream movie usually gets.
Definitely the type of cinema not for everyone,
but a change of pace for those seeking escapism of the alternative nature.

Bill Murray in a role that would usually be expected from Robert Deniro, Robert Deniro in a role that looks like it might be more suited towards Bill Murray, and Uma Thurman in the middle of it all in a role for a woman who was in the middle of it all.

  If I'm gonna be honest here, Crocidile Dundee is a movie that I completely forgot about despite the fact that it was such surprising global hit when it was first released back in the mid-80's. But then, one day I was engaging in an online discussion with a group of fellow cinephiles about some of the best romantic comedies from around the world, and someone brought up Dundee. When I thought about it, it kinda surprised me of how very little I could remember of its story. The only thing that seemed to be in my memory was a shot of the lovely Linda Kozlowski in a thong and that it was about some burly Autrailian outbacking he-man with a really big "knoif".
  So obviously, I decided to give it a proper rewatch, to see if it was entertaining enough to make it onto my list of favorite romantic comedies. After I did, the truth is, while I still don't understand the cultural phenomenom that it became for fifteen minutes in the mid-80's, it's simple big city girl falls for rugged country boy romance told with a laid back Australian charm did become a little bit more clear to me. Maybe even a little bit more endearing. Maybe not enough to get a higher spot on my list, but still a spot on the list none the less. 

Peggy Sue goes to her high school reunion and experiences a time-traveling faint that takes her back to an era when Jim Carrey was a mild-mannered teenager and before Nicolas Cage had hair that looked like an eagle's nest. Reliving her high school years, she now hopes to defy her destiny and rectify the decisions that led Peggy Sue to getting married.
And honestly speaking, in retrospect, isn't that a "left turn" that many of us at a certain age wish we could have avoided...?

By sheer coincidence, this is a list that contains two light-hearted romantic-comedies based on a classic play that has a history longer than Pinocchio's famous woody extension, Cyrano de Bergerac.



In this modern take of the timeless tale of a troubled triangle, Darryl Hannah plays the role of the smart, innocent perfect pretty chick that tends to inhabit these kind of chick-flicks and Steve Martin is the de Bergerac-esque lead who, when it comes to speaking the language of love, is the man who "nose".

The President of the United States is a widower and eventually finds himself out in the field. The dating field as well as the political field.
Now the Commander-In-Chief must find a way to mix the two fields together without having the two world's collide.
A story of modern romance in the White House that does not involve an intern.
Ah,
only in the movies, I guess.

In 1990, French actor Gérard Depardieu brings his hefty presence as a romantic leading man to it's full weight as he stars in not just one, but two major rom-coms. Each utilizing a different language and in a year already over flowing with light-hearted love themed movies. The first one, filmed in his home country of France, is the Academy Award nominated Cyrano de Bergerac. Based on the famous French play which, in turn, is based on a real life dramatist of the same name.
This film version of the tale of a large nosed Casanova not only dutifully follows one of the most famous stories to come out of the Land of romance, but also, does a successful job of traversing over the Atlantic, into the cinematic shores of the American Rom-Com.

In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segal plays an average guy who is dating a "hot babe" played by Kristen Bell. And after she dumps him, he goes to vacation down in Hawaii in hopes of forgetting about her. But by coincidence, she's vacationing down there too. And when worse, she has her new boyfriend with her. So Jason's only to get over the heartbreak, is a girl played by Mike Kunis.
TBH, as beautious as both gals are, I don't know what all the big deal is. Neither one of 'em has much of an ass. I guess that, as a person who is of Latin-American descent, I've always preferred girls with a little more pushin' cushion.
But that's just me.
To each his own.

There was a time when I was the biggest Ricky Gervais fan. Not only is his version of the TV series "The Office" loads better than the American interpretation (but don't get me wrong, I can easily see why the U.S. version lasted so long), but he also followed it up with an even better TV show, the extra-extrapolating Extras. And both high quality programs were capped off by even higher quality Christmas specials.
So that when Mr. Gervais went into movies, I was really rooting for the fat blimey bastard.
However, his foray into film wasn't nearly as successful as his television career. His biting, edgy, no-holds-barred humor never seemed to be able to effectively transfer onto the big cinema screen.
The best of the bunch as far as I'm concerned was this 2008 lightweight rom-com, costarring the almost never seen Tea Leoni. The overall premise is the perfect shoe size that fits nicely into the kind of formula box that most romantic comedies like to fit into, but that doesn't stop the sharpness of Gervais' tongue from making an appearance here and there, making sure the casual dress shoe has some stiletto support in it's heel.
Strange....
instead of a fashion metaphor, you woulda thought I'd find a more ghostly one to help describe this film. Maybe it's because, no matter how good the com is in the rom, in the end, I still can't getaway from the idea that the genre is so girlie-like.

  A fairytale love story that features a Zorroesque protaganist, Andre The Giant, Billy Crystal as an old Jewish magician, an ambidextrous fencing master named Inigo Montoya of who's killer of his father must prepare to die, and a Sicillian criminial genius who just finds the whole thing "inconthievable".
And, oh yeah, there's also a beautiful in there somewhere, too.
All told by Columbo as a bedtime story to the kid from the Wonder Years.

Before there was the Time Traveler's Wife, Donnie Darko, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time or Kate & Leopold,
there was Happy Accidents.
A time-traveling love story about timeless love transcending the timelessness that is time.
Or is it a loving time-traveling story about the transcendence through infinity which is true love....?
Either way, in short, it's a straight-on chick-flick theme with just a twist of wormholed logic.

No, no, this isn't that one film that starred Madonna and became infamous as one of the worst in cinema history.
This is the original movie, an Italian produced rough-edged romantic romp on a deserted island that is considered by a film connoisseur or two as one of the best foreign releases of 1974.
Which, when you think about it, only helps to drive the later ravaged Ritchie english version deeper into the pit of pitifully pulverized remakes.

So after watching this particular rom-com, I guess I can describe the basic movie premise like this: it's about falling in love with a woman like Sandra Bullock while you sleep.



Well, I just wanna say that this doesn't just happen in the movies.
I do this all the time.
But then, to my dismay,
I always end up waking up.

Jumping the gun and tying the knot, a young salesman quickly finds himself honeymooning in a beach resort immediately after his shotgun wedding. But after his neo-bride is self-quarantined with a bout of severe sunburn, he stumbles upon the woman of his dreams. And since, as the song goes, it's sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along, the newlywed has to decide between being a devoted husband or becoming a heartbreak kid.

If anybody out there who has ever had a strong disliking towards the popular preppy girls in high school,
this is the film for you.
Christian Slater does his best "Jack Nicholson" slant in an effort to put some edge into this bad boy/good girl teenage love affair.
And back before Winona was stealing clothing accessories from major department stores,
she was stealing our hearts on the big screen as one of the major 'it" girls of 80's cinema.



Heathers is a film with a touch of romance, a touch of dark comedy, a touch of satire, and a whole lot of death for any girls named Heather.

A "what-if-John-Hughes-was-suicidal" type of off-beat romantic-comedy
that will either touch your heart or make you reach into your pocket with the hope that you'll have at least two dollars in there (for those of you who may not get that, it's a "running" joke {pun intented} of the movie).



To be totally honest, the primary reason this movie is on this list is because of actress Diane Franklin. She stole my heart with this film. Personally, I think that in Better Off Dead, she looks just about as cute as any woman could possibly be.

Working Girl is a story that proves that when it comes to career ascension, the office politics that are usually involved, whether they be straight or crooked, affect the female side as much as the male. More so if the female is wearing a skirt, since it's usually best not to reveal one's unmentionable secrets when climbing the corporate ladder.
Today's ambition-driven woman would look smart in something more along the lines of a nice conservative pant suit.

To paraphrase PeeWee Herman,
"If you love ghosts so much, why don't you marry one?"
Which, as you can probably tell by the title, is what this movie is about; exchanging vows with the spirit of a deceased one. Which, of course, sounds like a morbid idea for an animated flick geared towards the younger of living, but in the hands of Tim Burton, it's just another good reason to get behind the director's chair. A whimsical tale of lost love and the desire to mend a broken heart (even if that heart has been dead and buried for many years), Corpse Bride is a good example of why, for my money, Burton's preference for spookish cinematic subject matter is a perfect marriage with stop-motion animation and tends to come much more alive than when he tries to film it in live action.

After a heavy influx of John Hughes teenage romances throughout the 80's, it was pretty easy for a film look-alike such as Say Anything to get lost in the shuffle. At least at the time it looked like it was lost in the shuffle. I'm not too sure. I don't think I paid as much attention to things like that back then. Anyways, one thing I do remember is that it did make it on alot of critic's best lists (which is usually a sign that it did get lost in the shuffle box-office-wise) for films of 1989.
But even if you're one of those movie-viewers who can't stand film critics and their lists, it doesn't mean you shouldn't give a movie like this a try. You might like it. And if you don't, well before you decide to criticize it, remember what your mom always used to say...
"If you can't say something nice, then just don't say anything."

Lady Barbra teams up with that one guy from Love Story in a screwball comedy that's named after a wascally wabbit's most famous phwase.



After I put this movie on this list I realized that I hadn't put up any farce films since back from the 50's. It seems like either there very few made during the period between then and 1972, or just that I didn't find any of funny up until this point. Either way, it was refreshing to finally not only be able to post one up, but also, to see that the main stars of WUD? are two actors who developed reputations during this decade for being in more "serious" and/or sappy romance flicks.
And of course, there's only one way to end an entry for a movie named after a famous Bugs Bunny catch-phrase...

Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks.

Yeah I know that this is a straight-up chick-flick. But still, as a guy, I really felt that, more than about romance, this move was really more about the road of self-discovery that Bridget goes thru via the reflective entries in her diary, as she writes about her ideas of relationships & whatnot.
Or maybe it is mainly just a romance film.
It's a friggin' chick flick and I'm a guy, so, what da hell do I know....

When I first heard that this was gonna be a romantic comedy as seen through the eyes of a newborn baby, my first reaction was "Whatchu talkin' about, Bruce Willis?". To be homest, this movie had all the ingredients that made up those bad formula flicks that had been running rampant throughout the entire decade of the 80's.
But, as it turns out, although the formula is followed to a tee, what is missing is the lazy writing that is usually excused in lieu of the angle (in this case, a talking baby). Not that it's a script that'll ever give David Mamet a run for his money, but it was enough to give John Travolta's Brooklynesque Barbarino persona a vehicle to resurface as a grown-up. Plus this post natal chick flick gave Kirstie Alley's comedic skillz a chance to make the transition from the small screen of the television set to the big screen of the movie theatre.
At the end of it all, Look Who's talking is a nice little date movie that'll remind you to wear a condom afterwards unless you're ready to have your erratic love life narrated thru the eyes of a smart allecky infant.

When a song and dance duo forlorn for love meet up with a couple of sisters who are trying to make it big in the business, they combine their talents in the effort of providing the Yuletide Season with a white Christmas. Not to mention making some "beautiful music" as an added holiday bonus.



While I know everyone else likes to compare this film to Holiday Inn & proclaim it as it's superior,
for me, I like this White Christmas better. Not only b'cuz this one focuses more on Christmas than HI (Inn's theme is more about all the holidays than it is about Xmas) about but also, I always had a soft spot for Rosemary Clooney, particularly back when she was at the height of her stardom.
I would've loved to have seen her in more films, but I'll settle for how great she looks in this one.
Besides, what's a romantic comedy list without at least one old-fashioned cornball Christmas flick in it....?

Two people with almost nothing in common other than their maladjusted souls come together under the conditions of their fragmented situations. As their relationship begins to take form, for the first time, they each begin to sense a healing in their inner demons. That is, until the dysfunctionality of their respective families begin to intertwine into a miasma of personal chaos, and challenges the trust that began to give the couple hope beyond their combined neuroses.
Directed by Hal Harley, this is an indie film that, with it's subtle sense of humor, quietly observes the kind of social subject matter that can only by tackled by the non-formulaic story-telling of the independent spirit.

After garnering attention in supporting roles in movies like Superbad, The House Bunny and Zombieland, it was plain to see that Emma Stone was on her way to becoming a major star.
With this teenage comedy, about a high school girl with a rumor that gets outta control, she shows that taking top billing on a movie, for her, is an easy A.

I once had a fish for a pet. But it wasn't named Wanda. I called it Abe Vigoda.
And unless you grew up watching 70's television, that "joke" probably doesn't make too much sense.
However,
if you do get that joke, then you're probably sharp enough to get many of the ones in this Britannically sharp heist flick/rom-com.

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, you can probably figure out what the plot is about just by the title.
Actually, when you think about it, the title of the flick sorta defeats the whole purpose of these description boxes.
Anyways,
besides being about a boy, there's also enough of the uber-gorgeous Rachel Weisz as the romantic interest in the story to help qualify it as an entry for this list.

Earlier in this list, I described Better Off Dead as off-beat. Compared to this flick, that movie is about as down the middle of the road as white lane lines on a highway.
Harold And Maude is a unique and sharp comedic tale of a May-December romance.
Or more specifically,
a May-December romance in which the two months used to describe the relationship are separated by about sixty years.
This is the kind of coupling that inspires plenty of comedic elements, not to mention a few mental pictures that will most likely make you go "ew".

A light & airy love tale starring the ever adorable Meg Ryan, and featuring not only the concept of time travel, but also, the two guys who, in a later film, would portray two mutants characters from the X-Men, Wolverine and Sabretooth. Which I guess is enough to make a comic-book nerd such as myself to be cool with this movie (though the fact that is pretty decently written could be another reason of why it's on this list).

Here's a movie that's based off of a musical stage play that it itself was based off of a movie. And, of course, that were named Hairspray.
Now I'm not usually a fan of Broadway musicals, particularly those that have been adapted for the big screen.
The fact that this movie is on the list shows that every once in a while, one does come out that ends up sticking to my hair.
Oh,
and BTW,
check out Christopher Walken and John Travolta in this movie.....



Last time these two "guys" starred in the same flick, it was in Pulp Fiction.
And judging from this scene, it appears that, since then,
they've come a long way, baby.

Throughout his long and lustrous career, Steve Martin has been known as many things.
A wild and crazy guy.
King Tut.
The New Pink Panther (*groan*).
But for me, I will always think of him best as The Jerk.
Now obviously, I mean that in a good way.
Yeah, I know that nowadays he's usually considered as the innocently flawed yet perfectly PC humoristic dad in films like Parenthood and Cheaper By The Dozen. But during the back-end of the 70's decade, Martin had an edge to his style of comedy. And after the monopoly that Mel Brooks had in the field of farce films up to that point, Steve's edge was exactly the type that was needed to bring back the against-the-grain antics that makes this particular brand of comedy the kind that'll bust a gut or two.

Cher in an Oscar-winning role in which she slaps Nicolas Cage hard and then tells him to snap outta of it.
And if that's not enough to make you fall in love with this movie,
then, to be honest,
I just don't know what you're looking for in a romantic comedy.

A comicbook nerd/artist actually scores with a chick.
And not with just a "regular" chick, mind you, but more specifically,
he scores with a chick who is a lesbian.
And this comicbook nerd/artist not only scores with a lesbian,
but he scores enough with her to the point where she decides to switch teams.

Yeah.....
rright.

Not only can heaven wait,
but in my particular case,
hell can wait even longer.

Opie directs Forrest Gump before he got "Big", in a fishy semi-interspecies romance with a young Elle Driver, back when the future California Mountain Snake was scaled down and still wet behind the ears as a wee innocent and naive mermaid.

Though I respect Woody Allen and his achievements, I've never really been all that able to connect with most of his works.
However, I'd heard how Annie Hall is one of his most highly regarded works, so I decided to give it a chance.
Because this is considered the first of the style of filmmaking that he has become famous for, for me, there is a freshness herein his melding of witty humor, intelligence, pockets of seriousness and improvisational dialogue. Enough so that, this movie does comes off energetic in it's sublime performances and wry script, even for someone like me who usually doesn't get into Woody's standard method of storytelling.
A brain-specific comedy in the usually not-so-brain-specific realm of romance films.

An L. A. story ( duh-uh.....!) about how life is constantly is showing us signals about the directions of our lives, if only we pay attention.
Particularly when those signals are coming from a huge traffic conditions sign that appears off the side of freeway.



New York may be the city that never sleeps, and Chicago may be the city with big shoulders,
but when it comes to love, Los Angeles is the city that wants to help you.

Speaking as a guy, we all know why this movie makes such a connection with the male species. We all wish we could play ball with Susan Sarandon back during her seductive prime.

Two brothers (played by two actual brothers who are pretty much well known as being brothers) form a musical duo act that has pretty much run its course. So, they take the next obvious step required to put their careeer back on track.



What is the ingredient that makes the Baker Boys' piano lounge act so fabulous?
It's the beautiful and slightly eccentric female singer between the two of 'em.
Which is what makes this sandwich of a film two white breds with some delectable ham in between.

Who woulda ever thought that there would be an entire movie centered around the idea of lather, rinse, and repeat.
But then again, this film came out back during a time before bottles of hair cleaning products required those types of simple how-to instructions.



Actually Shampoo is a story that tries to go deeper than just the scalp surface by taking the subject of the election of Richard M. Nixon into the White House, with the infamous ramifications of his term still on the horizon, and use it as a backdrop against the story of a south California hip hairstylist and his free-loving lifestyle of late 60's ultra-promiscuity. It's an allegorical theme that sometimes tends to comes off a bit heavy-handed (Robert Altman's "Nashville", another film from this year, does a better job of integrating a political metaphor with it's plot's premise), but considering how most other romantic comedies are usually so frizzled and overly blown dry, Shampoo's sharp script and satirical conditioning is just enough to keep it flowing, shiny and manageable.
And besides, how many other movies do you know of that allow for the use of so many bad hairstyling puns?

What if the President of these here United States was in actuality, a down-to-Earth nice guy who truly loved the First Lady and really had the interest of the people at heart?
Ah,
only in the movies, I guess.

A scientist creates an artificial man but dies before he can completely finish him/it. Eventually, it ends up with a pair of giant multi-blade scissors for hands. A year after scoring a massive hit with a modern take of the Batman on the big screen, Tim Burton follows up the 1989 global blockbuster about a hard-edged crime fighter with a "softer" quiet hit about a creature who's cutting edge is more on his "fingers", but crusades a gentle heart in his soul.
Edward Scissorhands is a quirky tale of outcasted abnormality learning to sculpt a niche in a world of suburban conformity.

Uhmnnn....
on this site, it's cool to admit to liking a John Hughes teen romance flick, right?
   Ifit isn't, then I'm hoping that guessed right when I figured that by puttin' up a buncha "my favorite movies" lists here on Listal, with so many favorite lists by other members up already, no one would really read mine, and therefore, I can feel completely safe with expressing some of these guilty pleasures without fear of being pointed and then laughed at.
And if by the rare chance, someone out there IS reading this, pleease don't tell me.
Cuz, I would literally die of embarrassment.
Or at least, suffer a massive coronary of embarrassment.
And even though I do have one of the made-for-the home emergency mini dilfibulator kits in the house, I can't find the instructions anywhere.
It came with the kit, but I just don't know what I did with it.

One of every actor's dreams, at least on a financial level, is to find a franchise to get linked to. Once they do, that actor/actress is on easy street, and just so this point doesn't focus only on the shallow, it also gives the actor/actress a little bit of levity to pursue more artistic roles without worry of a project's box office success.
For one of my favorite "cuties" working in the biz these days, Anna Kendrick, her lottery ticket appears to be the musical comedy series, Pitch Perfect.
A bunch of "freshwomen", on the beginning of their journey through their college years are recruited into all girl singing group, in order to be able to extra curricularly compete against the boys in a National "a capella vs a cafella" contest.
Humor that mixes the sharp with the crass, along with a  wit of self-awareness, topped off with the typical late teen romance  may not make this particular on-campus comedy perfect, but keeps it in pitch with the modern take on this kind of high education tunage.

After the first two Hangover movies reached levels of success that took off like a runaway bride,
the all female cast of Bridesmaids show that when it comes to the new wave of "vulgar" comedy, it is a genre that is not restricted to just the boys.
Just because she's a lady doesn't mean that a big screen comedienne won't do whatever it takes to get a blockbusting laugh from the theater goers.
Even if it means having to take a dump in her to-die-for bridal gown.

Audrey Hepburn falls in love with a man old enough to be her dad.

.... again.

After I watched this movie, the lyrics to John Mellencamp's song "Small Town" came to me....
".....Used to daydream in that small town
Another born romantic that's me.
But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town
Now she's small town just like me".

I guess this flick is a lil' bit like that.
In a twisted yet touching small town way.

Ahh, I just can't help myself. When it comes to romantic comedies,
I'm just a sucker for love triangles.
Even if that triangle is only made up of two people.