The best romantic movies to watch this Valentine’s Day.
It’s Valentine’s Day and that means chocolate, wine, fancy dinners and movies that make you laugh and cry and, more than anything, feel deeply all those messy feelings of love and loss and heartache. Sometimes that means laughing your ass off and sometimes it means sobbing like a baby. Either way, today is a day for hot dates and movies with all the feels.
Obviously there are far too many films to fit on a list of fifteen (that began life as a much shorter list and then grew as I kept thinking of more). There’s a little something for everyone on this list, from historical epics to quirky indie films to sci-fi and comedy. If you have any you’d like to add, let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
Her
Joaquin Phoenix stars across from the disembodied voice of Scarlett Johansson in this odd romantic comedy about a man falling in love with an AI. It’s awfully relevant these days as AI starts creeping into so many aspects of modern life. Surprisingly moving and funny, this is one of the more fascinating science-fiction love stories out there.
Silver Linings Playbook
I really love this quirky movie about two people with lots and lots of personal baggage and emotional issues falling in love almost in spite of one another. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are both great, but it’s Robert DeNiro that seals the deal for me, as a deeply superstitious sports fan and gambling addict. Probably my favorite dancing rom-com since Dirty Dancing (which I don’t have on this list, but there you go. There’s another one).
The Last Of The Mohicans
I often put Braveheart on lists when I want to include a historical fiction but I figured I’d just slip it in here in my bit about The Last Of The Mohicans, which is also a beautiful, breathtaking film that’s at once tragic, romantic and marvelous in every way. Daniel Day Lewis is at his very best here (isn’t he always, though?) and Madeleine Stowe is wonderful. A brilliant cast all around and one of the most beautifully shot films ever made.
The Wedding Singer
I still get tears in my eyes when Adam Sandler’s ridiculous character Robbie Hart—a struggling wedding singer—boards the plane to try to win Julia (Drew Barrymore) over before she makes a terrible mistake and marries Glenn Guglia (Matthew Glave). That little song he sings—I Wanna Grow Old With You—gets me every time. Yes, this is stupid Adam Sandler silliness for the most part, but it’s very funny and very sweet (and I still like it more than Sandler and Barrymore’s Fifty First Dates, though that one is also great).
Legends Of The Fall
I’m a huge sucker for historical romances and Legends Of The Fall remains one of my favorites of all time (and yes, I named my son Tristan after Brad Pitt’s character in this movie, much like I named my daughter Aria after the character in Game Of Thrones). That this film takes place in my home state of Montana doesn’t hurt. That it stars Pitt alongside Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond and Aidan Quinn also doesn’t hurt. It’s so sad, though. Just brutally tragic.
The Princess Bride
If tragic isn’t what you’re in the mood for, The Princess Bride remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I mean, what a cast! Cary Elwes as Westley, Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, Christopher Guest as Count Rugen! Billy Crystal was so funny filming his scenes that director Rob Reiner had to leave the room he was laughing so hard. And Robin Wright is drop-dead gorgeous as the Princess Bride herself. (And I haven’t even mentioned Carol Kane, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Wallace Shawn or Andre the Giant! The list goes on and on!) What a classic.
When Harry Met Sally
As much as I love Billy Crystal in The Princess Bride, there just isn’t enough of him—and there’s no Meg Ryan. For those two, you’ll need to watch When Harry Met Sally, one of the all-time greatest rom-coms ever made. Yes, this is also two Rob Reiner films in a row, but I just don’t think a list of Valentine’s Day movies is complete without one that includes Meg Ryan illustrating how easy it is to fake an orgasm in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
Beauty And The Beast
I had to include an animated movie on this list, and few are better than Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, still the greatest of all Disney’s animated films with many of the best songs. It’s a tale as old as time and all that and I still get goosebumps every time I watch it and hear the opening narration about the selfish prince and the old woman who comes to his door one night seeking shelter. This is a perfect movie, start to finish.
Moonstruck
Nic Cage is back in the limelight these days, and thank god. Hollywood is better with Nic Cage movies. Moonstruck is one of his earliest and he’s brilliant as the one-handed baker who falls in love with his brother’s fiancé, played by Cher in what is perhaps her finest movie role. Funny, sweet, and very Italian. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s amore.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Maybe not the most romantic film, but one of the most moving, thought-provoking films about relationships I’ve ever seen, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is Jim Carrey in one of his most serious—and compelling—roles. Kate Winslet stars across from Carrey in a picture about memory, fate, manipulation and so much more. The supporting cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson. Written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, I’m Thinking Of Ending Things) this is a film that will hit you where it counts—in both the heart and the mind.
True Romance
Before Quentin Tarantino made Reservoir Dogs, he sold the screenplay to True Romance to pay for it. There’s something kind of wonderful about this being a Tarantino-written but not Tarantino-directed film that sets it apart from the rest of his oeuvre. Tony Scott directs this crime-story / love-story with one of the most impressive ensemble casts of all time. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette are phenomenal as the movie’s star-crossed lovers, but let’s not stop there. The cast includes Val Kilmer (as an imaginary Elvis), Gary Oldman (as a pimp named Drexel), Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt and more. I love this movie. It may be vulgar, violent and ridiculous but it’s still one of the most romantic films ever.
The Notebook
Speaking of the most romantic films ever, it doesn’t get much more romantic—in a much more classically romantic sense—than The Notebook, based on the best-selling Nicholas Sparks book of the same name. I won’t lie, I actually prefer Rachel McAdams across from Will Ferrell in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga but she’s wonderful here as well. McAdams has a way of making whoever she’s across from shine a little brighter, and that’s certainly the case with Ryan Gosling in this almost overwhelmingly romantic story of true love.
Harold And Maude
Alright, that’s enough straight-up romance. Let’s go back in time for our last two films, first to 1971’s Harold And Maude, which I realize won’t be everybody’s cup of tea. The dark comedy about a boy obsessed with death and the elderly woman he ends up befriending and falling for is certainly one of the oddest films I’ve ever seen, but I love it. I think I love the soundtrack by Cat Stevens even more. I almost put The Graduate on this list for similar reasons. Both are wonderful choices for this Valentine’s Day.
Bringing Up Baby
If I could pick one famous actress across all generations to go on a Valentine’s date with it would be Katherine Hepburn. Was there ever a classier, more hilarious, more beautiful dame than her? I love her in many things, but she’s never been funnier than she is in Bringing Up Baby. I almost chose Philadelphia Story instead of this one because in that film we get Hepburn plus Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, but we’ll have to leave Jimmy off this list because I just love Bringing Up Baby too much. Grant plays archeologist David Huxley and its third star is a tame leopard named Baby. It is a wild coincidence that two of my dogs are named Huxley and Baby! The script was written specifically for Hepburn, who plays socialite Susan Vance, a character built on Hepburn’s real-life personality.
And that’s the list! I’ve written some other film recommendation lists recently which you can peruse below. Be sure to let me know what your favorite rom-coms and romances are on Twitter or Facebook.
Other Movie Lists By Your Humble Narrator:
As always, I’d love it if you’d follow me here on this blog and subscribe to my YouTube channel and my Substack so you can stay up-to-date on all my TV, movie and video game reviews and coverage. Thanks!
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/02/14/15-great-romantic-movies-and-rom-coms-to-watch-this-valentines-day/