Valentine’s Day has come and gone, as has what I personally deem Half-Priced Candy Day, but that doesn’t mean I can’t talk about my guilty pleasure, which is a good romance movie. Whether it’s a cheesy romantic comedy or a dramatic romance, when I need a movie that makes me think a little less, this is where I go.
I went into this Valentine’s weekend with two goals in mind: read some romance novels off of my TBR list so they can migrate to my Completed list, and rank my top romance movies for the holiday. So, without further ado, here is my top five romance movies list.
10 Things I Hate About You: A classic rom-com, and a Shakespeare retelling at that. This film is based on “The Taming of The Shrew,” and was actually one of the first rom-coms I can remember watching. With amazing performances from Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles as Patrick Verona and Kat Stratford respectively, and the rest of this star-studded cast, you get the late 90s humor and some tugs on your heartstrings (that poem Kat recites always gets me).
A Walk to Remember: The first movie to ever be deemed my favorite movie, “A Walk to Remember” is a beautiful movie featuring Mandy Moore and Shane West. We follow Moore’s character of Jamie through the eyes of West’s character Landon. We see them fall in love despite agreeing not to, and see the tragic aftermath of falling anyway. This movie has me tearing up every time I watch it, but it’s too good not to watch.
Me Before You: Another tearjerker starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin as Louisa Clark and William Traynor. If I want or need a good cry I will absolutely be turning on “Me Before You.” Seeing the development of Louisa and William’s relationship throughout the film, and the portrayal of love not changing who someone is or what their choices are, may just have me sobbing no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
Definitely, Maybe: This is probably the only rom-com that has ever caused me to need to rant about the main character’s terrible decisions. We follow Will Hayes, played by Ryan Reynolds, as he tells his daughter Maya, played by a young Abigail Breslin, stories about past loves of his, while Maya tries to guess which one is her mother. Eventually, we meet her mother, but the movie isn’t over yet. Maya still has questions about the true love of her father’s life, since he and her mother are divorced. So, as we learn more, we discover that Will has changed the names of all but one woman he’s told Maya about. And thanks to the tenacity of his daughter, Will takes a leap of faith to finish the story.
Elemental: You know I had to include this adorable animated film. Pixar’s first attempt with a romance movie, “Elemental” is a highly underrated film in my opinion. We get some wonderful representation of immigrants and discrimination in a somewhat subtle but creative way, and still get a beautiful romance between the main characters of Wade and Ember. If I need a light-hearted movie that will still bring a few tears, this film does the job.