It's a busy community, it's friendship,
it's dating, it's romance - it's Sparkle.

for more info, visit JoinSparkle.com

Movies for Valentine’s Day – The Best 10 Romantic Comedies

Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by Jack in Best of..., Relationships and Dating, TV & Movies

I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies. Most have little ‘rom’ and even less ‘com’ and follow the same plot:

One of the worst examples of this is The Accidental Husband with Uma Thurman and poor old Colin Firth, who is treated appallingly by the scriptwriters. It’s a great cast on paper, but this is a stinker of sewer plant proportions – avoid it like swine flu.

There are some out there which buck the trend; rom-coms which are engaging, funny and, although you secretly know what the outcome is likely to be, tell their tales of love with warmth and wit.

Here are 10 heart-warming rom-coms perfect for snuggling up with on Valentine’s Day evening.

As Good As It Gets (1997)
Jack Nicholson makes the thoroughly disagreeable Melvin Udall, a racist, xenophobic homophobe, likeable and funny. The film works because Greg Kinnear’s sensitive gay artist and Helen Hunt’s weary waitress feel like real people who don’t aim for the stars, just for as good as it gets.
“When you first entered the restaurant, I thought you were handsome… and then, of course, you spoke.”

Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)
This could have been a silent movie for me and I still would have loved it as Angelina Jolie is as hot as the Saharan midday sun. Brad Pitt’s not bad either as one half of a married couple who are both assassins but don’t know it. As it happens it’s also loads of fun and full of action, sexy romance and suburban domesticity.
“Your aim’s as bad as your cooking sweetheart… and that’s saying something!”

Pretty Woman (1990)
Okay, Julia Roberts is unlike any prostitute I’ve ever set eyes on (oops, that sounds really bad) but who cares? She looks fabulous and so does Richard Gere plus the dialogue is snappy and funny. It’s Eliza Doolittle for the 90s.
“You and I are such similar creatures Vivian. We both screw people for money.”

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Took us by surprise with an opening tirade of profanities, tickled our funny bones throughout and wrenched open our tear ducts – anyone who remained dry eyed during John Hannah’s recital of W.H. Auden’s Funeral Blues should check for a pulse. Hugh Grant at his charming best – before the stuttering fop act became irritating in the extreme.
“You know, there’s nothing more off-putting in a wedding than a priest with an enormous erection…”

When Harry Met Sally (1989)
The classic rom-com because apart from being charming, laugh out loud funny and featuring two leads who you really care about in Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), at its core is this sexual dilemma which led to many a lively debate in the pub.
“…no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.”

There’s Something About Mary (1998)
Ben Stiller’s geek undergoes humiliation of the lowest kind in his quest to win the affections of Mary (Cameron Diaz) – If a penis caught in a zip, dog abuse and the most grotesque nude scene in movie history sounds offensive, keep well away. This is sinfully funny stuff.
“Is that… is that hair gel?”

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
My Best Friend’s Wedding doesn’t have the most original plot – Julia Roberts realises she’s in love with her best friend who’s about to get married to Cameron Diaz – but it does have Rupert Everett camping it up for all he’s worth and it doesn’t necessarily follow the path of your typical rom-com.
“Maybe there won’t be marriage, maybe there won’t be sex, but by God there’ll be dancing!”

Fever Pitch (1997)
Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity and About a Boy could also have made it onto the list, but I’ve opted for Fever Pitch because not only does it have a hopelessly romantic heart, it’s it one of the best football movies around. Colin Firth is perfect as the teacher who has to decide which he loves more – Arsenal or his girlfriend.
“I don’t think that Arsenal’s home form is a sturdy enough basis for marriage and parenthood, do you?”

Moonstruck (1987)
Passion, pasta and a full moon over Manhattan as bookkeeper Cher falls for one-handed baker Nicholas Cage. Gently amusing and completely enchanting tale of love amongst New York’s Italian community warms the cockles of the heart and makes you wish that Cher would spend more time making movies and less singing.
“When you love them they drive you crazy because they know they can.”

And finally, the rom-com to beat them all.

Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen’s masterpiece is almost in a different class. The tale of a neurotic stand-up comedian trying to win back the love of his life sizzles and crackles with razor sharp, New York Jewish humour. Annie Hall probably features the highest amount of quotable one-liners of any movie.
“Hey, don’t knock masturbation! It’s sex with someone I love.”

Tags: Best Romantic Comedy Movies, finding the perfect partner, Funniest rom-com Movies, Funny Love Stories, making friends online, Movies for Valentine’s Day, Online dating, relationships

Jack Montgomery

Author for the online friendship and dating site Sparkle; co-author of two travel guidebooks, blogger and seriously bad poet.

Jack - has written 34 posts on Sparkle in my life. Contact the author

Join Sparkle - Online friendship & dating the mature way!