In a typical romantic comedy the two lovers tend to be young, likable and apparently meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating circumstances (examples: class differences, parental interference, or a previous relationship) until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally wed. A wedding-belles, fairy-tale-style happy ending is practically mandatory. With that being said this is my least favorite film genre, but I really do like some of the films in the genre. So I am going to bring you my Top 10 Favorite Romantic Comedies of All-Time. so without further ado.......
10. Friends With Benefits
This is one of the funniest Romantic Comedies I have seen in a very long time. A New York headhunter named Jamie (played by Mila Kunis) enters into a no-strings-attached relationship with her latest client Dylan (played by Justin Timberlake), but finds things getting unexpectedly complicated when emotions enter the picture. Friends With Benefits has a rating of 71% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Punch-Drunk Love
Here is a film that has one of the most over-looked and underrated performances of all-time. Barry Egan (played by Adam Sandler), a shy sad-sack with a great deal of repressed anger that occasionally bursts forth in sudden violent outrages, who falls in love with Lena Leonard (played by Emily Watson), a co-worker of one of Barry's 7 sisters. After calling a phone-sex line, Barry is extorted by bad-guy Dean Trumbell (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), who eventually sends four goons to assault Barry and get the money. I feel that Adam Sandler gives us his greatest performance and I feel that he should have been nominated for an Oscar. Punch-Drunk Love has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
In my opinion this is one of the most underrated films of all-time. Joel Barish (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is informed that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (played by Kate Winslett) has had her memories of their relationship erased from her brain via an experiment procedure performed by Dr. Mierzwiak (played by Tom Wilkinson). Not to be outdone, Joel decides to have the same procedure done to himself. As Mierzwiak's bumbling underlings Stan (played by Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (played by Elijah Wood) perform the operation on Joel. Over the course of the evening (in his apartment), Joel struggles in his own mind to save the memories of Clementine from being deleted. Like Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, Jim Carrey give the best performance of his career and deserved an Oscar nomination. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Actress and Original Screenplay, only winning one (Best Original Screenplay), and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Pretty Woman
This is literally one of the funniest films I've ever seen and its in my top 20 comedies of all-time. Self-involved corporate raider Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere) has recently split up with his girlfriend. Seeking directions to the Beverly Hills Hotel, he makes the acquaintance of free-spirited hooker Vivian Ward (played by Julia Roberts) and decides to put her on a 3,000 dollar retainer as his "date'. He Cinderellarizes her by bankrolling a full wardrobe and cosmetic makeover. This film put Julia Roberts on the map. Pretty Woman was nominated for 1 Academy Award (Best Actress) and it has a rating of 62% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. As Good as It Gets
This is one of the best films that I have ever seen. The film tells trials and tribulations of a compulsive write, Melvin Udall (played by Jack Nicholson). After his homosexual neighbor Simon (played by Greg Kinnear) is brutally beaten, he is entrusted to the care of the neighbor's dog Verdell, with a difficult relationship with a waitress named Carol (played by Helen Hunt) (who has an sick son) to add on top of that. What develops is a weekend trip/triangle between these three individuals, and together they learn the true meaning of " the sunny side of life". This film is wonderful and very hear-warming. As Good as It Gets was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Editing, Picture and Original Score, while winning only 2 (Best Actor and Actress) and it has a rating of 86% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. The Princess Bride
This is one of the funniest yet very cheesiest films of all-time. The Princess Bride is staged as a book read by grandfather (played by Peter Falk) to his ill grandson (played by Fred Savage). Falk's character assures a romance-weary Savage that the book has much more to deliver than simpering love story. The Princess Bride offers a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale depicting stable boy-turned pirate Westley (played by Cary Ewles) journey's to rescue Buttercup (played by Robin Wright), his true love, away from the evil Prince Humperdinck (played by Chris Saradon), whom she had agreed to marry five years after learning of what she had believed to be the bad news of Westley's death. With help from Prince Humperdinck's disgruntled former employee Miracle Max (played by Billy Crystal), a swordsman Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin) and a very large man named Fezzik (played by Andre the Giant), the star-crossed lovers are destined to be reunited. This film is hilarious and is one of the most quotable films of all-time.The Princess Bride has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Silver Linings Playbook
This film is spectacular and it has some of the best performances in film. Patrick "Pat" Solitano (played by Bradley Cooper), a man with bipolar disorder is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents (platyed by Robert DeNiro and Jackie Weaver). Determined to win back his estranged wife, Pat meets recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell (played by Jennifer Lawrence). She tells Pat that she will help him get his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become closer as they train and Pat, his father and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their issues. The film is very powerful and very emotional. Silver Lings Playbook was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Supporting Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Picture, Director,Adapted Screenplay and Editing, while winning only 1 (Best Actress) and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Four Weddings and A Funeral
I didn't know what to expect out of this fill when I first watched but it turned out to be very hilarious. Charles (played by Hugh Grant) is a confirmed British bachelor and serial monogamist with a colorful romantic background who unexpectedly meets the perfect woman, Carrie (played by Andie McDowell) at a wedding and falls in love with her, But his inability to express his feelings seems forestall any possibility of relationship, until they meet over the course of Four Weddings and A Funeral. Four Weddings and A Funeral was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Original Screenplay, and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Sleepless in Seattle
I love this film simply because the kid in the film is named Jonah and it is one of the 3 places my nae comes from. When Sam's son, Jonah (played by Ross Manlinger), calls into a talk radio program looking for a new mother, Sam (played by Tom Hanks) ends up getting on the phone and laments about his lost love. Thousands of miles, away Annie (played by Meg Ryan) hears the program and immediately falls in love with Sam, despite the fact that she has never met him and is engaged to humdrum Walter (played by Bill Pullman). Believing they are meant to be together, Annie sets out for Seattle to meet Sam, who, meanwhile, contends with an onslaught of letter from available women equally touched by his phone call. Sleepless in Seattle was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Original Song and Original Screenplay and it has a rating of 71% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. 10 Things I Hate About You
This is an awesome and hilarious film. Bianca Strafford (played by Larissa Oleynik) is a tenth grader who has never gone out on a date, as her parents have a rule that Bianca isn't allowed to date until her older sister Kat (played by Julia Stiles) gets a boyfriend. Bianca and the guy she has her eye on, Joey Donner (played by Andrew Keegan), are eager to get their romance on the road, so Joey fixes Kat up with Patrick Verona (played by Heath Ledger), a new kid in town who may be just bitter and mysterious enough to suit her. This film is known for the breakthrough performances of Stiles and Ledger. 10 Things I hate About You has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of my list and what are some of your favorite romantic comedies of all-time? Let me know in the comments and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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