(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer via Wikimedia Commons)
I adore a good rom-com. There is something so comforting about predicting how the storyline will go because you’ve seen it done so many times under different names, and rom-coms do this perfectly for me when I need a laugh or to uplift my mood. Bonus points if it can make me cry by the end of it from the cheesiness.
Yet, one thing is clear – there are a lot of rom-coms out there by now, with the early-to-mid 2000s undoubtedly having delivered us some of the classics. Where does one begin? Whether you’re after themes of love, heartbreak, and happy-ever-afters, it’s all here, and chances are, it’s also all entrenched within the plot of each rom-com you stumble upon.
Where does one begin? Whether you’re after themes of love, heartbreak, and happy-ever-afters, it’s all here, and chances are, it’s also all entrenched within the plot of each rom-com you stumble upon.
Personally, when I think of rom-coms, the first movie that comes to mind is 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days – where characters Andie and Ben both try to pretend to one another that they aren’t falling for each other by the minute but fail miserably by the time the agreed 10 days are over, and journalist Andie has to write it up in an article, quickly realising her feelings.
Love Actually and The Holiday are examples of timeless classics all year round – but especially at Christmas. Hugh Grant as Prime Minister in Love Actually will always be iconic to me, and The Holiday is a great choice for hopeless romantics looking for a heartfelt holiday movie filled with just the right amount of cheesiness.
Speaking of Hugh Grant, Four Weddings and a Funeral was an excellent jumpstart to his acting career, and instead of just one romantic notion to follow, the audience gets to witness, as the title suggests, four of them.
Despite the classics, my all-time favourites continue to rank as follows: first is undoubtedly the first part of the Bridget Jones tetralogy – Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), in which we witness Bridget meet Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (yet another Hugh Grant classic), and struggle to decide which one she fancies more. For potential new fans of the series, you’ll be glad to know that there are now four parts of the series, with the fourth and final one, Mad About The Boy, having just premiered in cinemas.
Up next, another favourite of mine is 2013’s About Time – never failing to make me cry by the end of it.
My next recommendations might be a stretch but arguably can still be considered rom-coms. Legally Blonde (2001) follows the pink-obsessed Elle Woods (and Bruiser Woods, her cutest chihuahua), who, upon a dramatic breakup with her boyfriend over Elle “not being serious enough,” decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School. Despite the ‘rom’ in ‘rom-com’ only being a subplot of the movie, Legally Blonde is my favourite movie to watch with my mum whenever I visit back home.
Despite the ‘rom’ in ‘rom-com’ only being a subplot of the movie, Legally Blonde is my favourite movie to watch with my mum whenever I visit back home.
Another stretch, with the ‘rom’ forming a key plot but ‘com’ only slipping through the cracks, but an excellent movie regardless, is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Blue-haired Clementine undergoes a procedure that erases her memories of her ex-boyfriend Joel, and upon the two meeting up again, Joel undergoes the same procedure. The movie follows a nonlinear narrative, so pay attention to the timing when watching!
My most recent watch at the time of writing is When Harry Met Sally, and I feel like I was the last person in the world to have watched it; but upon having it recommended to me so many times, I finally decided to check it out, and it ticked all the right boxes for me.
When picking a rom-com to watch, you can expect many of them to follow the classic ‘meeting to falling in love to heartbreak to happy-ever-after’ formula – hence why many find them repetitive and overdone. Regardless, I hope this article has provided you with some variety and alternatives to the typical narrative!
