Sam’s Friday Top 5: Romantic Comedies

It’s that time of year again (okay, with me it’s always that time of year), when Cupid floats by shooting girls and boys with love-soaked arrows, when love songs are more prevalent, and when people who don’t have significant others seem to hate those of us who do (I mean, what’s with this “Love Sucks” campaign I’ve seen more and more these days?). One of the best ways to gauge a relationship is if you both agree on those sappy romantic comedies you love so much. So, here are my top 5 romantic movies, all approved by my better half…

5. You’ve Got Mail

Meg Ryan is the queen of the romantic comedy (sorry, Julia), and her two films with Tom Hanks are both amazing testaments to a chemistry certain actors can have with one another. While Sleepless in Seattle may be the popular choice, my relationship started in much the same way theirs did in this film, via the internet. I love the playful interactions between rivals who fall in love, and it’s so sweet. It almost makes you wish there was a Little Book Shop Around the Corner.

4. Love Actually

This is actually an amazingly well written and interwoven story of many different relationships coming together. I love it so much because however random you think it is, it reminds you again and again that that’s the glory of love, how random it appears to be until you realize it’s fate. It has that amazing comic element as well, with each of the actors doing their best comic dance with each other. My favorite part is the cliche airport scene, but with the little kids. It’s phenomenal.

3. Hitch

Who would have thought that Will Smith would be able to pull off the romantic leading man shtick so well coming off of a ton of end of the world action movies? I guess I did, because I was on board from the very start. And he’s incredibly funny, but even more so than Fresh Prince of Bel-Air funny, the chemistry between him and Eva Mendes quite clear from the start. As a matchmaker, he’s got all the game, but as a potential beau, he is so clueless that it’s hilarious. It makes me wish he would do another romantic comedy sometime soon so I could probably put it on this list too.

2. Notting Hill

If Meg Ryan is the queen of the romantic comedy, Hugh Grant is its undeniable king. He and Julia Roberts, in this film, are the epitome of opposites who get together, but they’re so loveable that they make you forget it. “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” That line just makes me tear up every single time. It doesn’t matter that it’s grammatically incorrect, it makes me believe in true love. Every single time. Both characters are charming in that awkward way that boys and girls get when it’s first love. Man, now I have to watch it again straightaway!

1. Say Anything

The 1980s were the ultimate time for cheesy romantic comedies, and not a lot of them made sense, but this one completely did. Like When Harry Met Sally (which, by the way is my number 6 romantic comedy), this movie blends perfectly the feelings of inadequacy that all boys feel around girls with that perfect scene. You know the one, with John Cusack’s character standing outside of the girl’s window holding the huge boombox high above his head. Every time I hear “In Your Eyes,” I can’t help but picture that scene, and it is still as perfect in my mind as it was in the film. It’s undeniably the best scene in any romantic comedy past or present. Hail to John Cusask, to Ione Skye, and to John Hughes.

Sam

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