What Are Your Favorite Romantic Comedy Movies?

Here is a look at some of mine

Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in ‘Notting Hill.’ Credit: Universal Pictures

Are you a fan of romantic comedy (rom-com) films?

If so, do you prefer new ones from the last decade or so, or would you rather watch older ones from three or four decades ago starring actors like Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, and Hugh Grant?

Or maybe your top choices might be much, much older ones, like famous films from the 1960s starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day, or ones from the 1940s and 1950s starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.

Or maybe you’re like me and you like a little bit of everything when it comes to romantic comedies. I’ve watched and thoroughly enjoyed several dozen (probably hundreds) of them, including recent releases and movies going back to almost the days of silent movies.

Romantic comedies were the subject of the most recent episode of my Gotta Pop podcast. My guest was writer Rich Amooi, the author of over 20 rom-com novels. Because I knew that he’s a movie lover like I am, I thought it would be fun for us to discuss our favorite rom-com films.

And it was. I had a blast talking with him about many great romantic comedies, including incredibly popular ones like Notting Hill, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, While You Were Sleeping, 50 First Dates, and several others.

While I enjoy popular mainstream movies like the ones I mentioned above, I also often enjoy lesser-known movies, such as ones from small studios or ones that weren’t financially successful when they were released and maybe were considered to be ‘flops’ at the time.

Well, as we all know, just because something isn’t popular doesn’t mean that it isn’t any good. Plus, ‘good’ is an incredibly subjective thing. You might like something that I hate and vice versa. And that, of course, is the way it’s supposed to be.

With that all said, I’d like to share three romantic comedy movies that are probably not very well-known by the majority of movie lovers. I have a fondness for ‘quirky’ or slightly ‘unusual’ movies and I guess those words could apply to these movies. None of them were ‘blockbusters’ at the box office, but I’m a big fan of all of them.

I mentioned two of them during the episode I did with Rich, although I screwed up the title of one of them. Let’s go ahead and start with that one.

Destination Wedding — Starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder (2018)

When I brought this one up during the show, I mistakenly called it Wedding Destination instead of Destination Wedding. In my defense, I saw the movie for my first time just a few weeks ago. Still, I offer my apologies here to Keanu and Winona.

Wedding Destination — damn it, I did it again — Destination Wedding tells the story of Frank and Lindsay, who meet at an airport while waiting to board a small plane. They instantly annoy and frustrate each other. It’s almost a case of hatred at first sight.

Naturally, they’re forced to sit next to each other during the flight. They quickly learn that they’re both traveling for the same reason — to attend the wedding of Frank’s brother, who also happens to be Lindsay’s ex-boyfriend. Neither one of them wants to go to it and they’re each pretty miserable about it.

Their unhappiness with the situation — and with each other — doesn’t end when they get off the plane, but they’re forced to spend a lot of time together. Their relationship…well, it gets really interesting and unique very quickly.

Does a romance ensue? Well, I’m not saying! Watch it and see for yourself.

There’s a lot of very clever and funny dialogue in this movie. I also love the chemistry onscreen between Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. I learned after watching it that they’ve been good friends since the 1980s. Their real-life closeness and comfortableness with each other definitely comes across onscreen.

I’m looking forward to watching Destination Wedding again very soon.

The Tall Guy — Starring Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, and Rowan Atkinson (1989)

SLIGHT WARNING HERE: The below trailer, while not containing any nudity, does contain a few seconds of a comedic and quite silly sex scene. If seeing depictions of such things may offend you in any way, I’d advise not watching it.

Jeff Goldblum stars as Dexter, an American actor living and working in England, who is struggling in both his career and his love life. As an actor, he has spent several years in an unfulfilling role as the silent straight man/’tall guy’ in a comedy revue starring an arrogant and obnoxious comedian (hilariously played by Rowan Atkinson.) Dexter has had even worse luck in romantic relationships — until he meets Kate, a nurse played by Emma Thompson.

Not long after their romance begins, Dexter gets the lead role in a new musical that is based on the classic story The Elephant Man. The scenes we see from the musical (Elephant!) are incredibly silly and very funny. Here’s a short clip of one of the songs:

The Tall Guy is a very quirky, silly, and charming movie. It’s probably not for everyone but I love it.

P.S. — It was the feature film debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis, who would go on to write several great romantic comedies, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually, and About Time.

Creator — Peter O’Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen (1985)

Once my show with Rich was over, I immediately kicked myself (thank goodness I’m a weak kicker) when I realized I didn’t mention Creator, which I’ve been a huge fan of since its release in 1985.

Then again, it probably didn’t immediately pop into my head because it’s a very untraditional romantic comedy. It’s so unique that part of me wonders if it actually should be classified as a romantic comedy. However, other wiser parts of me have rationalized that since Creator contains three love stories and contains a lot of humor, it is a romantic comedy — at least in my eyes.

The two main characters in Creator are Dr. Harry Wolper (Peter O’Toole) and Boris Lafkin (Vincent Spano.) Harry is a very eccentric medical and science professor at a small college who has been trying for 30 years to clone his late wife Lucy, who died in childbirth. Boris is his student and newly appointed chief assistant in his work to bring Lucy’s cells back to life. While adjusting to his new life with Harry, Boris meets and falls in love with a fellow student named Barbara (Virginia Madsen.)

Harry faces many struggles and opposition to his work. His life suddenly becomes even more complicated when he meets a young free-spirited woman named Meli (Mariel Hemingway.) He initially employs her to contribute an ovary sample to use in the cloning process of Lucy, but a romantic relationship soon begins to develop between them.

As the story progresses, Harry and Boris become very close, with Harry teaching Boris about medicine, science, life, and most importantly, ‘The Big Picture.’

Creator is a clever, funny, and very touching film. Plus, the acting in it is fantastic. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it to you.

So, how about you? What are your favorite romantic comedy films? Please let me know in the comments. Maybe you’ll turn me on to something I’ve never seen before!

For anyone interested, here is the ‘Favorite Rom Movies’ episode of my Gotta Pop podcast that I mentioned above. Audio-only versions of Gotta Pop can also be found on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other fine places that carry podcasts.

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