Top romantic films for Valentine’s day
It’s that time of year again, and since I usually do a movies thing on Monday I thought I’d combine them. There are tons of lists out there, everyone’s got their own favorite, and some movie choices that made me go WTH? And some I had to leave off just because—well, I had to cut myself off somewhere. When it came down to it though, it turned out incredibly hard to pick just a few. So forgive me if I missed one of your faves.
A playboy named Nickie (Cary Grant) meets the lovely Terry (Deborah Kerr) on a luxury cruise, they flirt, and when he invites her to meet his mother, on a stopover, the encounter has Terry falling head over heels for Nickie. At the end of the cruise they agree to meet again in six months’ time, but tragedy prevents the meeting. When he finds out why Terry never showed up… well, it’s all good. You’ll have to see the movie to find out the end. I don’t want to spoil it for you. 😉
A young actor (Christopher Reeve) falls for the portrait of a long-dead actress, and dares to go back in time to try to win the actress’ (Jane Seymour) heart.
A young man (Jude Law) sent off to fight the Civil War finds himself wounded, decides he’s not going back to the front and walks across two states to get home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina and the gal he loves (Nicole Kidman), dodging soldiers out to drag him back, runaway slaves, and befriended by a not so pious preacher. Meanwhile, Ada loses her father and has to learn to run her huge farm with only one helping hand the tenacious Ruby (Renée Zellweger).
A young woman (Helena Bonham Carter) and her escort (Maggie Smith), Charlotte, travel around Italy where they meet the most bizarre young man (Julian Sands). In the center of Rome, despite her escort’s best efforts to keep her charge pure, they fall in love.
RoxanneSteve Martin’s classic (hilarious) retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. Martin plays C.D. Bales, the fire chief of a very inept fire crew, and owner of a very large nose. He falls for Roxanne (Daryl Hannah)—a young astronomer when their paths continually cross. Trouble is, C.D. isn’t exactly the most handsome man on the block, and Daryl has eyes for his new recruit—Chris, a guy that wouldn’t know romance if it bit him. He turns to C.D. for a little poetic help.
A reporter (James Marsden) hears of Jane (Katherine Hiegel), a woman who’s been a bridesmaid 27 times in a row and decides to get the inside scoop. But the woman isn’t sure she wants to be a bridesmaid again, when she would stand for her sister–who’s marrying the man Katherine loves.
Carl has lost his wife of fifty years but… decides he must keep their dream of moving to Africa, just like their hero. Trouble is, his house is about to be taken away, and Carl forced into a nursing home. Afraid to lose the chance he’s finally decided to take, he devises a clever plan of travel. It has been said that the first five minutes of the movie pack more romance into it than some do in full length scripts. See it and you’ll see why.
A zoologist (Adam Sandler) falls for a young woman (Drew Barrymore), but finds out she has a brain injury that keeps her from remembering her life beyond a 24 hour period. Despite these odds, he sets out to win her heart. (Although, let me warn you there’s a scene near the beginning that makes me gag every time. Other than that, this is a great movie!)
The bard (Joseph Finnes) faces writer’s block and finds his greatest inspiration in a young woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) desperate to act, in a time when only men were allowed on stage. From their affair (supposedly) springs Romeo and Juliet.
Gone with the Wind
A vain socialite sees her world blown apart by the Civil War, marries and loses her heart’s desire, only to fall for the broodish rogue.
I’d also add:
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Englishman (Hugh Grant) and his pals attend four weddings, at each of which he runs into the girl of his dreams (Andie McDowell). When she marries someone else and a friend dies, it casts a pal of dread over both their lives. Do they get their HEA? You’ll have to watch it to see.
A lonely little worker-robot who’s only mission in life is to clean up the mess humans left behind on Earth, has his whole life toppled when a new, stylish robot lass shows up in his neck of the woods.
A young woman on vacation in Verona, Italy finds a “letter to Juliet” and tries to find and reunite the lovers about whom the letter was written.
And I had to stop myself there or we’d keep going on… So that’s my list. What are your favorites?
Juli D. Revezzo, author of the Antique Magic series and more 