My Favorite Romantic Comedies

Here are some of my favorite romantic comedies (in alphabetical order).

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE

I highly recommend this film. The dialogue is smart and witty. I loved the relationships between all the characters.

See my post about how the wrong guy/girl in ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE propels the plot.

BABY BOOM

I love Diane Keaton. And Baby Boom has many empowering themes. The set-up is well done, showing how her relationship is lacking with her current boyfriend, the competitive atmosphere at the office, and how she has clipped this newspaper ad for this farmhouse in Maine. There’s the back-stabbing male colleague, her attempt at diapering the baby, her buying the falling-down farmhouse and building up her baby food business. And there is sizzling chemistry between Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard.

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY

Love, love, love! I love her character and her friends, the chemistry with Hugh Grant and with Colin Firth sizzles, and the the triangle is brilliantly done. Brilliant dialogue. I think it’s so brilliantly based on Pride and Prejudice. Love everything about this movie. It’s a classic!

CLUELESS

Another classic. Based on Jane Austen’s Emma. Memorable dialogue! Some of my favorite movie lines ever.

“Whenever a boy comes, you should always have something cooking.”

“Ugh. As if.”

And so many more!

DESK SET

See my post about how the wrong guy leads to a set piece.

I love Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. One of my favorite scenes is their first lunch where she shows how intelligent she is and he is impressed, calling her a rare bird. And then the scene were Gig Young (her current “boyfriend”) shows up to find her having a cozy dinner with Spencer Tracy.

This screenplay was written by the parents of Nora Ephron.

HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS

Brilliant and funny premise. She has to write a women’s magazine article about how to lose a guy in 10 days and he has 10 days to persuade her to fall in love with him so he can win the right to pitch an advertising campaign about diamonds. So many laugh-out-loud scenes. Smoking hot chemistry. One of my favorite movies!

LOVE JONES

Described on the DVD cover as a “hip When Harry Met Sally.” A photographer and a writer get together, break up, get together again, and I won’t ruin the rest of the movie. The dialogue is meaningful and the friendships among this set of artistic friends are warm and supportive. And the soundtrack sets the mood! But note, it’s more of a romance than a romantic comedy.

MAN UP

Snappy dialogue, great premise, great comedic set scenes. He’s supposed to meet a blind date under the clock who is reading a certain book. He mistakes her for his blind date and she goes along with that. So, there’s the “scam” set-up.

MIRACLE ON 34th STREET

I like to watch this every Christmas. It’s about a divorcee who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus and doesn’t believe in imagination/love, so the neighbor next door tries to persuade her to give love a second chance and Santa Claus tries to persuade her little girl that he is Santa Claus. I like the career woman plot and the Santa Claus on trial plot. That trial scene is one of my favorite movie scenes.

OVERBOARD

Great chemistry, great premise, great comedy, great comedic set scenes, Goldie Hawn. Need I say more?

I also wrote a blog post on the new Overboard. Although it’s not as good as this one, it’s not bad. And it has some funny scenes in its own right.

TWO WEEKS NOTICE

Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. They are both such talented comedic actors. A dedicated environmental lawyer agrees to work for billionaire real estate developer Hugh Grant if he agrees to preserve her local community center. The movie opens with Sandra Bullock trying to stop the destruction of the community center with her own body. Way to start with action.

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

Nora Ephron (writer) is one of my idols. With Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. On-point dialogue and one of my favorite films exploring male/female friendship and dating. Another must-see classic.

Let’s Talk: Favorite Romcoms?

What are some of your favorite romantic comedies? I am looking for some more romantic comedies to watch at night while #stayinghome, so I would love any suggestions. Why are those your favorites? Even as I write this, I can think of more favorites. It’s so hard to choose!