By: Anastha Eka



Let’s just admit it:  every girl needs some cheesiness that makes her cheeks blush and her chest warm. And the thing that does it best is a good romantic comedy movie. Too bad, as people getting skeptical about an idea of romance, it’s getting harder to find a decent romcom nowadays.

So, I’ve made a list of 30 romantic comedies that you can watch before you go to bed – just like a bedtime story – every night, for a month. For the hopelessly romantic, this list is a sweet escape from the harsh reality you have out there. As for the skeptics, consider it as a therapy to embrace the cheesiness in you. I mean, come on, how can true love and sweet romance find you if you don’t believe they exist?



30. No Reservations (Dir.: Scott Hicks, 2007)

I have seen the original German version and yes, it is good. But, Catherine Zeta Jones brings a colder and more distant quality to the character that makes the story more believable than the original version.

 

29.   40 Days and 40 Nights (Dir.: Michael Lehman, 2002)

It’s Josh Hartnett in his glory days. Took a girl around San Fransisco on a bus. Then turned her on without even touching her. He used flowers instead of hands. Flowers. Isn’t that enough?

 

28.   Kate & Leopold (Dir.: James Mangold, 2001)

I know, Meg Ryan looks like a man in this. But, there’s this scene where Leopold was asked by Kate’s brother, ‘Who are you?’, then Leopold answer, ‘I’m the man that loves your sister’. That’s borderline charming.

 

27.   Friends With Kids (Dir.: Jennifer Westfeldt, 2011)

You can’t have kids just because they look cute, or because your friends already have one. Kids are not toys. And you’re no longer a kid who’s jealous of your friends’ toys. You can have casual sex with your friend but not a casual kid. Even this movie says so.

 

26.   Serendipity (Dir.: Peter Chelsom, 2001)

Despite Kate Beckinsale’s flat face, this movie is intriguing because the idea of how love at the first sight can be so stubborn, strong-willed, and methodical, until we start to believe that maybe there’s such thing as fate. Watching this is almost like finding religion.

 

25.   Two Weeks Notice (Dir.: Marc Lawrence, 2002)

This is a good example of how chemistry is the most important thing in a romcom, even though the story makes almost no sense at all.

 

24.   How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days (Dir.: Donald Petrie, 2003)

Full of clichés, I know. But what can I do? It’s one hell of a guilty pleasure. Matthew McConaughey before dramatic acting leap, with annoying alpha male attitude. The bullshit game scene, the first-girl-he-ever-brought-home. And, of course, the bet. The formulaic battle of sexes that marks a generation of romcoms.

 

23.   One Fine Day (Dir.: Michael Hoffman, 1996)

Who wouldn’t be divorced if you could have a possibility to meet this charming divorced guy? George Clooney is surely responsible for increasing divorce rate.

 

22.   Friends With Benefit (Dir.: Will Gluck, 2011)

This movie has every standard cliché. The started-out-as-friend, NYC on the background, the first-girl-he-ever-brought-home, even the benefit thing has already preceded with Ashton Kutcher’s No Strings Attached. What makes it still worth to watch? Yes, chemistry.

 

21.   Tin Cup (Dir.: Ron Shelton, 1996)

So, apparently, golf is a real sport and the men playing it are not always old and boring. They can have bad boy’s charm, like Kevin Costner has, that’s irresistible for the good girl in Rene Russo. This bad boy-good girl chemistry, combines with a classic zero to hero story, hits a perfect hole-in-one.