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Staying in for Valentine's Day? Here's Our List of Favorite Rom-Com Movies

Grab your popcorn and heart-shaped candies and enjoy this list of swoon-worthy movies.

By Allison Forsyth February 9, 2021

Staying in for Valentine's Day this year? Here's our list of favorite romantic comedy movies anyone is sure to fall in love with. Get the popcorn and chocolate ready.

Two for the Road

Two For the Road, from 1967, is more than a rom-com, strictly speaking; you may shed a tear or two as well as find amusement in this tale of a couple whose up-and-down relationship plays out over the years of road trips in France. I've watched it multiple times and never tire of the sophisticated dialogue by Frederic Raphael, the stylish direction by Stanley Donen, the notable onscreen chemistry between stars Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney and the score by Henry Mancini, including the film's theme song. It all summons up a place, a time and a couple you want to revisit. —Kay Kipling

Keeping the Faith

A love triangle that involves a rabbi and a priest may sound more like the setup for a lame standup joke than a quality premise for a full-length movie, but Keeping the Faith makes the idea work. The rabbi in the movie is played by Ben Stiller, the priest by Edward Norton (who also directed the film), and their shared love interest is a childhood friend who returns after a long absence (she is played by Jenna Elfman). The film is whimsical and light, but it will capture your emotions, too, and it boasts charming performances from a killer supporting cast that includes Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach and Miloš Forman. —Cooper Levey-Baker

Love, Rosie

Love, Rosie, a 2014 film starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin, begins in small-town England with the stars' main characters as childhood best friends. When Claflin's character Alex gets accepted to Harvard medical school, Collins' character Rosie is met with a choice: join him in America and start their life together, or stay home and hide a huge secret from him. The pair remain friends through it all, yet miss the perfect opportunities to be together. You'll laugh and cry at this relatable spin on back-and-forth love between best friends. —Allison Forsyth

Bridesmaids

This instant classic rom-com weaves BFF love, romantic love and, oh yes, cupcakes into a hilarious story about egos, competition, self-actualization and the absurd drama that sometimes comes with being a bridesmaid. It stays grounded with real-life themes like going broke, losing a business, struggling to find love in your 30s and starting over. —Kim Doleatto 

You've Got Mail

I've watched the Nora Ephron/Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks vehicle You've Got Mail more times than I can count, to the point that I've practically committed it to memory. ("Don't you just love New York in the fall?" "I would buy you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." "F-O-X!") It's total comfort viewing—two New Yorkers meet-cute over AOL (remember AOL?!) and navigate falling in love over the Internet while unknowingly becoming business enemies IRL. Even though the technology is outdated, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan's chemistry holds up. Plus, books and bookstores are central to the plot. What could be better? —Megan McDonald

Intolerable Cruelty

For a romantic comedy that won’t make your teeth hurt, I like Intolerable Cruelty. It’s a Coen Brothers film filled with quirky characters, a twisted plot and witty dialogue. George Clooney plays a fatuous but brilliant Beverly Hills divorce lawyer who comes up against a gorgeous gold digger played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Will the cynical lawyer succumb to the ruthless beauty? And will the ruthless beauty decide love is better than money? You can guess what happens, but you’ll have fun getting there. —Susan Burns

 

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