Hollywood likes to go every now and then to avoid falling into a cynical abyss. Hollywood movie couples of romantic comedies and dramas are not as popular as they once were, some of them still give us hope. We can always turn to some of our favorites like The Notebook and Love & Basketball for a quick pickup. From some magnetic flirtations, sultry dancing, and super steamy kisses, some of our all-time favorite movie characters come from the romance genre.
Sometimes the casting directors get it right, and the actors fall in love with them while their characters fall in love with each other. Although Hollywood often tries to sell a fairy tale, not all of our favorite movie couples have a happy ending, but we are obsessed with them nonetheless.
1. Rose and Jack in Titanic
We still can't get over the whole door situation.
Yes, we know there was more than enough room in that door for both Rose (played by Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), and Jack didn't have to die, but maybe the tragedy of all of this is what makes Titanic. . Very epic. Winslet's uptight and stoic Rose DeWitt-Bukater was a young woman forced to marry an older wealthy man to keep her and her mother from falling into poverty.
On her trip from Europe to New York, Rose meets Jack Dawson, a poor artist who inspires her to live a magnetic life filled with wonder and joy. The Titanic demonstrated how one person in a short amount of time can change their entire perspective, and it also taught us all the importance of a good one-line flirt. "Paint me as one of our French girls" will go down in film history.
2. Baby and Johnny in Dirty Dancing.
Nobody puts Baby in the corner
First of all, can we talk about how epic music was in the 1960s? Dirty dancing took us all to a time when people used their bodies and souls on the dance floor. Jennifer Gray played Francis aka Baby, a naive and sheltered girl who lives with her parents and sister for a summer at the Kellerman resort.
With bright and endearing eyes, all of Baby's plans are derailed when she sets her eyes on Patrick Swayze's Johnny, a resort-based artist who shows Baby that he has the movements and a voice. Honestly, we're still trying to muster the courage to attempt that epic climb.
3. Sally and Harry in When Harry Met Sally
Sometimes your person has been in front of you all the time
We've all had that seemingly platonic friendship that could have turned into something more in the right circumstances. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal star as Sally and Harry in When Harry Met Sally, a duo who share an awkward journey from Chicago to New York and disagree that men and women are friends. Over the years, they keep bumping into each other by chance until one day, they only make sense to each other. After all, life comes to you fast.
The fake orgasm scene in the restaurant remains one of the greatest movie moments in Hollywood history.
4. Monica and Quincy in Love & Basketball
When it comes to love, there is no room for competition.
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball deserves more love than she gets. It unravels the politics of sports, friendships, male and female dynamics and relationships all rolled into one. Monica (played by Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) star as platonic friends and neighbors, each with a dream of playing basketball professionally. However, as their friendship grows into something more, their motivation and sportsmanship could tear them apart.
With Maxwell on the soundtrack and total heartbreak, it doesn't get any better than this' 80s movie.
5. Vivian and Edward in Pretty Woman
Sometimes Hollywood delivers real fairy tales.
We admit that Pretty Woman has a pretty wacky story, but it normalized sex work on the big screen and it was a great debut for Julia Roberts, who played Vivian. The statuesque redhead is swept into a new life by older and richer businessman Edward (Richard Gere). The movie is practically the stuff of Hollywood dreams. Also seeing Vivan embarrass those snotty Beverly Hills ladies will always make our hearts smile.
6. Molly and Sam in Ghost
You may never have seen Tony Goldwyn from Scandal in Ghost.
First of all, let's get into the epic that was the late Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in 1990, they were both impressive for words. In Ghost, Moore plays Molly, a devastated young woman who is left heartbroken and her boyfriend Sam (Swayze) tragically dies. However, we all know that true love never fades.
From beyond the grave, Sam continues to intervene and protect Molly from harm. We want to start making ceramics just thinking about it.
7. Ennis and Jack at Brokeback Mountain
Love stories don't always have a happy ending.
Brokeback Mountain was a breakthrough for LGBTQ representation on the big screen. Starring the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as Ennis and Jack, respectively, the film was a tragic tale of a forbidden romance between two cowboys hidden in the shadows of the Wyoming mountains.
Directed beautifully by Ang Lee, the film followed the men through their lives as they struggled in the monotony of their everyday life with wives they could never fully love. The movie is as impressive as it is tragic.
8. Jamal and Latika in Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is the perfect mix of a Cinderella tale and a thriller
Slumdog Millionaire propelled Dev Patel and Freida Pinto to the spotlight. As Jamal and Latika respectively, the pair played a young couple who lost touch after childhood only to be reunited with the help of a game show. The Bombay-set movie was beautifully written and showed that there is more than one way to tell a love story.
Sometimes in movies (and in real life), we can overcome high obstacles.
9. Ian and Toulah at my big Greek wedding
Sometimes romances are big and messy.
Sometimes the right person comes up and sees you before you even discover yourself. Based on the real-life story of writer and actress Nia Vardalos of marrying a non-Greek man, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding Vardalos plays Toulah, a shy hostess who is trying to find her own identity outside of her loving but dominant family.
Toulah meets Ian (Sex & the City student body John Corbet) whose humor and wit go perfectly with hers. Everything is going well for the couple in their own bubble, but things get a bit shaky when Toulah finally gets the courage to introduce Ian to her family. The movie rom-com perfection.
10. Noah and allie in the notebook
The Notebook is the best film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks by far
No matter how much you want to deny it, The Notebook can still be everyone's favorite romantic drama. The best Nicholas Sparks adaptation by far follows the romance of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams). Set in the present and told from a wiser Noah perspective, The Notebook chronicles the romance and heartbreak of lovers from 1940 onwards.
From the themes surrounding the class, the horrors of WWII, and everything in between, the movie can still touch our hearts all these years later. Let's not forget the swans-filled boat ride and the kiss of the lusty rain. We're passing out just thinking about it. It's honestly no wonder that Gosling and McAdams dated for a bit after the movie ended.
11. Michelle and Barack in Southside with you
One of the best real-life romances blossomed on Chicago's South Side over ice cream
It's always fun to get more inside information on how real-life couples met and connected. In Southside With You, Tika Sumpter plays former first lady Michelle Obama, a lawyer who reluctantly finds herself on a date one night with an intern named Barack Obama (played by Parker Sawyers).
Set in Chicago in the summer of 1989, Obamas' unlikely love story begins to unfold, and it's one for the history books.
12. The Life Of Adèle
Great romances don't always last.
French director Abdellatif Kechiche shocked the world with his 2013 film Blue Is the Warmest Color. The LGBTQ romance drama follows Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a French teenager who discovers desire and freedom when an aspiring blue-haired painter, Emma (Léa Seydoux) enters her life. Although the film is very explicit, Kechiche brings warmth and beauty to the arrival of the romance that has followed Adèle since her teens.
While impressive, the movie is also heartbreaking, as it explores how relationships can break and break as we mature.
13. Sara and Derek in Save the Last Dance
he darling teen dance flick, Save the Last Dance,
Julia Stiles plays Sara, a naive dancer whose life is uprooted when her mother dies and she is forced to move from her idyllic Midwestern suburb south of Chicago to live with his father. Still determined to get into Julliard, Sara forms an unlikely friendship with Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who introduces her to other forms of dance.
Despite their growing relationship of interest, Sara and Derek are determined not to let issues of race, background, or uncertainties of their future derail them.
14. Katniss and Peeta in the Hunger Games
Long-lasting real connections can flourish in the worst circumstances.
If we were forced to participate in the Hunger Games, we would probably hold on to whoever we could. Despite all they faced and all the horrors, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Melark (Josh Hutchinson) were comfortable with each other.
We wouldn't necessarily call their relationship romantic, but it's sure foolproof it's bulletproof. These days what more could you ask for?
15. Patrick and Kat in 10 things I hate about you
A '90s remix on The Taming of the Shrew
There is nothing more lustful than a relationship that begins with pure animosity. A '90s adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in 10 Things I Hate About You, Julia Stiles' Kat Stratford is a bright but quite aggressive teenager who does her best not to fall in love with the rookie of the school, Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger).
Things take a turn for the worse when Kat finds out that Patrick was paid to chase her. However, just like any decent teen drama worth its salt, it all works out in the end.
