WE’VE ALL EXPERIENCED those moments, whether we’re hungover, sick, or just very tired, when we want something nice to watch.
Something that isn’t too taxing, but still very much enjoyable. These rom coms should hit the spot.
1. Love & Friendship
Period dramas! They’re just the best. Love & Friendship is based on the Jane Austen novel Lady Susan, and stars Kate Beckinsale as a gigantic, hilarious bitch intent on securing a financially beneficial marriage for her daughter – and herself.
2. Obvious Child
A newer entry to the rom com canon, Obvious Child features Jenny Slate as a woman who finds out she’s pregnant after a one night stand.
It’s honest and real and incredibly charming, and you’ll want to watch it again and again.
3. You’ve Got Mail
The late Nora Ephron wrote some wonderful romantic comedies, and You’ve Got Mail is one of her sweetest.
It might be a bit dated now (emails and chatrooms, bless) but Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are wonderful enough to pull us through.
4. Maid In Manhattan
Jennifer Lopez’s 2000s rom com pedigree is not to be sniffed at. Maid in Manhattan is a deliciously cheesy Cinderella story with Jennifer Lopez as a maid in a fancy hotel, and Ralph Fiennes as the politician who falls for her.
5. The Wedding Planner
We couldn’t choose between this and Maid In Manhattan so we decided to put both of them in, because this is our list and we do what we want.
This has Matthew McConaughey at his rom com peak, J Lo as an highly-strung event planner falling for her client, and perpetual best friend Judy Greer. What more could you want?
6. About Time
Our own Domhnall Gleeson stars as a man who discovers he can travel back in time, and uses it to improve his chances with the beautiful Mary (played by Rachel McAdams).
It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you weep, and director Richard Curtis (of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill fame) can do no wrong.
7. Serendipity
New York at Christmas! A chance meeting! Fate! This Kate Beckinsale/John Cusack romance has it all.
Cusack and Beckinsale meet and feel a mutual attraction, but leave it as they’re both in relationships. Yet they keep bumping into each other – could it be a sign?
8. Working Girl
So 80s it hurts, this film stars Melanie Griffith as a secretary pretending she has her boss’ job and inadvertently falling for her boss’ boyfriend, a rugged Harrison Ford.
Watch out for Joan Cusack (and her enormous hair), who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Griffith’s best friend.
9. Sense and Sensibility
More Austen, because you can never have too much Austen.
This time, we have Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet as a pair of sisters seeking financial stability through marriage, and Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant as their suitors. Thompson won an Oscar for writing the script, and it’s an absolute delight.
10. The Proposal
Remember all those rumours that Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds were dating? That was because their chemistry in this film was so great.
Bullock plays a Canadian executive facing deportation over an expired visa – to stay in the country, she persuades her assistant (Reynolds) to act as her fiancé. Romance ensues.
11. Easy A
The natural successor to Mean Girls in our eyes, Easy A features Emma Stone as a high school student who pretends to sleep with boys to increase their popularity.
What follows is a very funny meditation on slut-shaming and gossip. And Stanley Tucci as one of the best movie dads since Dr Jake Houseman in Dirty Dancing.
12. 13 Going On 30
It’s easy to forget Jennifer Garner was an actress before all the Ben Affleck drama, but this should remind you quite nicely. She’s funny and natural as a 13-year-old girl inside a 30-year-old woman’s body – plus, Mark Ruffalo plays her love interest. <3 the Ruffalo.
