You wouldn’t know it by the current state of romantic movies, but Hollywood can still help us fall in love.
Need proof? Check out WWTW’s top 5 romantic moments just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Goes without saying none of them came from very recent movies, but that doesn’t detract from how powerful the right romantic movie can be for the right couple.
So ignore “Bride Wars” – or anything co-starring Kate Hudson for that matter – and consider these five scenes as examples of when Hollywood got it … just … right.
- “Say Anything” – Tie: the couple’s first lovemaking scene: Lloyd’s crazy dance in the street after his first date with Diane. Utterly personal here. Wasn’t quite sure what love was truly all about until I saw a young John Cusack shaking with nerves, and anticipation, seconds before he consumated his relationship with Diane, the bookworm beauty. And does anything capture the giddiness of a spectacular first date than Lloyd’s impromptu street shuffle early in their courtship?
- “When Harry Met Sally” – New Year’s Eve: A near perfect romance comes to a boil on the last night of the year, and every emotion is just as it should be.
- “An Officer and a Gentleman” – Richard Gere scoops up Debra Winger while everyone around them watches agape. Too many mediocre movies have attempted variations of this scene, but it never works as well as it does here.
- “Spider-Man” – An upside down kiss? What could be better?
- “It’s a Wonderful Life” – George and Mary nearly kiss while sharing the phone at first, and then George gets his mojo working and plants a big, ol’ smooch on her.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
When Harry Met Sally = definitely.
Just my two cents. Was thinking about this last night.
1) The scene in High Fidelity where John Cusak asks Iben Hjelje to a drinking lunch and then proposes, because he’s tired of constantly looking for new women and critiquing women and just wants to be with her. And she turns him down, because she’s not there yet, but she loves him anyway and they wind up embracing at the CD release party and you know everything is going to be okay.
2) The post-premier scene in Reality Bites where Ethan Hawke comes home, in all his grungy early-90s best, to find Winona Ryder being sad and pathetic on the couch in her PJs, and to boost her back up, he finally just tells her that he loves her and they kiss so hard they practically snort into the boom mic.
Hmm. I might be a Gen Xer, after all.
Good picks, Karma … this topic is such a personal one that no two folks will match up.
say anything is a great pick and my wife hadn’t seen the movie when were first started dating and i showed it to her and it is one of her favorite films now. i have always like ‘True Romance’ it isn’t exactly a traditionally romance but it is a very entertaining film especially the scene where they first tell each other they love each other and what else shows love like going to your girlfriends pimp and getting her things and then having to kill him. Oldman in one of his best minor performances.
My favorite romantic moment is in Now Voyager, there are two actually. The first is when she cries because no one had ever called her darling before, and the second is the final scene where Paul lights cigarettes for him and her, and she still has tears in her eyes. And then he hands her the cigarette, and they are both smoking looking deeply into each others eyes. They know what they are saying with those actions, and we know what they are saying, and I just become a girly ball of mush.
Karma – I agree with you about “Reality Bites.” I love that movie because I too, “was really gonna be something by the age of 25.” But then Ethan Hawke (back when he was cute and not a cheating S.O.B.) reminds me that “all I have to be by the age of 25 is myself.” Swoon.
I know I’m alone here, because it seems like everyone but me loved that movie, but the scene in “Spider-Man” just doesn’t do it for me. It’s probably because I’m not much of a Toby-fan.
I think the most romantic movie scene is from “A Room with A View.” When George finds Lucy alone on the Italian country hillside and embraces her in a kiss… it’s glorious. It’s also probably the most romantic scene I’ve ever read in a book.
Yippee! One of my favorites made the cut! That George Bailey, He’s a real man.
Great choices, Christian. In recent films, I thought WallE and Eva had some very romantic moments, and I loved it in “Slumdog Millionaire” when he kissed her on her scar. You can laugh, but for me one of the most romantic moments on screen last year was in “High School Musical 3″ when Troy brought the prom to Gabriella. In classic oldies, nothing beats the wedding scene in “The Philadelphia Story” or the end of “An Affair to Remember” or pretty much Cary Grant and anyone!
The scar kiss was a sweet moment, Nell … and your other selections are just as solid. Such a subjective subject matter, but a list like this only sparks people to remember their own favorite moments.
And I forgot all about “Once” … although the movie works so well as a whole it’s hard to pick out one scene. (The Falling Slowly performance is perfection, but it’s so early in their romance it’s hard to put in in this list)
Oh geez please. Lloyd Dobler is pretty much all that is wrong with romantic movies. Beta-loser guy squared. John Cusack is probably the prototype of the beta loser idiot.
The current model is Tobey Maguire. HATED that junk in Spider-Man. It was stupid.
These movies cited (Harry Met Sally is another one) are probably more responsible for idiot loser beta guys being frustrated jerks than anything else.
Most romantic movies would be:
1. Tao of Steve. Let Donal Logue show you the way to a woman’s heart … it’s by being a Pick Up Artist. [Other women want him.]
2. Ghostbusters. Bill Murray as the prototype cocky-funny and arrogant jerk, the kind women fall for. Over and over .
3. Dark City. Rufus Sewell saves the girl but not her memories of him. Shell Beach. Aliens. Outer Space. Film Noir. Romance. What more can you want?
4. Wedding Crashers. Forget Owen Wilson. The incomparable Vince Vaughan gives the performance of his career. His encounters with crazy Isla Fisher are priceless, and romantic in their own way.
I didn’t know what an idiot beta loser guy is … but I guess I do know.
I like your list, Whiskey. Different. Mine, perhaps, is too conventional, but I gotta pick what moves me …
Frankly, I find “Casablanca” to be the most romantic film ever made; the end gets me every time. “Notorious” is a close runner-up. Nothing wrong with your list, mind you, but I suppose it’s the guy in me. Romance films just for the sake of romance just don’t do it for me.
Maybe this doesn’t count because it’s a mini-series, but I think the most romantic movie by far is the five hour BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
Most of you will have never even heard of this movie because it was made before any of us were born. It’s called “Maytime”. It stars Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. It’s a black and white movie musical/operetta made just after motion pictures found their voice in the thirties. If you can track down a copy, look for the “Sweethearts/Mayday Fair” scene 15 minetes or so into the movie. (Watch Ms. McDonald’s eyes during the song.) This is either the best acting job in movie history or something was actually going on between these two during the filming. (I suspect the latter.) Be forwarned that most youngsters will feel that this operetta and it’s songs are far too corny and old fashion to sit through, but give it a look. Luckily, love never goes out of fashion and this clip is proof of it. (FYI-This scene was once available on you tube, it still may be.)
“Sleepless in Seattle” (end of the movie) The whole movie builds to this iconic romantic scene, which adds to the drama by making it a near miss. This has to be one of the best romantic movie scenes ever.