With Valentine’s Day approaching, love is in the air, meaning many people are channeling their inner hopeless romantics. To feel this sense of innocent love, rom-coms are generally watched most this time of the year.
13 Going On 30 stars Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. This classic 2000s chick flick embraces themes like regret, womanhood, and healing the inner child. Garner’s character, Jenna, suddenly jumps into the future when she wishes to be “thirty, flirty, and thriving” on her 13th birthday. Immediately she tries to navigate her future life while still being 13 in her conscious mind. The film dives into her younger self with ‘80s fashion, vibrant colors, and self-discovery.
A more complex idea for a rom-com, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, stars Kate Hudson as Andie Anderson and Matthew McConaughey as Benjamin Barry. In a rush to write the perfect article about relationship how-to’s, Andie must find a guy to date and dump a guy in ten days to report back on what not to do when dating. On the other hand, Ben has to hold a relationship for ten days to win a bet. This movie contains a lot of back-and-forth humor that captures the audience as we are rooting for them to fall in love.
She’s The Man is another popular 2000s romantic comedy that stars Amanda Bynes in her prime. After her soccer team gets cut, Viola Hastings attempts to join the men’s team at her school, but because of stereotypes, she is turned away. When she finds out her brother is secretly leaving for London and needs her help covering his absence at his new school which also happens to be Viola’s rival school, she decides to go undercover as Sebastian so she can join the soccer team to prove that girls are just as talented as boys. The on-the-nose humor carries this movie as Viola tries to fit in as a guy while subsequently dealing with soccer troubles.
Valentine’s Day is the perfect rom-com to put on for the 14th as it includes storylines from a wide range of relationships from high school sweethearts, office romance, first dates, and many more. The cast includes many well-known faces such as Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper, and Taylor Lautner. The comedy aspect of this movie is very witty and simple but it can still elicit a good laugh.
Finally, 10 Things I Hate About You is a modern-day Shakespeare re-telling that stars Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger who are both edgy and alternative in their own ways. In order to go on a date, Bianca has to get her closed off sister, Kat, to go on a date herself, according to their father’s strict dating rules. Starting as a bet, Patrick Verona fruitlessly attempts to ask Kat out. As the movie progresses, we see Kat start to let her guard down with Patrick and, through his unwillingness to back down, gets her to fall for him. As a fan favorite, this movie inspires viewers through the different 2000s aesthetics and music.
As a whole, romantic comedies can oftentimes be overlooked as immature and “girly,” however, many of these can still give some people an enjoyable experience.