If you're a fan of rom-coms, chances are you've seen all the classics half a dozen times.
But sometimes you want a new love in your life.
Fortunately you don't have to look far to find that perfect match.
If you're looking for a rom-com fix, here are some excellent hidden gems that will make
you laugh, cry, and ugly cry...and most importantly, leave you feeling just a little bit better
about the world.
"Literally I feel sick.
Jen, stop, let...let go."
"Oh my God,"
Just Friends has become a cult favorite among romcom fans, in part because it works on two
levels.
It's a romantic comedy in the traditional sense, and a Christmas comedy about a guy
who goes back to his hometown and figures out what's really important in his life.
Ryan Reynolds stars as Chris, a successful record producer who's still trying to compensate
for his humiliations as an overweight teenager in love with his best friend Jamie, played
by Amy Smart.
When an unexpected work detour lands him back in his hometown over the holidays, Chris tries
to reconnect with his old crush.
"Wow, Chris Brander."
"Jamie Palomino."
Just Friends is one of those "friend zone" comedies where the guy thinks he's been spurned
because of some imaginary barrier, but eventually learns that the real problem is his own attitude.
The Christmas atmosphere and Reynolds' effortless comedic timing help to soften the film and
turn what could have been a bland story into a truly funny film.
"Ho ho ho.
Who's got a Christmas present?
I do.
How you doing, boss.
Merry Christmas."
"Do I look fat in these pants?
"Hell no."
Among romantic comedy fans, Noah Centineo is perhaps best known for his role in the
Netflix hit To All The Boys I've Loved Before.
"Uh, you know people usually check behind them before they reverse.
You know, to avoid killing others.
It's a thing we do."
But he didn't stop delivering romcom charm there.
In 2019, Centineo starred in The Perfect Date, a clever and engaging film about a young man
who will do whatever it takes to go to Yale.
The only problem is, he's a little short on funds.
To make his dream a reality, Brooks decides to use a custom app and basically hire himself
out as a "stand-in" date.
Everything seems to go well as Brooks plays various roles for the sake of his new business,
but it all changes when he develops a bond with one particular girl.
"So, uh, pick me up at 7."
"It's a date.
Oh and Celia, next time you require my services, could you use my app?"
"Oh my God, you didn't."
You can probably see where this is going, but that doesn't make The Perfect Date any
less charming.
Centineo feels born to play this kind of romcom leading man, and the film manages to dig into
deep emotional territory without ever feeling too heavy.
Some romantic comedies get by on simple, straightforward love stories, while others have to get just
a bit more complicated with it.
Love Jacked finds itself in the latter category.
The story follows Maya, a restless young artist who takes a trip to Africa to find inspiration
and instead finds what she thinks is love.
When that relationship falls apart and because she fears telling her overbearing father he
was right about her African romance Maya instead comes up with a plan.
She convinces a desperate hustler, who needs to find a place to hide out from his former
partner, to pose as her African fiancé for a few days to impress her parents.
Of course, what neither of them counts on is that they'll fall in love.
While the sometimes convoluted setup takes a little while, Love Jacked still manages
to win you over on the strength of the chemistry between its leads, Amber Stevens West and
Shamier Anderson.
They make the transition from grudging allies to lovers look smooth and easy, and the fantastic
supporting cast only adds to the film's charm.
"Thank you Mrs. Johnson."
"Just call me mom."
"Thank you mom."
"Call me G-mom."
"Thank you G-mom."
"Call me Ed."
"Alright!"
You won't find a romantic comedy released in the 2010s that boasts a better ensemble
cast than Someone Great.
And you won't find many willing to dig this deep into the emotional realities of lost
love.
The film follows music journalist Jenny in the aftermath of a breakup and on the verge
of a big move from New York to San Francisco.
"We broke up last night but I'm 100% fine."
"Like we were together for like nine years, right, and now we're not."
As her years-long relationship fades away before her eyes, Jenny is determined to have
one last great time in the city with her best friends no matter what the cost.
But even as the fun begins, she realizes she still has a lot of soul searching to do, and
everything she sees sends her into a memory of what she once had.
In a sense, Someone Great is more of a breakup movie than a falling-in-love movie, but that
doesn't mean it's a sad story.
Through clever dialogue, a winning ensemble, and a killer soundtrack, the film never stops
having fun with its own premise, even as it's examining the fallout of Jenny's love life.
Some romantic comedies are about how a relationship comes together, while others are about how
one falls apart.
Happy Anniversary exists somewhere in between, as two people have to figure out what their
future will be while having a few laughs along the way.
Starring Ben Schwartz and Noel Wells, the film centers on a seemingly perfect couple
whose relationship begins to unravel on the morning of their anniversary.
Mollie is unhappy and yearning for the romance of their earliest encounters, while Sam is
urging her to be patient and wait and see what their lives have in store.
"Maybe Mollie and I are just too different.
Like I see the glass of water as half full; she sees the water as poisoned."
What follows is a day in which the two go their separate ways, but keep remembering
their past together.
Some memories are funny, while some are heartbreaking.
In the end, Happy Anniversary is a breezy, fun little story about the importance of patience
and work in relationships.
Even if you love romantic comedies that follow all the classic formulas, there comes a time
when you need a little bit of a palate cleanser.
Win It All, co-written by and starring Jake Johnson, makes a great change of pace.
The main thrust of the plot isn't a romance, but a gambling problem, as Johnson's character
Eddie struggles with the fallout after he gambles money that doesn't belong to him.
In the middle of a hot streak, he meets a beautiful woman named Eva - played by Aislinn
Derbez - in a bar, and they form a connection.
In Eva, Eddie finds someone worth turning his life around for, but in order to leave
the past behind, he first has to lean in hard on his gambling past for what he hopes will
be one last major windfall.
Even though it's not a traditional romantic comedy, fans of the subgenre will still find
a lot to love here.
Sometimes all a romantic comedy needs to hook viewers instantly is an unforgettable lead,
and The Incredible Jessica James definitely has that.
The film stars Jessica Williams in the title role as a playwright and children's theater
teacher who's struggling to get over an ex.
"Hey Damon, it's great to see you moved on already after only two and a half months of
not dating."
"Three and a half months, actually, but uh…"
Though Jessica would rather pretend she doesn't need a new romantic interest, things change
when she's set up with a charming, unassuming man named Boone, and the pair unexpectedly
hit it off.
"Are you going this way too?"
"Yeah."
"That's awkward."
"I wouldn't say this is any more or less awkward than any other part of the night."
The Incredible Jessica James is a classic example of a romcom that makes you scream
"Just get together already!" at the screen, while also never sacrificing the independence
at the core of its title character.
Williams and Chris O'Dowd share a fantastic chemistry, and together they make the film
endlessly watchable.
Comedic geniuses Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami directed, co-wrote, and star in The Breaker
Upperers as two best friends who start a business staging elaborate break-ups for people who
are finding it hard to get out of relationships.
There's only one rule: Don't fall in love with the clients.
Of course, that rule was made to be broken, and one of them starts to get close to a young
man who recently hired them.
"Shower in a can."
A comedy of errors soon unfolds, and Mel and Jenn have to decide if their relationship
is strong enough to survive it all.
The Breaker Upperers is one of those romcoms you can still watch even if you're tired of
other romcoms, and it winds up being about the love between two best friends more than
anything else.
"Prince."
"No."
"Kermit."
"No."
"I give up."
"Celine Dion."
"You sound like a seal being strangled."
"Yeah that's what she sounds like.
That's why I love her."
Set It Up isn't complicated, it's not trying to reinvent the romcom wheel, and it's not
ashamed to go right at the tropes we love.
And that's what makes it so fun.
The film follows two personal assistants to ultra-demanding professionals who work in
different parts of the same office building.
After a chance meeting in which they both complain that they never get time off, they
come up with an idea.
They'll use their intimate knowledge of their bosses played by Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs to
create the perfect romantic setup, so they can finally have some time off while their
employers get to know each other.
"We know everything about them, what they like, what they don't like.
We control their entire schedule.
We are the men behind the curtain.
We can get them to do anything."
Of course, if you've watched any romantic comedies at all, you can see where this is
going pretty much from the start.
But what's great about the film is it never attempts to trick you out of that payoff.
Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell are great together as the two leads, and we want to see them
get closer to each other almost immediately.
Throw in some great comedic work from both Liu and Diggs, and you've got a perfect piece
of movie comfort food.
If you're a longtime fan of romantic comedies, you know that the genre comes in all shapes
and sizes.
Tramps is a film that proves the versatility of the romantic comedy by following all the
expected beats in a very unexpected way.
The film features Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten as two down-on-their-luck people
who have been asked to be part of a shady briefcase swap that will hopefully benefit
them both.
When the swap goes wrong, they're left spending the day together with little cash, little
time, and a desperate need to set things right.
Along the way, they find they have a lot more in common than they may have realized and...
well, you can probably guess where things go from there.
Tramps makes the hard times of its main characters a key part of their bond.
They're two wanderers in search of some kind of freedom, and it turns out they just might
find it in each other.
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