New York, Alabama, and Rome: My 10 Favorite Romance Movies
Jan 08 '06 (Updated Dec 29 '06)
The Bottom Line It was difficult for me to make a list of romances, but I have finally compiled a list that (almost) everyone can enjoy.
I have honestly never been a fan of romance movies. There are some that I have enjoyed over the years, but I have never really cared for many because there are such a limited few that doesn’t feel like a variation of Pride and Prejudice or Romeo or Juliet or follow the standard Hollywood formula. Of course, there are times where using just those formula work perfectly for me since I am a sucker for sentimental, corny, and clichéd endings (which I use as a defense when people say I don’t have a heart). It has been difficult compiling a top ten of romance movies, so I decided not to rank them and place them all in alphabetical order.
At the center of 1994’s Forrest Gump's great road trip through American history lie a love story between Forrest, a man who has little intelligence, and Jenny, the woman who aims and plans for a life in adulthood. The complex relationship is played out by Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Penn, both in the greatest performances in their careers, they both identify their character as humane and true. There were scenes where many can identify Jenny as a selfish being, or even the antagonist of the film, but there was something about her character, the way Wright portrays her, that makes you believe that all she wants is a mature sense of life, planning to become a folk singer, and in a way, protecting Forrest from the cold, dark world. What makes her complex is because she is indeed human, and humans become sidetracked and deluded in whatever situation she is in. Forrest’s love to Jenny is simple and straight, although naïve and childlike. Robert Zemeckis does such a good job in directing this film that I did believe that the two loved each other, even though the circumstances are not just. Perhaps not a romantic film, there is no doubt that Forrest Gump is indeed a love story, and a very complex one indeed.
The best parts of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part III, which received harsh criticism when it was released in 1990, was the dynamic relationship between divorced couple Michael Corleone, and Kay Adams, played by Al Pacino and Diane Keaton, reprising their roles from the first two films. I have always thought Pacino and Keaton lacked chemistry in the first two films, but in Part III, there is nothing but chemistry. The film’s story, aside from the Vatican plot, is the redemption of Michael, and for him to fully redeem, he wants to make peace with the mother of his children, and perhaps the woman he still loves. There is a scene in Sicily where Michael disguises himself as a chauffeur and drives Kay away so he can show her around Sicily himself. In Sicily, he tells Kay, “You’re gone, and it was all for nothing – so – you have to understand, I had a whole different destiny planned.” The way Pacino delivered the line and Keaton’s reaction – there has not been a more poignant scene between two actors. Although not a romantic film, it contains one of the most touching scenes ever.
By now, everyone probably knows 1996’s Jerry Maguire, written and directed by Cameron Crowe, is not a football movie – it is a chick flick disguised as a sports movie. Actually, Jerry Maguire is barely a sports movie – it’s about a sports agent (Tom Cruise) trying to give fame and fortune to a shallow football player (Cuba Goodings, Jr.) that eventually teaches the sports agent the importance of life. That’s half of the movie. The other half involves the romance between Cruise’s Jerry and his accountant, Dorothy, played by Renee Zellweger in a showcase performance as the love interest and would be wife. Certainly Jerry is attracted to Dorothy, likes her son, played by the adorable Jonathan Lipnicki, so he marries her. Their marriage doesn’t go swell like they have expected, but there is that scene near the end that seem to tear people apart, including me. Yes, it is the scene where Jerry tries to save their marriage while Dorothy is with her sisters’ divorced women group and Dorothy breaks down and responds, “Shut up, shut up. You had me at ‘hello.’” The finest piece of acting by Zellweger and it makes sense how after this film, she was given star spotlight treatment – great breakthrough performance. And I have to say – I love this film, due to Crowe’s fresh, fun, lively script, and the performances are great too, perhaps Cruise’s best as a leading man.
1939 is arguably, the greatest year for the movies, the golden year of the golden age, and comes the release of Gone with the Wind, a popular, Pulitzer prize-winning novel from Margaret Mitchell. Directed by Victor Fleming and sprinkled with high production values that still look quite modern today, Gone with the Wind was on its way of being one of the greatest films ever made. Vivien Leigh, still relatively unknown, was cast as cinema’s most notorious vixen, Scarlett O’Hara, and the film chronicles the tragic, doomed Civil War-era love affair between her and Clark Gable’s Rhett Butler. The film is actually more of an epic and character study between these two selfish people, but the film does have its romantic sparkle that has earned its reputation as one of the greatest love stories ever put on screen. Over sixty years later, the story is widely unknown, and the film is as timeless and elegant as ever and Leigh’s portrayal of Scarlett may still be the greatest female performance to ever grace a film.
Woody Allen’s love affair with New York is expressed thoroughly in Manhattan, a beautiful black and white Valentine to the city he loves, and the city his protagonist, Isaac Davis loves as well. To call Manhattan a romantic movie is a bit of a stretch because no on in this movie truly loves each other, or their love is fogged with problems and difficulties. It is Allen’s interpretation of 70’s romance in New York City, where couples seem doomed and lust is right around the corner. His best friend, Yale, played by Michael Murphy has a mistress, Mary, played by Diane Keaton. Later, Isaac also falls for Mary and convinces Mary that her relationship with Michael is done. He tries to convince his teenage lover, played by Mariel Hemingway, that their relationship is just a fling. His lesbian ex-wife, played in a scene-stealing performance by Meryl Streep is currently writing a tell-all book about their marriage. The film is much more an insight of a portrait of relationships rather than a romance. Painted with the music of George Gershwin in the background, the film feels melancholy but also filled with hope of romance and fulfillment in a world that is affected with more of the lack of faith rather than corruption.
My Fair Lady is a lovely film, a spectacular example of musicals from the age where musicals seemed to rule Hollywood. Audrey Hepburn stars as Eliza Dolittle, a plain, unladylike girl who gets a chance for a classic makeover. Enter Rex Harrison’s Professor Henry Higgins, and arrogant intellectual, determined to make Eliza a lady. In the process, he has gotten accustomed to her face and falls in love with her lively personality. The songs are amazing, pleasant to listen to, wonderful to hum along to (but maybe that’s just me). Hepburn has the most charms in My Fair Lady, perhaps more than in any of her other films and it will always remain a mystery why she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for her superb performance, but Harrison is nothing short of brilliant here as he sees himself hopelessly floating in an area that he is barely accustomed to. There is a scene where we see Eliza, magically transformed, and that is a magical moment on screen – she is completely different but her spirit is still there. Directed by George Cukor, My Fair Lady famously beat out Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in the 1964 Best Picture category, and honestly, My Fair Lady definitely deserved it, but of course, that’s only my opinion.
Katharine Hepburn broke out of her box office poison label after starring in 1940’s The Philadelphia Story, formerly a play that also starred Hepburn as Tracy Lord. She reprises the role in the film as well, and she plays it marvelously. After her divorce with Dexter, played by Cary Grant in his most memorable role, Tracy is ready to move on and marry George Kittredge, played by John Howard. Dexter wanders back into Tracy’s life and hires a reporter, Macaulay Connor, played by James Stewart in his Oscar-winning role, and photographer Liz Imbrie, played by Ruth Hussey to destroy her remarriage as revenge to Tracy. Due to Dexter’s revenge, Tracy can finally learn a thing a two about herself and choose between the men in her life – the man she is engaged to, the man she just met, or an old love that doesn’t seem to go away. Hepburn and Grant are so good in their respected roles that they are irreplaceable and proves why they are the Hollywood legends they are today. I did find Stewart’s role mildly amusing, but it was nowhere Oscar-worthy (just the academy’s apologies for not giving him an Oscar for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the previous year) – if anyone was to win an Oscar for their performances in The Philadelphia Story, there is no question that it should have been Grant. He was nothing short of sensational and every single scene with him on screen is the best scene. The Philadelphia Story does come off as a antique for others, but at its heart, it is a tender love story that gives a second chance to romance.
A time capsule to the innocent, golden age of Hollywood, 1953’s Roman Holiday gave Audrey Hepburn her first starring role and Oscar. In this William Wyler classic, she stars as a young princess, Ann, trying to escape her duties and venture out in Rome and finds Joe Bradley, played terrifically by Gregory Peck. Joe is a reporter, out to get her story, pretending he isn’t a reporter and doesn’t know she’s a princess while she plays along and hides her royal identity. Predictably, Joe and Ann fall in love in their little Rome adventure, but I fell for it because of the perfect chemistry Peck and Hepburn have on screen. Chemistry doesn’t get better than this, and so doesn’t a romantic comedy that barely aged and has been slightly duplicated even so many years after its release. Including a very funny supporting performance by Eddie Albert as Joe’s photographer friend, Roman Holiday is a gem that is the definite film not only romantic should watch, but also a must-see for film lovers.
The majority of Hollywood remakes – for a lack of a better word – sucks. Remakes make the film industry look like people who are not longer talented or interesting as they recycle old material as an excuse to make money. I cannot say that about Sydney Pollack’s 1995 remake of Sabrina, a Cinderella story that people desperately should seek since people really don’t make films like these anymore. I found the 1995 remake superior to the 1954 Billy Wilder original because it holds much more substance of a classic fairy tale. Julia Ormond replaces Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina Fairchild, which is quite a risqué move because however your try and replace Hepburn, you are going to get criticized. Fortunately, Ormond has the right sparkle, although not equal charm as Hepburn, but she fit the persona of Sabrina more than Hepburn ever did, simply because Hepburn is much too beautiful to play an ugly ducking, let alone be ignored by David Larrabee, here played by Greg Kinnear. Her chauffeur father sends her to Paris to intern for a magazine and she comes back as a gorgeous young lady. While David falls for Sabrina, David’s brother-slash-workaholic, Linus, played by Harrison Ford, plots for David’s marriage to secure ties to another company, but instead of only doing what is planned, Linus also falls for Sabrina. The screenplay, while modernized, still tells the story, and the lovely thing is, it tells it even better, with much more depth to the characters and I also found it funnier and more romantic.
Many might argue, but I do think 1998’s You’ve Got Mail is a huge improvement from 1993’s Sleepless In Seattle. Both are written and directed by the romantic comedy empress Nora Ephron and both star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but You’ve Got Mail manages to have a giggly charm to it that makes it simply irresistible. Ryan stars as Kathleen Kelly, the owner of a small bookstore that is being dominated by Joe’s (Hanks) gigantic book emporium just across the street that reflects a Barnes & Nobles book chain. Little do they know, they are both Shopgirl and NY152 online via AOL instant messaging and they are falling for each other – online – while being competitors in the real world. Thanks to Ephron’s script filled with funny one-liners and good supporting performances from Parker Posey and Greg Kinnear, the film pulls through as an excellent example of a quality 90’s blockbuster and romantic comedy. Shameless plugging? Predictable? Amazingly corny? Sure, but it doesn’t stop me from considering this film from being a guilty pleasure.
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Member: Marcy
Location: USA
Reviews written: 62
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About Me:
My name is Marcy and I like to be entertained.
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