Diehl 40's Top 25 Romantic Comedies

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I plan to watch a number of Romantic Comedies that are on the AFI list of best Romantic Comedies and nominations from other sources and compile my list of favorite Rom coms. Nominate away.


Here is what I am starting with:
Xabout a boy L
XCrazy Stupid Love L
Punch Drunk Love
XThe Big Sick
Crazy Rich Asians
Reality Bites
Bringing Up Baby L
Adams Rib
The Desk Set
XMoonstruck*
XPrincess Bride*
XThe Artist*
XHigh Fidelity”
XSilver Linings Playbook”
XJuno”
XLady Eve
The Apartment
The Philadelphia Story
Ninotchka*
Some Like it Hot
Roman Holiday”
XIt Happened One Night
XHis Girl Friday”
XThe Awful Truth”
XPlay it Again Sam”
XHannah and /her Sisters”
XAnnie Hall”
City Lights*
About Time*
XSingles*
Beginners*
XPurple Rose of Cairo*
XSabrina N
XThe Shop Around the Corner N?



When Harry Met Sally
While You Were Sleeping
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Say Anything
Chasing Amy
10 Things I Hate About You
Bridget Jones' Diary
Pretty Woman
Clueless
Love Actually
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Notting Hill
Groundhog Day
50 First Dates
There's Something About Mary
Coming to America



What do the "L"s at the end of certain titles mean?



The marks at the end of the movies are for me. They let me know if I will get the movie from netflix,, the library where I work, or if I own them already.



I will not rank these movies right away. There are a lot of great romantic comedies I have not seen, so I will watch those before I start to rank them. I will discuss each movie as I see it.




While You Were Sleeping
Dir Jon Tureltaub
Principal actors: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Jack Warden, Peter Poyle, Glynis Johns, and Peter Gallagher.



This is one of my favorite Romantic Comedies in terms of how many times I have seen it. After seeing it several times I have decided that it could have easily been a sicky-sweet mess of a movie, but there was something about the characters that kept me interested.
It did have a good cast who somehow kept it from being to sentimental. The Godfather, Saul (Jack Warden) who discovers Lucy’s (Sandra Bullock) secret early on but keeps quite because he thinks she will be good for the family. Jack (Bill Pullman), who plays his part of the brother who finds himself growing interested in his brothers Fiancé, very well.
Lucy (who works on the Chicago Mass transit system) has her eye on a handsome commuter (Peter Gallahger) finds herself coming to his rescue as he is mugged on the train station platform. He goes into a coma and she accompanies him to the hospital. When the man’s family shows up they mistake her for his fiancé. She does not correct them, and the comedy of errors takes off.
There is a happily ever after involved, but I think the acting kept it from being too sappy at the end. This movie might make into my top 25 Rom Coms, but probably near the bottom of the list.



25. Crazy Stupid Love
24. About a Boy

23. Stranger than Fiction
22. While You Were Sleeping
21. Mighty Aphrodite

20 It Happened One Night
19. Sabrina

18. Annie Hall
17. Play it Again Sam.
16. Lady Eve

15. The Shop Around the Corner

14. Hannah and Her Sisters
5. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


1. His Girl Friday






Play it Again Sam
Written by Woody Allen
Dir Herbert Ross
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy, et al
5/5
1972
This is Woody’s film adaptation of his well-received play by the same name. Woody plays a neurotic film projectionist who is recently divorced from his wife whos main criticism centers on the fact that his character is one of the great watchers, while she wants to be a doer.
Woody’s long-time friends try to help him meet other women to date, but none seem to be his type ( the neurotic, hypochondriac, watcher type). Woody turns to the ghost of Humphrey Bogart for help with his love problems. The problem with Bogart’s advice is that Woody is just not the sort to follow Bogart’s advice. He eventually finds that he is at his best when he is just himself. He just chooses the wrong person to get involved with. Woody has had several truly creative films such as Mighty Aphrodite and Purple Rose of Cairo. I think the Bogart set up in this movie should be counted as one of his more creative ideas. Will rat near the top of my Rom coms



Some of my favorite romantic comedies (some of which are repeats from posts above)

The most recent Emma
About Time
Palm Springs
Clueless
Secretary
Groundhog Day
Practical Magic
The Proposal
Moonstruck
Trainwreck
Some Like it Hot
When Harry Met Sally
Sleepless in Seattle
Warm Bodies
The Spectacular Now
The Apartment
Tootsie
What If
Before We Go
Harold and Maude
Beginners
It Happened One Night
I Love You Phillip Morris
Show Me Love (1998)
Saving Face
I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay
Little Voice
Take Me Home
Happy Accidents
Next Stop Wonderland
Bread and Tulips


Some comedies that aren't *great*, but are solid recommends from me and break out of the typical romantic comedy dynamic (ie feature gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans or neuroatypical characters):
Alex Strangelove
Straight Up
Latter Days
Adam (2009)
Bedrooms and Hallways
Boy Meets Girl
Every Day



Some of my favorite romantic comedies (some of which are repeats from posts above)

The most recent Emma
About Time
Palm Springs
Clueless
Secretary
Groundhog Day
Practical Magic
The Proposal
Moonstruck
Trainwreck
Some Like it Hot
When Harry Met Sally
Sleepless in Seattle
Warm Bodies
The Spectacular Now
The Apartment
Tootsie
What If
Before We Go
Harold and Maude
Beginners
It Happened One Night
I Love You Phillip Morris
Show Me Love (1998)
Saving Face
I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay
Little Voice
Take Me Home
Happy Accidents
Next Stop Wonderland
Bread and Tulips


Some comedies that aren't *great*, but are solid recommends from me and break out of the typical romantic comedy dynamic (ie feature gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans or neuroatypical characters):
Alex Strangelove
Straight Up
Latter Days
Adam (2009)
Bedrooms and Hallways
Boy Meets Girl
Every Day
I haven't seen 12 of the movies in your top 25, but I will say that Trainwreck was a terrible movie.






Play it Again Sam
Written by Woody Allen
Dir Herbert Ross
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy, et al
5/5
1972
This is Woody’s film adaptation of his well-received play by the same name. Woody plays a neurotic film projectionist who is recently divorced from his wife whos main criticism centers on the fact that his character is one of the great watchers, while she wants to be a doer.
Woody’s long-time friends try to help him meet other women to date, but none seem to be his type ( the neurotic, hypochondriac, watcher type). Woody turns to the ghost of Humphrey Bogart for help with his love problems. The problem with Bogart’s advice is that Woody is just not the sort to follow Bogart’s advice. He eventually finds that he is at his best when he is just himself. He just chooses the wrong person to get involved with. Woody has had several truly creative films such as Mighty Aphrodite and Purple Rose of Cairo. I think the Bogart set up in this movie should be counted as one of his more creative ideas. Will rat near the top of my Rom coms
I liked this movie, but I wish a little more screentime had been devoted to Alan's relationship with the spirit of Bogie...it was a clever hook for the film that got a lot less screentime than I expected.



I haven't seen 12 of the movies in your top 25, but I will say that Trainwreck was a terrible movie.
I realize that it was a polarizing film and that yours is a very common reaction. But I watched it before I'd read or heard many reactions to it and I laughed pretty much the whole way through. The physical comedy worked for me, the line delivery worked for me. I really like Bill Hader along with many of the other supporting actors (Vanessa Bayer, Tilda Swinton, Randall Park, and even LeBron James).

I also think that being afraid of commitment and thus engaging in destructive and alienating behaviors is an interesting and fresh approach to a romantic comedy protagonist, especially a female one. I appreciated that she was messy and unlikable and had a LOT of growing to do, and not in the sense that she just needed to "build her confidence" or have someone show her that if she took her hair out of a ponytail she was really pretty or choose between work and love. I like that the film acknowledged that the lessons we learn about relationships/partnerships as children stick with us and it can be hard to "unlearn" bad/destructive habits, including substance abuse as self-medication. In other words: it's a movie with a female protagonist who is incredibly messed up, and I appreciated both the range of topics it tackled and the way that it showed how the character goes about making things right with herself, her family, and the guy she loves.

It did get a WGA nomination for best original screenplay, and 28% of female reviewers on IMDb would give it a 8/10 or higher, so I don't feel totally alone or out of left field in saying it's worth checking out.



I guess I'd just say that what you felt was unfocused, I thought wove together decently, and I appreciated the multiple relationship dynamics, which you felt made the film overstuffed.

I was honestly expecting much more of an evisceration than what you actually wrote.