The 20 Best Romantic Comedy Movies

One of the surest ways to turn a bad day around is to put on a good romantic comedy. Here are 20 films worth curling up on the couch for, from the classics to newer favorites, trailer included for each.

1. Pretty Woman (1990)

Directed by Garry Marshall, this classic follows the cool, calculating businessman Edward (Richard Gere), who hires Vivian (Julia Roberts), a woman he meets on Hollywood Boulevard, to be his escort for a week of social events. The Rodeo Drive shopping spree and Vivian's "Big mistake. Huge." line remain some of the genre's most quoted moments. What starts as a transaction turns into a modern Cinderella story neither of them saw coming.

2. Notting Hill (1999)

Written by Richard Curtis, this film follows William (Hugh Grant), an ordinary travel bookshop owner in London, who falls for world-famous movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). It handles the awkward collision of fame and everyday life with warm humor, and is remembered for the line "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." The house with the blue door from the film still draws visitors to Notting Hill today.

3. Love Actually (2003)

Another Richard Curtis film, this ensemble piece weaves together eight different couples' stories in the five weeks before Christmas in London. Hugh Grant as a dancing prime minister, Colin Firth falling for a housekeeper who doesn't speak his language, and Liam Neeson coaching his stepson through first love all combine into one of the genre's most rewatched films.

4. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Adapted from Helen Fielding's novel of the same name, the film follows thirty-something Bridget (Renée Zellweger) through a diary in which she pokes fun at her own love life, weight, and smoking habit. Caught between her charming boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) and the reserved lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), Bridget became a turning point for the genre by being wonderfully, believably imperfect.

5. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Julia Roberts plays Julianne, who realizes she's actually in love with her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) the moment he announces his engagement, and sets out to sabotage the wedding. What sets it apart from the genre's usual formula is that the happy ending gets flipped, Julianne doesn't win him, she learns something bigger about herself instead.

6. You've Got Mail (1998)

Directed by Nora Ephron, the film follows Joe (Tom Hanks), owner of a big-box bookstore chain, and Kathleen (Meg Ryan), owner of a small independent bookshop and his real-life business rival, who fall for each other over anonymous emails without knowing who's on the other end. Inspired by 1940's The Shop Around the Corner, it's remembered as the defining romantic comedy of the early email era.

7. Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Left by his wife, middle-aged Cal (Steve Carell) tries to rebuild his confidence under the wing of the smooth-talking Jacob (Ryan Gosling). The film weaves in a parallel romance featuring Emma Stone, then ties every thread together in a dinner-table finale with a family connection nobody sees coming.

8. The Proposal (2009)

Facing deportation, tough editor Margaret (Sandra Bullock) forces her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into a fake engagement, and the ruse turns into something real once they fly to Alaska to meet his family. Betty White as the scene-stealing grandmother gives the film some of its most memorable comic energy.

9. Legally Blonde (2001)

Dumped by her boyfriend for not being "serious" enough, Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) gets into Harvard Law School to win him back, and ends up thriving in ways nobody expected. The "bend and snap" scene and Elle solving a murder case using her fashion expertise turned it into a lasting cult classic.

10. 27 Dresses (2008)

Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a serial bridesmaid who's stood up at the altar 27 times but never once been the bride. Her world turns upside down when her sister gets engaged to the boss Jane has secretly loved for years, and a wry wedding-column journalist ends up giving the story its warmest turn.

11. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

Journalist Andie (Kate Hudson) is writing a magazine piece on how to drive a man away on purpose, while ad executive Ben (Matthew McConaughey) has bet his boss he can make any woman fall for him in 10 days. Neither knows the other's plan, and their collision course turns into one of the genre's fastest-talking showdowns.

12. (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, the film tells its love story out of order, jumping back and forth across 500 remembered days instead of a straight timeline. As the narrator warns upfront, this isn't a love story, and the ending, where Tom moves on and meets someone named Autumn, deliberately breaks the genre's usual happy-ending expectation.

13. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Directed by David O. Russell, the film follows Pat (Bradley Cooper), freshly out of a psychiatric facility, and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar for the role), who is working through her own grief, as they train together for a dance competition. Weaving mental health into the comedy gave the genre an emotional layer it rarely reaches for.

14. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Adapted from Kevin Kwan's novel, the film follows New York-based Rachel (Constance Wu) as she travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family, only to discover he belongs to one of the wealthiest families in the country. Being the first major studio film in a generation with an all-Asian cast made it a milestone well beyond its lavish visuals.

15. To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

Adapted from Jenny Han's novel, this Netflix film follows high schooler Lara Jean (Lana Condor) whose five secret love letters get mailed out by mistake. A fake relationship with one of the letter's recipients (Noah Centineo) turns into something real, and the film became a defining rom-com for a generation of streaming audiences.

16. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Adapted from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and transplanted to a Seattle high school, the film follows Patrick (Heath Ledger), who's paid to woo the fiercely independent Kat (Julia Stiles) so her younger sister Bianca can finally date. Ledger serenading Kat from the bleachers with a marching band is one of the genre's most quoted scenes.

17. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner, the film follows Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) as they stay friends for a decade while circling the question of whether men and women can really just be friends. The deli scene, capped by the line "I'll have what she's having" (delivered by Reiner's own mother in a cameo), remains one of the most famous comedic beats in film history.

18. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Another Nora Ephron film, it begins with a young boy calling into a radio show to find his widowed father Sam (Tom Hanks) a new match. Annie (Meg Ryan), listening from across the country, falls for a man she's never met. A direct homage to 1957's An Affair to Remember, it saves its two leads' first meeting for the top of the Empire State Building.

19. Palm Springs (2020)

Starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, the film follows two strangers who meet at a wedding and get trapped in a strange time loop, reliving the same day over and over. It made a major splash at the Sundance Film Festival and gave the genre a fresh, sci-fi-tinged twist rarely seen in a rom-com.

20. Anyone But You (2023)

Loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the film follows Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell), who run into each other again at a wedding after a first date gone badly wrong and end up faking a relationship to please their families. Driven largely by organic buzz on TikTok, it became a genuine sleeper box-office hit.

Making Movie Night Feel Like an Event

Turning it into a small ritual instead of just picking a film makes the difference: put the phones away, set out snacks you both like, and take turns choosing from the list so it's never one-sided.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which one should we start with? Picking a film neither of you has seen before creates a shared first-watch experience and gives you something fresh to talk about afterward.

Is this list only for couples? Not at all, most of these are just as enjoyable with friends or watched solo.

A good rom-com is one of the easiest ways to lighten the mood after a heavy week. Picking one from this list and settling into the couch is sometimes the best date night plan there is.