Romantic Comedies are most people’s guilty pleasure. They encompass a good range of characteristics that make watching them fun. You have a hint of drama from unrequited love, the laughter of some punny jokes, and tug at your heartstrings emotional moments. There’s nothing like a Friday night in with your best friends gushing about the cute male actor. It also helps that Netflix has a vast array to satisfy your Rom-Com needs.
1. The Kissing Booth (2018)
This Netflix original film will fulfill any teen fantasy you had in high school. Directed by Vince Marcello, The Kissing Booth is a romantic comedy based around two best friends, Elle Evans (Joey King) and Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney). The problem becomes that Lee has a hot bad boy older brother who is off limits. Elle and Noah (Jacob Elordi) have to keep their relationship a secret to avoid hurting Lee’s feelings. I know what you’re thinking: this sounds like a story straight out of Wattpad. That’s because it is! The story was written by Beth Reekles when she was 15. Even I remember reading the story when I was younger. Trust me, there is nothing better than your favorite bad boy romance coming to life on screen.
2. Just Friends (2005)
Who at some point in their life has been friend zoned? Or has been in love with their seemingly attractive best friend? In JustFriends, a film directed by Roger Kumble, the plot revolves around an overweight nerd Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) who is hopelessly in love with his popular, hot best friend Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). Brander, on the other hand, is considered a loser and becomes humiliated by the whole school after confessing his feelings on graduation night. Consumed with embarrassment and vengeance, he vows to become successful. Years later, he’s stranded in his hometown and reconnects with Jamie who he tries to impress with his new looks and success but fails as he comes off as conceited instead. This film is a classic friend zoned story with a happy ending.
3. Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
As the third installment in the franchise, Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is on the quest again to find herself and hopefully find love before it’s too late. If you haven’t seen the other two films, I highly recommend gathering your girlfriends and having a movie marathon. Bridget, turning 43, is hit with the reality of her love life and how all her friends are moving on in life with marriage and starting a family. Determined to live her single life to the fullest, she goes to a music festival only to be enchanted by American mogul Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) which she ends up having relations with. At a family event she bumps into the former love of her life Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), who she also has relations with. Now comes the tricky part: she’s pregnant and doesn’t know which of the two is the father. The film revolves around whether or not Bridget should focus on a new love with Jack or go back to Mark.
4. Leap Year (2010)
We’ve all heard of stories of a relationship never taking that final step to marriage. In this romantic comedy, Anna Brady (Amy Addams) is sick and tired of her cardiologist boyfriend not popping the question after four years of a relationship. She has the perfect job, the perfect boyfriend, the soon-to-be perfect home; all she’s missing is the perfect ring. Fed up, Anna follows her boyfriend to a cardiologist convention in Dublin, Ireland without him knowing. With full intent to get married, she finds out about an Irish tradition of women proposing to their boyfriends on February 29th, a leap day. Due to weather conditions and inconveniences, she lands in the small town of Dingle where she enlists the help of tavern owner Declan O’Callaghan (Matthew Goode) to get her to Dublin. Along the way, Anna starts to question whether she loves her cardiologist boyfriend or has feelings for Declan who she would risk her extravagant home back in Boston for a simple life.
5. Playing It Cool (2014)
Plagued with the inability to love, Me (Chris Evans) is in a creative rut when he is told to write a Rom-Com screenplay before he can write action films. Finding it hard to fall in love or to show any real interest emotionally, Me can’t find it in himself to write a romantic story, until he meets Her (Michelle Monaghan). The only person that has been able to make Me feel all warm and fuzzy inside is sadly already engaged. The film is done in a way where the protagonist creates a monologue with you and with Me’s thoughts where oftentimes his brooding and grey alter ego pops up. In Playing It Cool, you take an emotional journey with Me in discovering what love really is.
Read more Entertainment news at clichemag.com
Top 5 Rom-Coms on Netflix: Image Credits: Netflix, New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures, and Vertical Entertainment
