12 romantic comedy recommendations from experts on the genre
This year, I made it a personal goal to find compelling voices and creators working on romantic comedies, and interview them about what they are working on and what motivates them. It has been one of the best ways to learn about entertainment more broadly, and has made me feel even more connected to the genre in addition to the amazing work that our team at Meet Cute is doing to push the genre forward. Each of my guests was asked to name a romantic comedy that stuck with them or that they learned something from. Their responses would make a nice watch (or rewatch) list for the cold weather coming up this winter — I can almost guarantee there’s some on this list that you haven’t seen! Without further ado, here’s the curated list of movies that were mentioned in my interviews with rom-com writers, directors, and actors:
You’ve Got Mail picked by January guest, Matty Finochio from Love Hard (2021) on Netflix.
“The only movie that really pops up for me…is You’ve Got Mail, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan again — Meg Ryan really does a lot of rom-coms, way to go Meg Ryan! But yeah, that one was kind the first of its kind, wasn’t it? It used pop-ups from Yahoo Messenger or something like that. But that’s the only movie that I think handled that well, as far as online dating. We had conversations around the apps in the movie, like when Natalie says, “Oh my god, my circle is too small, I can’t find anybody.” And her friend says, “Well, you gotta look farther out than the five mile radius!”
Bringing Up Baby picked by February guest, Billy Mernit, the author of textbook “Writing The Romantic Comedy”.
“Out of all the old screwballs, I’d go with Bringing Up Baby, largely because no matter how silly the story gets– and it gets way silly– it’s Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn at their comedic peaks.”
When Harry Met Sally picked by March guest, Karen McCullah, screenwriter of Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Ugly Truth, and She’s The Man.
“It’s the old classic When Harry Met Sally– I mean, not old, in the 80s. It felt very real at the time. It was just so funny and simple, but it was just about people and how they relate. It didn’t need any big, giant gimmick or anything.”
My Best Friend’s Wedding picked by April guest, Kiwi Smith, screenwriter of Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, and She’s The Man.
“My favorite rom-com is My Best Friend’s Wedding. I rewatched it recently at Cinespia’s drive-in theater and it really holds up! Julia Roberts’ character is a flawed protagonist. She’s doing something technically really unlikable, but she’s overcoming so many obstacles all across the journey of the movie, which makes it really fascinating. Namely, the fact that the fiancé is played by Cameron Diaz and she’s expecting to hate her, but she actually falls in love with her. It’s a really fun way to see a protagonist– her goal is so terribly wonky and she’s getting punished for it throughout the movie. I also love how her best gay friend becomes a really hilarious supporting character. It’s an important thing to keep in mind about continuing to add complications by way of really funny supporting characters, too. It’s very psychologically rich and it’s beautifully directed.”
City Lights picked by May guest Marc Klein, screenwriter of Serendipity (2001).
“This is going to sound deliberately pretentious and obscure, but my favorite romantic comedy of all time is City Lights, by Charlie Chaplin. It was actually Chaplin’s final silent film before he turned to sound — and it has everything that I try to accomplish when I write a romantic comedy. There’s a genius meet cute, a moving love story, social commentary, some of the funniest set-pieces ever committed to film, and an ending that always brings me to tears. The premise of the film is that Chaplin’s character, The Tramp, falls in love with a blind flower girl who mistakes him for a wealthy man. The Tramp offers to pay for an experimental surgery so the girl can regain her sight, but of course, he’s penniless. So he’s forced to do all these crazy, desperate things in order to earn the money. At one point, he becomes a boxer. He gets into a boxing ring and gets his ass kicked. But it’s one of the most brilliant physical comedy scenes you’ll ever see. One of the reasons I admire this movie so much is not just because Chaplin’s telling a great story, but because he’s literally inventing the rom-com tropes that were later perfected in the screwball comedies of the 30’s and 40’s. And the most incredible thing of all is that Chaplin wrote, produced, directed, edited, composed the score, and starred in the movie. How’s that for a multi-hyphenate!”
French Kiss picked by June guest, Harper Dill, screenwriter of Marry Me (2022).
“It has everything you want in a rom-com — a wonderfully sassy rapport between Meg Ryan and Kevin Klein, they’re in Paris, they’re in the south of France, they’re on a train, they’re always eating cool meals, Kevin Klein has this weirdly hot mustache, A+ soundtrack, and it’s pretty airtight. And no one is more darling than peak Meg Ryan.”
Only You, picked by July guest Maggie Mull, writer and producer, known for Maggie (2022), Life in Pieces (2015) and Family Guy (1999).
“Only You, with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr., is one of the best rom-coms, and it’s very similar actually to what I’m doing now [reference to her show, Maggie, on Hulu] because it plays with this idea of fate. Marisa Tomei is a child playing on a ouija board and is told her soulmate’s name. She spends her life looking for this guy named Damon Bradley, and in her search for him, she meets Robert Downey Jr. He helps her look for him, but of course in the end, Robert is the person she’s supposed to be with. On top of a great story line, it takes place in Italy and the clothes are stunning. It’s the rom-com version of The Talented Mr. Ripley, you get that aesthetic, but then you also get Marisa Tomei being zany in these beautiful dresses.”
Father of the Bride, picked by August guest, Charles Shyer, who also co-wrote and produced The Parent Trap (1998) and The Noel Diary (2022).
“I didn’t even know the original movie, but Steve Martin came to me and Nancy and asked us if we’d like to do it because he really liked Baby Boom. We read the script that had already been written, and we didn’t love it. In fact, I read it on the airplane on my way to New York to meet Steve. Don’t ask me why I decided to read the script at the last minute, but I thought I was going to jump out of the airplane because it was just not very good. But Steve convinced us to rewrite it, which we did. I had two young daughters at the time, so yes, I think a lot of Father of the Bride is based on feelings that we had for our daughters, especially me. The basketball scenes are all taken from Nancy’s life — she and her dad would always shoot hoops together. It was easier to write because it was a natural adjustment for me to put myself in Steve’s place already having daughters. The original Father of the Bride screenplay, by Goodrich and Hackett, was a really good script. They were terrific writers. So there was a lot to bring in from that.”
Love, Actually, picked by September guest, Melanie Chandra, who is known for her role in Hot Mess Holiday on Comedy Central.
“It makes you both laugh and cry, the chemistry between all of the couples is so palpable, and it has one of my favorite movie moments of all time: the cue card scene. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s when Mark, the best friend of a recently married man, goes to Keira Knightly’s door, the new wife, and confesses she’s perfect to him over cue cards. It’s really a beautifully constructed scene.”
Coming To America, picked by October guest, Deborah S. Craig, who starred in Meet Cute (2022) and Me Time (2022).
“I love the idea that she falls in love with someone thinking he’s just a regular guy, and it turns out that he’s actually the Prince of Zamunda. I love that there is a whole layer of him that she doesn’t know, but falls in love with him for who he is. I think that’s a great fantasy to meet someone and then come to find out he’s also super rich! But he’s so cool and down to earth. Bridesmaids is also up there for me.”
Moonstruck, picked by November guest, Shiwani Srivastava, who wrote Wedding Season (2022)
“Aside from the fact that Cher and Nick Cage are amazing in it, I always loved how it put the two romantic leads in the context of their Italian families, their Italian worlds, and portray how they’re thriving, loving, and meddling. It’s such a robust world aside from a compelling love story because they’re not just existing in a vacuum, which happens in many rom-coms. To me, they feel like real people who dealt with real life and cultural complications, similar to what I have dealt with. In many ways, it’s always been the rom-com that I related to the most, especially growing up. Because of the humor and cultural specificity, it reminded me a lot of my Indian American community in Jersey.”
The Princess Bride, picked by December guest, Ashley Williams, who starred in How I Met Your Mother and many movies across Hallmark, Lifetime, and ABC Family.
“To me, what makes a great rom-com is being able to really understand what makes the lead characters tick by cracking into their own unique neurosis, life goals, and romantic goals. Comedy comes from truth, so when you can find the truth in a character, that’s when it starts to get really funny.
In doing these interviews and going back through the transcripts, I realized a few interesting trends. Also, if you want a holiday-specific list of recs, I have a separate list for you that I can provide. Happy binge-ing!
