The best love stories in film
by abracafabulous | created - 14 Oct 2012 | updated - 14 Oct 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 242,420 | Gross: $92.82M
The ultimate romantic comedy.
2. Before Sunrise (1995)
R | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl
Votes: 338,862 | Gross: $5.54M
The most romantic plot for a film, quite possibly ever. I want to meet a stranger on a train and walk all night around Vienna.
3. Before Sunset (2004)
R | 80 min | Drama, Romance
Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès
Votes: 287,521 | Gross: $5.82M
The sequel you didn't think could be just as good, but is.
4. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 256,071 | Gross: $0.62M
If you haven't seen this one, what have you been doing with your life?
5. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,191 | Gross: $38.41M
One of my favourite books of all time. Not the most faithful adaptation, but incredibly well done.
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,076,843 | Gross: $34.40M
Heartbreaking, in the best possible way.
7. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 70,272
Um, hello Audrey? Did you not realize the other brother was Humphrey Bogart? Duh you should end up with him.
8. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy
While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett
Votes: 66,026
HILARIOUS from start to finish. Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant make the best team.
9. Gigi (1958)
G | 115 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship which may not stay platonic for long.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters | Stars: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 24,458
Ignoring the creepy-ness of the opening song, I unashamedly love this musical and its love story.
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A middle-aged husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa | Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
Votes: 563,686 | Gross: $84.35M
Funny movie all around, but you'll fall in love with Ryan Gosling yet again when he's with Emma Stone.
11. The Notebook (2004)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Romance
An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.
Director: Nick Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Votes: 619,413 | Gross: $81.00M
I dare you not to cry.
12. The Thing Called Love (1993)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Newcomers to the country-music business seek love and stardom.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: River Phoenix, Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney, Sandra Bullock
Votes: 8,754 | Gross: $1.03M
One of River Phoenix's last roles. Sweet love story...but Sandra Bullock is also fantastic.
13. Walk the Line (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick
Votes: 265,663 | Gross: $119.52M
I want a love like Johnny and June.
14. Say Anything (1989)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor
Votes: 95,825 | Gross: $20.78M
JOHN CUSACK. BOOMBOX. You know what I'm talking about.
15. True Romance (1993)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In Detroit, a pop-culture nerd steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer
Votes: 242,277 | Gross: $12.28M
Yeah they don't exactly have great moral compasses, but they truly love each other?
16. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,096 | Gross: $43.66M
Romeo and Juliet, musical style. Lots of fighting, dance-style.
17. Reckless (1984)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A motorbike riding loner rebel on the high school football team wins a date with a cute, rich cheerleader. At the high school dance, her boyfriend's behavior leads to a breakup - opening doors.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Aidan Quinn, Daryl Hannah, Kenneth McMillan, Cliff De Young
Votes: 2,360 | Gross: $8.29M
In a town ripped straight out of a Bruce Springsteen song, bad boy Aidan Quinn seduces cheerleader Daryl Hannah and things get steamy.
18. Fire with Fire (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman from a Catholic school and a young man from a nearby prison camp fall in love and must run away together to escape the law, the church and their parents.
Director: Duncan Gibbins | Stars: Craig Sheffer, Virginia Madsen, Jon Polito, J.J. Cohen
Votes: 1,891 | Gross: $4.64M
A plot that could only have been whipped up in the 80's... boy from detention centre meets girl from catholic boarding school...they fall in love and run away.
19. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 450,635 | Gross: $30.86M
As you wish.
20. Roman Holiday (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
Votes: 147,521
Audrey Hepburn! Need I say more?
21. The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A man returns to his home town after serving a prison sentence for homicide, and finds that the details of the crime have been forgotten and replaced with local legends and rumors.
Director: Hal Hartley | Stars: Adrienne Shelly, Robert John Burke, Chris Cooke, Julia McNeal
Votes: 6,276 | Gross: $0.55M
An acquired taste...but irresistible plot.
22. Bright Star (2009)
PG | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Votes: 28,682 | Gross: $4.44M
Tragic period love story. Why not watch it a million times, obsess over it, and cry?
23. East of Eden (1955)
PG | 118 min | Drama
Two brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father's favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives
Votes: 48,776
James Dean's best role. Fantastic chemistry between Dean and Harris.
24. Twelfth Night (1996)
PG | 134 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Director: Trevor Nunn | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Imogen Stubbs, Steven Mackintosh
Votes: 6,397 | Gross: $0.59M
There's something about the whole "girl dresses as guy but straight guy is still attracted to her and he doesn't know why" thing that just screams true love to me.
25. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 384,485 | Gross: $38.18M
Classic revamping of Shakespeare's play. Heath Ledger is irresistible.
26. Valley Girl (1983)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
Director: Martha Coolidge | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily, Michael Bowen
Votes: 18,375 | Gross: $16.80M
Adorable and so 80's.
27. Benny & Joon (1993)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn, Julianne Moore
Votes: 62,023 | Gross: $23.20M
This movie is funny and warm and all around great. But Johnny Depp's Sam's love for Joon is the best part.
28. What's Your Number? (2011)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
A woman looks back at the past nineteen men she's had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love.
Director: Mark Mylod | Stars: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner
Votes: 87,325 | Gross: $14.01M
Guilty pleasure. I just loved the romance between Chris Evans and Anna Faris.
29. Dead Again (1991)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A woman who has lost her memory is taken in by a Los Angeles orphanage, and a private eye is enlisted to track down her identity, but he soon finds that he might have a past life connection to her that endangers their lives.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia, Lois Hall
Votes: 30,363 | Gross: $38.02M
Reincarnation is a recipe for true love.
30. Clueless (1995)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Votes: 245,467 | Gross: $56.63M
An adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. I'm pretty much obligated to love it.
31. Bridesmaids (I) (2011)
R | 125 min | Comedy
Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.
Director: Paul Feig | Stars: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Terry Crews
Votes: 308,919 | Gross: $169.11M
I want a cute cop to take home.
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