Romantic Comedies That Actually Work
A romantic comedy has two jobs, and most fail one of them. Either the jokes work and you never believe the couple, or the chemistry is real and nobody says anything funny. These are the ones that land both: films you'd happily watch for the laughs alone, with a couple you genuinely want to end up together.
The useful split is how much of the formula shows. When Harry Met Sally..., Notting Hill and Anyone but You play it straight and play it well, which is its own pleasure. Palm Springs, Hit Man and Eternity bolt the romance onto a high concept: a time loop, a fake hitman, an afterlife where you choose who to spend forever with. The Big Sick and Rye Lane feel closest to real life, and are the best bets if the formula usually puts you off. Glen Powell turns up in three of these, which tells you who the genre's leading man of the decade is.
Plenty of these are R-rated, mostly for language and sex talk, but Hit Man, Fire Island and Long Shot are frank about sex, so check the notes before choosing your company. Emma. and Crazy Rich Asians are the mildest. For romance with less comedy, see Date Night Movies; for the teenage end of the genre, Coming-of-Age Movies.
Palm Springs
Movie · 2020Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti trapped in the same wedding day, over and over. The time loop keeps the jokes fresh, but the real trick is that it becomes a sharp argument about commitment: what do you owe someone when nothing has consequences? Short, smart and properly adult, with sex, swearing and drugs.
When Harry Met Sally...
Movie · 1989The template every other film here is working from, and still the best written. Nora Ephron's script follows two people across more than a decade of the same argument: can men and women ever just be friends? Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are perfectly matched, and the deli scene is as funny as its reputation.
The Big Sick
Movie · 2017Kumail Nanjiani plays himself in the true story of how he met his wife, Emily V. Gordon, who co-wrote it. When she falls seriously ill, he ends up bonding with her parents, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano, in a hospital waiting room. Funnier than that sounds, and warmer than almost anything else here.
Crazy Rich Asians
Movie · 2018The broadest crowd-pleaser on the list. An economics professor flies to Singapore with her boyfriend and discovers his family is unimaginably rich and his mother, Michelle Yeoh, is unimpressed. Lavish, very funny whenever Awkwafina is on screen, and mild enough for a room with teenagers in it.
Rye Lane
Movie · 2023Two Londoners, both freshly dumped, meet in the bathroom at a friend's art show, where one of them is crying, and spend a long day wandering South London together. Bright, fast and stylish, with wide-angle camerawork that makes Peckham look like a fairground. Under ninety minutes, and the lesser-known pick most worth finding.
Hit Man
Movie · 2023Glen Powell plays a mild New Orleans philosophy professor who moonlights as a fake contract killer in police stings, then falls for a would-be client, Adria Arjona, who wants out of a bad marriage. Richard Linklater turns it into a sexy, slippery comedy about how much of a personality is performance. Loosely based on a real man, and frank about sex.
Notting Hill
Movie · 1999A London bookshop owner and the most famous actress in the world, played by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts at their most charming. Richard Curtis's script gives many of the best jokes to the friends, especially Rhys Ifans as the hopeless roommate. Gentle, sincere and a little long, which nobody seems to mind.
Always Be My Maybe
Movie · 2019Ali Wong and Randall Park, who co-wrote it with Michael Golamco, play San Francisco childhood friends who reconnect as adults: she's a celebrity chef, he never left home. Sweet and specific about family and food, and Keanu Reeves playing a ridiculous version of himself is the funniest stretch of any film on this list.
Fire Island
Movie · 2022Pride and Prejudice relocated to a week of parties on a gay vacation island, written by its star Joel Kim Booster, with Bowen Yang as the best friend who steals every scene. Sharp about class and friendship, sincerely romantic, and frank about sex and drugs, so choose your company.
Anyone but You
Movie · 2023Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell loathe each other after one bad date, then pretend to be a couple at a wedding in Australia. Critics were split; audiences turned it into a sleeper hit. An unashamed throwback, loosely built on Much Ado About Nothing, and the pick when you want the formula played straight. Expect plenty of nudity.
Moonstruck
Movie · 1987Cher as a Brooklyn widow engaged to the wrong brother, and Nicolas Cage as the right one. Loud, operatic and very funny about a big Italian-American family, and Cher won an Oscar for it. The best older pick here for anyone who usually avoids rom-coms.
The Lost City
Movie · 2022A romance novelist, Sandra Bullock, is kidnapped to a jungle island and her himbo cover model, Channing Tatum, sets out to rescue her. An adventure in the Romancing the Stone mold, and the pair are funnier together than the script deserves. Brad Pitt's brief appearance is a highlight. Rated PG-13.
Emma.
Movie · 2020Jane Austen's matchmaker who keeps getting it wrong, with Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma and Bill Nighy stealing scenes as her fretful father. Pastel, witty and precise, and the most purely comic Austen adaptation going. The romance arrives late and lands well. The mildest film here, and fine for a mixed room.
Long Shot
Movie · 2019Seth Rogen as a scruffy journalist hired to punch up speeches for the Secretary of State, Charlize Theron, who used to babysit him. The mismatch is the joke, and Theron makes it believable. Raunchier and more political than most rom-coms, and better than its modest box office suggested.
Set It Up
Movie · 2018Two overworked assistants, Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, try to set up their demanding bosses so they can finally get an evening off. Written by Katie Silberman, who went on to co-write Booksmart. Unflashy, quick and genuinely funny, and one of the films that made the rom-com feel fashionable again.
Eternity
Movie · 2025After death, you choose who to spend forever with, and Elizabeth Olsen's Joan has two husbands waiting: the one she grew old with, Miles Teller, and her first love, Callum Turner. Critics were mixed and audiences warmer. Its screwball energy and real sweetness carry the thin patches. The newest pick here.
I Want You Back
Movie · 2022Charlie Day and Jenny Slate, both dumped on the same weekend, become unlikely friends and team up to sabotage their exes' new relationships. A lesser-known gem with a deep supporting cast and a surprisingly kind heart. Expect plenty of swearing.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Movie · 2011Steve Carell's marriage ends, and Ryan Gosling's smooth bar regular decides to rebuild him. An ensemble with several love stories running at once, and Emma Stone and Gosling are wonderful together. A late reveal ties the threads together in a way that still gets a laugh from people who see it coming.
10 Things I Hate About You
Movie · 1999The Taming of the Shrew moved to a 1990s American high school, with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger as the sparring leads. Smarter than most teen comedies of its era, and Ledger's bleacher serenade is famous for good reason. A good way into the genre for teenagers.
Bridget Jones's Diary
Movie · 2001A London singleton with a diary, too many cigarettes and two men to choose between: Hugh Grant's cad and Colin Firth's stiff barrister. Renée Zellweger's Bridget is still the genre's great messy heroine. Some of the weight jokes have dated; the comedy of embarrassment hasn't.
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