ROTTEN TOMATOES: Best Romantic Comedies

Best Romantic Comedies

February 05, 2009

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, we at RT are aware you’ve probably already thought of picking up flowers and candy for that special someone. However, if you’re looking for the perfect cinematic Cupid’s arrow, we’re here to help, in the form of RT’s Best Romantic Comedies! Nothing caps a romantic Valentine’s Day like watching glamorous couples fall in love -- often while trading witty barbs. And if you find yourself dateless, don’t despair: the likes of Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Woody Allen, and Meg Ryan make for good company.

However, determining what made the cut wasn’t without its complications (kinda like love itself). We utilized a weighted system that factors in both Tomatometer and number of reviews, and each movie needed 30 reviews to qualify. Given the fact there’s hardly a lack of romance and comedy in the movies, we decided to winnow our candidates down to lighthearted films that primarily focus on love affairs. So dim the lights, pop the bubbly, and get cozy with our compendium of the best reviewed romantic comedies of all time!

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(1-20 of 103 posts) | Reply

BubbitahMovieMan writes:
on Feb 10 2009 01:38 PM

what about City Lights??!!

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bethehero7404 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 01:42 PM

Really? 'Say Anything' didn't make the list? Really? That is my favorite romantic comedy of all time. Woody Allen does great with romance script and directing but John Cusack owns ROM COMS.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 02:49 PM

Yes, "City Lights" is by far the greatest of it's kind... and it's nowhere to be found. Anyway, I'm not a romantic comedy kind of guy, but every once in a while I like one. "City Lights" is one of my all time favorite films, I like "It Happened One Night", I liked "The Philadelphia Story", I don't think they're great, but they're good. I HATE "Bringing Up Baby". I don't care what you say, it's awful. I didn't laugh once. I only cringed, because I know Cary Grant is a great actor, and to see him reduced to tripping over small tables... ugh. I'm not afriad to say it's one of the worst movies ever made... but good list, missing the best of it's kind, "City Lights". And almost any Woody Allen film is great.

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NTROST writes:
on Feb 10 2009 03:45 PM

@ledawg

Actually, this list is missing techinally the greatest comedy & that's Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot". Also, "It Happened One Night" & "The Philadelphia Story" are not just good dude, there are unprecedented classics. They are beyond good by all means. Good or satisfactory would be Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up". The one that shouldn't be on here is the insufficiently inadmissible & dissatisfying film known as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin".

Second off, just because you dispise Howard Hawk's "Bringing Up Baby" doesn't mean it's not a classic by any means. Also, calling it one of the worst movies ever made? is just absurd, illogical, ill-judged & impolitic statement. Do you honestly believe it belongs to such a list of films that have such titles as "Disaster Movie", "Meet The Spartans", "Babylon A.D.", "House Of The Dead", "Postal", "The Happening", "The Hottie & The Nottie", "Step Brothers", "The Love Guru", "Don't Mess With The Zohan", & down that line? Seriously, that comment is just outright flawed & just pure doltish.

Hey, I can understand maybe it's not your cup of tea or you're just not that impartial or equitable to films but let's not become overhasty & blurt out utterly imbeilic & cretinous comments.

I'm assuming you weren't a fan of "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "I Love Lucy", "Leave It To Beaver & such? or even possibly "The Three Stooges"? I could be wrong but...well...anyways.

P.S. I'm suprised "Wedding Crashers" didn't make this list but I'm even highly more disgusted that "Some Like It Hot" isn't on here.

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NTROST writes:
on Feb 10 2009 03:49 PM

correction on "imbeilic": it's imbecilic.

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Mr. Bo Ziffer writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:02 PM

I actually liked The 40-Year-Old Virgin more than Knocked Up. It felt kind of stretched out at 2 hours. I just watched Some Like It Hot yesterday and I really liked it. "White Chicks: The Prequel", only actually funny.

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Aaron H. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:03 PM

Where is Garden State at? That is probably one of my all time favorite movies; it fits the Comedy/Romance genre perfectly. Also, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favorites and it didn't make this list either...

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shane f. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:03 PM

'sense & sensibility' is a romantic comedy? I don't remember laughing much...

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:06 PM

In reply to this comment (#2313114)
Yeah I actually liked 40 Year Old Virgin more too, though my problem with Knocked Up was Katherine Hegiel. Annie Hall is my all time favorite romantic comedy then Some Like it Hot. There aren't enough good romantic comedies these days, and I am a sucker for good ones. Also Playing it by Heart has always had a soft spot in my heart... man that sounds chick flick like, but I meant it!

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insanemansam5 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:06 PM

Hmm...not a bad attempt but Philadelphia Story really that's the best romantic comedy ever?

Also, there were a few missing films Say Anything, The Shop Around the Corner, Ninotchka, and Adam's Rib.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:13 PM

Yeah, "Some Like It Hot" needs to be on there. THAT was funny. As for "Bringing Up Baby", I'm not apoligetic. Bear in mind it's my opinion, so I'm just saying what I've wanted to say since I saw it a year ago. The whole time I was thinking "Oh, just kill me now!" I'm not being hasty, it's always awkward to say you don't like a movie everyone loves. Or in my case, hate. Let's leave it at one of the worst I'VE seen. I haven't seen any of the films you mentioned, because they look bad. As for the old programs you mentioned, half I like, half I don't like. I don't like "Leave it to Beaver" or "I Love Lucy", but I do like "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and I love the Three Stooges. And before you ask, I'm a Marx Brother fan as well. Why do I like some and some I don't? Simple, If I laugh when I'm supposed to, I like it. If not, tough luck. Anyway RT, put on "City Lights" and "Some Like It Hot".

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Anna L. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:27 PM

What, you don't bother to mention "The Graduate"?

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:41 PM

Some of the ones you guys are commenting about aren't "comedies." I love SAY ANYTHING, but it isn't a comedy.

Ntrost is right about "Some Like it Hot." That was hilarious.

One sad thing about this list is that Hugh Grant and his teeth are all over it. Sense and Sensibility, a comedy? Really?

When I get to it, I'm sure there is one huge flaw in this list, and it's that I only saw 1 foreign language film.

(I think for the person mentioning Chaplin's City Lights, and for that matter Gold Rush, it isn't listed as there aren't enough reviews.)

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NTROST writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:46 PM

@ledawg
Fair enough ledawg & please don't take it as a personal onslaught. I just found the particular comment outlandish & overhasty. & by the way, those films I mentioned? trust me! you don't want to see them.

@insanemansam5
First off, "The Philadelphia Story" is most definitely up there especially when you have names such as Cary Grant, James Stewart, & Katherine Hepburn involved in the highly well crafted story & then being directed by George Cukor. It's pretty damn hard to get much better. But who's really to say that it's the actual greatest romamtic comedy ever but it's most definitely up there no question about it. I know most have put "Some Like It Hot" as the ultimate greatest, some have even brought up "City Lights", "It Happened One Night", "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" (which should absolutely be on the list), "When Harry Met Sally", "The Apartment", & many others it's just one big debate.

By the way, good for bringing up some other film rom-com titles that they forgot to think of such "Say Anything", "The Shop Around the Corner", "Ninotchka", and "Adam's Rib". Truly, some great material here

The list so far of films not mentioned on the Top 25 list:

"Some Like It Hot"
"Mr. Deeds Goes To Town"
"City Lights"
"Adam's Rib"
"Ninotchka"
"The Shop Around the Corner"
"Say Anything"
"Wedding Crashers"
"It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World"
"Sullivan's Travels"

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Feb 10 2009 04:51 PM

OK. Here's a few

1. Princess Bride (unless not considered a comedy)
2. Amelia (French)
3. Shakespeare in Love
4. Jerry Mcguire
5. Notting Hill (because we need more Hugh Grant)
6. My Best Friend's Wedding
7. As Good as it Gets
8. There's something about Mary
9. Roxanne/L.A. Story (Didn't we just have something about Steve Martin?)
10. Groundhog Day

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jeff s. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 05:02 PM

sleepless in seattle. BAH-BOOM!

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John N. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 05:27 PM

NTROST- I believe Stepbrothers has a fresh rating. But I agree with your point. Cary Grant may have had better roles than Bringing Up Baby, but in it he provided a great example of slapstick done well. And Kat Hep is irresistable.

Aaron H.- Eternal Sunshine was on Sci-Fi top 25 I believe, so I don't think they'd include it in this as well.

As far as this list goes, I haven't seen most because romcoms have never been my bag. However, I must say that 40-Y/O Virgin is LEAGUES better than Sarah Marshall (unless you yourself are a fan of vampire puppet rock operas) and decidedly better than Knocked Up (I'll take the dryness of 40Y/O's female lead over Katherine Heigel any day). Good selections overall, though I was surprised to find that the list wasn't sorted according to tomatoemeter alone. I thought that was usually the case for these things.

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Mr. Bo Ziffer writes:
on Feb 10 2009 05:32 PM

In reply to this comment (#2313357)
You might be thinking of Role Models. I confuse that with Step Brothers a lot for some reason. But to your credit, Step Brothers is at 55%, which isn't too far from a fresh rating.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Feb 10 2009 05:34 PM

Man, you guys keep reminding me of stuff left off! "The Graduate" and "The Princess Bride". Even though I find "The Graduate" to be funny at times, it's really more of a drama. In my opinion. Anyway, "Step Brothers" has 50 to 55 percent, so it's rotten, but barely.

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John N. writes:
on Feb 10 2009 05:42 PM

In reply to this comment (#2313378)
Fair enough. I enjoyed Stepbrothers quite a bit. More than Role Models which was not bad, but seemed sort of mean spirited, had two supporting actors (if you can call Stiffler that), and featured a little too much LARPing with the lackluster McLovin character for my taste.

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