There’s nothing like a nostalgic Romantic Comedy (Rom Com) to lighten the day and end your evening off on a high note. The hey day of the Rom Com has to be the 1990s! Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Cameron Diaz, Richard Gere and Hugh Grant were names to conjure with and life seemed simpler back then. Let’s take a look at some of the top Rom Coms that defined the 90s movie-making period:
Pretty Woman
The decade kicked off with a classic that set the bar high. Who hasn’t cheered at the “Big mistake” moment or swooned over Richard Gere in the white limo coming to the rescue? And let’s not forget that red dress and Julia Roberts’ infectious laugh as Gere snapped the jewelry box shut as a joke.
Sure, the entire concept of the movie is quite dated now. However, there is a warm nostalgia that surrounds the movie and makes it a must-watch even today.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Across the pond, UK filmmaker Mike Newell brought together an impressive ensemble cast in 1994 for this truly charming movie. It was probably the chemistry between all of the actors that made this film such a hit. That and the unconventional nature of this Rom Com is what has earned it a spot in almost any film list for the best of the 1990s. It’s also the film that launched the career of an achingly charming and proper Hugh Grant.
Clueless
This on is for the teens. There are so many iconic elements in this film – the fashion, the music and the catch phrase “Ugh! As if!” The naivety and wit that play off each other in this script make it incredibly clever and yet, the characters can be head-scratchingly dumb. It’s a great mixture of Rom Com and coming-of-age that make this movie highly watchable, even 25 years later.
There’s Something About Mary
More like, there’s something about Cameron Diaz. This actress couldn’t put a foot wrong in the 1990s and is probably the only person at the time who could pull of the infectious cuteness of the titular character without it seeming like an act. We all completely believed that all of these men would be chasing after Mary, and we all loved the hilarious physical comedy that the actors put themselves through with straight faces. This movie is as entertaining as AFL betting fun and it’s still a favorite.
The Best Man
Rounding off the decade of the best Rom Coms ever made, this 1999 classic put Taye Diggs on the world’s radar properly. Women around the globe swooned and men wanted to be his best friend (even if the character he was playing had slept with his best friend’s bride-to-be and now needed to fix the mess). The plot of this movie is exactly what people love about Rom Coms – mistaken identity, skeletons in the closet, a tight deadline for everything to be put right and a classic big romantic gesture to win the love of your life. It’s all the right ingredients.