I try to avoid discourse and hot topics in this newsletter, so I’ll keep it brief and say that last week a website posted a list of the 50 best romantic comedies that didn’t include anything pre-Harold and Maude 1. People got mad. I felt annoyed, then got mad at myself for being annoyed at the internet (another thing I try to avoid). Then one of my favorite film newsletters, The Reveal, sent out their list of best romantic comedies. It was a great list, full of classics I love plus a couple I haven’t seen! “Maybe I should send out MY list of best rom-coms,” I thought, but very quickly I realized…who cares. Like, what am I going to tell you that you don’t already know? Am I going to shock you shock you shock you by telling you about The Philadelphia Story? Will you be surprised to learn that I love You’ve Got Mail? Of course not. My love of Nora Ephron is extremely well documented.
But then I remembered that I have this Instagram series called Underrated Rom-com Wednesday, which is just me talking about rom-coms that don’t get put on every single best of list. Even though this newsletter is about movies, I don’t consider myself a movie expert in any way…there are so many classics I haven’t seen. I prefer to think of myself as an enthusiast. But when it comes to rom-coms specifically? Well, I’ve seen a lot. If I’m not an expert, I’m at least expert-adjacent. I’m not saying no one’s ever seen any of these films, but I do think they could all use more attention!
Okay, without further ado and in no particular order, here are my favorite underrated rom-coms. I included trailers or clips, but honestly most of the trailers are so bad that I probably shouldn’t have bothered.
The Awful Truth
I’m definitely not suggesting that no one’s seen The Awful Truth, but here’s my controversial opinion: Irene Dunne is a significantly better Cary Grant partner than Katherine Hepburn! Whenever I see Irene on screen I’m just so happy. She doesn’t get brought up in a lot of conversations about best old Hollywood actresses (probably because most of her big movies were remade and she never won an Oscar) but she’s one of my absolute favorites. The Awful Truth is just so buoyant and funny and it makes me laugh out loud, as does their other comedy, My Favorite Wife. My Favorite Wife has an almost identical ending, but I guess there are only so many ways you can end a movie when your couple is divorced. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!
Just Wright
As if I could ever make a list of underrated rom-coms without including the GOAT: Just Wright. Queen Latifah has yet to find her rom-com equal in a leading man (it isn’t LL Cool J and it certainly isn’t Common), but she’s so sparkly on screen that it doesn’t even matter. This is a movie that doesn’t try to reinvent the rom-com and I appreciate that about it. It’s just Queen Latifah, being good at her job (a sports physical therapist), being a homeowner, doing Queen shit. This is one of my biggest comfort watches.
Plus One
Can I be real with you for a minute? Because we’re all friends here on the newsletter? There are a lot of bad rom-coms being made today. A lot of rom-coms where the leads have no chemistry. But I loved watching Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid. They’re both so dang cute. This has so many fun tropes (weddings! Just one bed!) and it also made us laugh a lot. And again: they’re so dang cute! Jack Quaid’s mom is Meg Ryan and…maybe rom-coms are genetic?
Imagine Me & You
This is a rare big budget rom-com about two women (pretty sad that this movie was made in 2005 and that’s still true). I just reread my A Year of Rom-Coms post about it and I forgot so much. Matthew Goode’s character is named Heck! There are SO many low-rise jeans! Rachel and Luce make out in a pile of flowers! Here’s what I said back then, and I stand by it: Imagine Me & You adheres to every single romcom cliche possible and I loved that about it. It stands out from the other movies I’ve watched this year because it’s about two women falling in love, but other than that? It has all the love-at-first-sight, being-romantic-in-the-rain, almost-kissing, running-through-traffic delightfulness that you’d see in any other mainstream romantic comedy. Romcom cliches: they’re not just for straight people!
I Want You Back
Here’s something you should know about this movie upfront: the main characters never kiss. Here’s another thing you should know: I love Charlie Day and Jenny Slate so darn much that I only sort of cared. They have very strong friendship chemistry and the movie relies on their banter, and in that way it really reminded me of When Harry Met Sally. And that kind of makes sense because, although WHMS is the only one of the Nora/Meg trio where the characters actually have sex, I’d argue that their chemistry is never particularly sexual in the first place. Which is something unique about Nora’s movies, I think! The romance is pretty cerebral and sex is sort of an afterthought. ANYWAY this movie is actually funny. Still wish they’d kissed though.
This is unrelated, but I love that at one point they attend an event on a boat in Savannah because Hollis and I once had Easter dinner on a Savannah riverboat and it was one of the oddest things we’ve ever done.
Design for Living
A pre-code movie about polyamory. I really don’t know what else I could say about this one. It’s weird! And fun!
The Talk of the Town
One of my favorite plots: a woman is pursued by two men, one of whom is Cary Grant. Cary Grant plays an escaped prisoner who’s trying to hide out in Jean Arthur’s cabin, despite the fact that she’s rented it to an uptight professor. Naturally this leads to a lot of screwball antics and a love triangle. To be fair, I did fall asleep for all the legal stuff at the end, but up until then it’s very fun. Jean Arthur is SO beautiful and her place is so cozy. And I just love movies where physical newspapers are a big part of the plot.
What If2
This is another one I talk about a lot, but listen: Daniel Radcliffe is a really good rom-com lead and I will die on this hill! My main problem with most new romantic comedies is the male lead. I don’t know why, but these bland muscly dudes keep getting cast, men with no comedic timing whose faces I can’t remember when they’re off screen. I don’t know if this is a personal opinion or a universal belief, but I think a dude being traditionally hot is actually one of the least important things for a rom-com. In fact, it’s better if they’re a little quirky, and I think that’s why I liked I Want You Back so much. When I watch most modern rom-coms, I just think…whither Billy Crystal (an unconventional rom-com lead if there ever was one)? Whither Tom Hanks? Whither Nicolas Cage screaming about his hand? These modern rom-com men wouldn’t ever scream about their missing hand, and I feel very confident in saying that.
The Shop Around the Corner
If you’ve seen You’ve Got Mail and you haven’t seen this one…I mean, you’ve gotta drop everything and go watch it. Many of the best scenes and lines in You’ve Got Mail are taken directly from The Shop Around the Corner. It’s just so sweet and sad and lovely!
She’s Out Of My League
Based on the poster, I never would’ve watched this movie. This came out during a time when we were overrun with gross-out comedies and I assumed this was just going to be a lot of bro-humor that would make me feel bad. Seriously, I spent so much time in my teens/early twenties watching movies that were just men making mean jokes about women and thinking there was something wrong with me for not “getting” them. But that’s not what this is, I promise! Not that it isn’t often gross or silly, but it’s also surprisingly sensitive and very funny. Hollis and I watched this during those first awful, scary days of the pandemic and I remember thinking, “wow, it’s so nice to laugh.” I just watched the trailer and it’s VERY bad, so there’s a chance this isn’t as good as I remember, but you know what? I’m still recommending it!
Down with Love
Okay, so if you aren’t very familiar with Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies, you might not like this one. Or even understand it at all. But if you just watched Pillow Talk or Lover Come Back, give this one a watch because it’s so weird and smart. David Hyde Pierce, today’s Tony Randall, plays the Tony Randall part. Renee Zellweger looks and acts a shocking amount like Doris Day. The clothes are amazing.
The Baxter
This is another pretty meta movie that works less as an actual rom-com (although I’d argue that it works that way, too!) and more as a very fun movie to watch if you’ve seen a lot of rom-coms. In many ways, it’s like a more subtle They Came Together. There are so many joke and lines that play in my head all the time (notably: David Wain’s whole monologue about a banana factory and when Elizabeth Banks says “BAJA CUSINE?”). I just love Michael and Michael and especially David (who’s from Ohio, Shaker Heights specifically, so of course he mentions Cedar Point in the banana factory scene). Also Michelle Williams is here, in a much less polarizing role than last week.
Music & Lyrics
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the opening sequence, which is also a video for the song PoP Goes My Heart, is one of the best opening sequences I’ve ever seen. The shock of delight I felt when I saw that (in a theatre!) is the feeling I’m always chasing when I watch a movie. I don’t know that Drew and Hugh necessarily have chemistry but in this case, it doesn’t matter. This movie is fun and everyone in it is having fun. All of the songs are so catchy. I could watch this every day of my life and never tire of it.
The Mirror Has Two Faces
This might be the weirdest romantic comedy I’ve ever seen in my life. There are a lot of reasons a movie like this wouldn’t be made today. For starters, any time someone (Amy Schumer) makes a movie about female appearance, people get mad. It’s a VERY thorny topic to tackle, and I’m honestly not sure there’s any way to do it without being offensive somehow. Also I don’t think Barbra is still directing/creating star vehicles to show off how hot she can be. Mirror has all the coziness of a Nancy Meyers or Nora Ephron movie, but with a significantly stranger plot. And then it ends with Jeff Bridges and Babs dancing in the street!
There are more I could add, but it’s been a long week. My kid is sick and I haven’t left the house in days. It’s rapidly turning into a Yellow Wallpaper situation over here, but with a lot more Blaze and the Monster Machines. Let me know your favorite underrated romantic comedies, and I’ll see you next week!
Even listing Harold and Maude as a rom-com is a bold choice…I once did a poll on Instagram and the consensus was that it’s not a rom-com!
The trailer calls it The F Word because that was its Canadian title.
My Favorite Underrated Rom-Coms
My podcast The Hart Chicks Present... did a season last year about rom-coms, where we dove deep into all the tropes of the genre and how they work (or don't, depending on the movie). I chose The Baxter for us as the closer because it IS such a meta take on every romance trope out there. David Wain always makes me laugh too. And Michael Showalter. And Ken Marino. You know, if they were in The State, they get me. Wouldn't you love to see The Baxter 2 starring Paul Rudd, though?!