Essential Romance Films

An Affair to Remember

By McCarey, Leo
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Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Though each is engaged to someone else, they agree to meet six months later at the Empire State Building if they still feel the same way about each other. But a tragic accident prevents their rendezvous, and the lovers' future takes an emotional and uncertain turn.

The Bridges of Madison County

By Eastwood, Clint
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National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid and Iowa housewife and mother Francesca Johnson find the loves of their lives during a brief encounter in Madison County in 1965

Bridget Jones's Diary

By Maquire, Sharon
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An uncomfortably unmarried thirty-something "singleton," Bridget decides to take charge of her life and chronicles her Year of Change in this comedic homage to Pride and Prejudice

Casablanca

By Curtiz, Michael
Bogart, Humphrey
Bergman, Ingrid
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Bogart is jaded idealist Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner in French Morocco who sacrifices the love of a lifetime to join the world's fight against the Nazis. When the picture debuted, it marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship with generations of moviegoers. Here's looking at you, kid.

Chocolat

By Hallstrom, Lasse
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When a single mother and her young daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop - with Sunday hours - across the street from the local church, they are met with some resistance from the rigidly moral community. But as soon as the townspeople discover their delicious products, their attitudes begin to change.

The English Patient

By Minghella, Anthony
Fiennes, Ralph
Dafoe, Willem
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A Hungarian count's fling with a British newlywed leads to tragedy in World War II North Africa. Oscars for best picture, director Minghella, supporting actress Juliette Binoche.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

By Gondry, Michel
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A man goes in for a procedure to erase his memory of his ex-girlfriend, after she erased her memory of him, but changes his mind during the procedure and fights to keep their relationship in his mind.

Green Card

By Weir, Peter
Depardieu, Gerard
MacDowell, Andie
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A Frenchman and a New Yorker find love in a mismatched marriage of convenience. Directed by Peter Weir.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

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Angela Bassett stars in this heartwarming comedy as a woman who resists falling in love with a 20-year-old man, until her best friend (Goldberg) urges her to rediscover herself and get in the groove.

Love Actually

By Curtis, Richard
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Quite posssibly the feel good movie of the year, Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy from the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill. This all-star cast includes Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, just to name a few.

Moonstruck

By Jewison, Norman
Cage, Nicolas
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An Italian-American widow loves her fiance's brother.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

By Zwick, Joel
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Toula is a shy but devoted member of her very large and sometimes overwhelming Greek family. When she finds love outside the Greek community, she has to deal with making her family understand and accept her upcoming wedding.

The Notebook

By Cassavetes, Nick
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A story, as read from a notebook, of a loving couple who overcame family and social standings. Based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Notting Hill

By Michell, Roger
Roberts, Julia
Bonneville, Hugh
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In the tradition of and from the creators of "Four Weddings And A Funeral." Anna Scott is Hollywood's most illustrious movie star. William Thacker is a repressed travel bookstore owner. For both, something or someone seems to be missing, until their paths unexpectedly cross in the eclectic neighborhood of Notting Hill.

The Philadelphia Story

By Cukor, George
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A sophisticated romantic comedy about a rich, spoiled socialite who learns some things about who she is and what she really wants on the eve of her second marriage.

Pretty Woman

By Marshall, Garry
Gere, Richard
Roberts, Julia
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A corporate raider pays a gorgeous hooker to be his escort for a business week in Beverly Hills. Directed by Garry Marshall.

Pride and Prejudice

By Langton, Simon
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The affairs of the heart are an exquisite game, and marriage is the ultimate prize. But Elizabeth Bennett--spirited, independent, and one of five unmarried sisters--is determined to play by her own rules and wed for love, not money or privilege.

The Princess Bride

By Reiner, Rob
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Based on the novel by William Goldman, Buttercup is a beautiful princess who--after being separated by her true love Westley--is captured by and forced to marry a conspiring prince. As the wedding day approaches her true love, a vengeful Spaniard and a kind giant come to her rescue.

Roman Holiday

By Wyler, William
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Audrey Hepburn captured an Oscar for her portrayal of a princess who decides to explore Rome on her own, only to find love and Gregory Peck in the process (118 minutes)

A Room with a View

By Ivory, James
Carter, Helena Bonham
Smith, Maggie
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"Lucy, a perfectly proper young Edwardian lady, is escorted by her even more proper Aunt Charlotte to the sensuous landscape of Florence. But after the merest hint of scandal, Charlotte whisks her back to the serene English countryside where she is betrothed to a supposedly suitable gentleman.

Sabrina

By Wilder, Billy
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The mega-rich Larrabee brothers have nothing in common. Linus is all work, while David is a playboy. But when the daughter of the family's chauffeur returns from Paris, all grown up, the brothers find something in common, and something to fight over.

Sense and Sensibility

By Lee, Ang
Thompson, Emma
Rickman, Alan
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Emma Thompson stars in and scripted this wonderful romantic comedy, acclaimed nationwide as one of the very best movies of the year. The story of two high-spirited sisters looking for true love in straitlaced high-society, "Sense And Sensiblity serves up humor, romance and the happiest ending of the year.

Something New

By Hamri, Sanaa
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Having carefully calculated her professional life, African-American accounting executive Kenya Denise McQueen is concerned that her personal life doesn't measure up. After agreeing to a blind date with a sexy, free-spirited landscape architect -- who happens to be white -- she meets a seemingly perfect black man. But no matter what her friends and family might say, it's up to her heart to decide.

Something's Gotta Give

By Meyers, Nancy
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Director Nancy Meyers brings above-average intelligence to this story, in which an aging lothario who's always dated younger women (played by Jack Nicholson) falls for a successful middle-aged playwright (Diane Keaton) who's convinced she's past the age of romance.

When Harry Met Sally

By Reiner, Rob
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Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman? That's what Harry and Sally debate during their first meeting and for the next eleven years.