Guest Post: Top Romance Films 1980-1999
A list of ten romance films to get you in the mood for love
And then check out this week’s “What Works/What Doesn’t” on the subject of Ryan Gosling and The Notebook. [Review]
Mike’s Intro note: I only own Before Sunrise on DVD (as well as the others in Linklater’s series, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) so I would need to revisit the first four to check my impressions, which were based on a couple of things: emotional resonance, interplay of character stories, and just good old romantic storytelling.
Beth’s Note: Mike also really appreciates a good ensemble as is evident in his choices!
Mike’s Top 5 Romance Films - In descending order
5. Racing With The Moon | (1984) | [Trailer]
This is the earliest one I saw, back in a theater in the early 1980s, and it has stayed with me with the wartime drama and humor between characters Nick Cage, Sean Penn, and Elizabeth McGovern. I remember it being very sexy and something of a “slow-burn.” Need to revisit for other thoughts on the film.
4. Mystic Pizza | (1988) | [Trailer]
Again, another film I saw in the theater when it came out and I thought it was going to focus on Julia Roberts and Adam Storke’s characters, but what lingered with me was Annabeth Gish’s performance as Kat and her love for the architect Tim—it’s a heartbreaking lesson in love and that’s stayed with me the most. I love the ensemble nature of the film too. Lily Taylor’s JoJo was wonderful. The film works on so many levels!
3. My Girl | (1991) | [Trailer]
Ostensibly this is a film about Anna Chlumsky’s character Veda (and her relationship with Macaulay Culkin’s Thomas J.) However, it’s more than that. It’s also about Veda’s father, played by Dan Ackroyd, and his new love played by Jamie Lee Curtis. It’s an ensemble movie and works on a lot of different levels, featuring themes about love, grief, death, and growing up. I was totally smitten by the movie.
2. Say Anything… | (1989) | [Trailer]
One of my favorite Cameron Crowe movies and certainly a strong romantic comedy. The humor and heartbreak is pervasive, so many quotable lines, and romantically what stuck with me was John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler’s “trembling” after making love for the first time with Diane Court. I really should own this on DVD because of the wonderful set pieces scattered throughout the film. A lesson for all who fear the pain of love: “I wanna get hurt!” 😂
1. Before Sunrise | (1995) | [Trailer]
This is one of my favorite movies, ever, even beyond being a romantic film. As I mentioned to Beth, it’s almost like a deep friendship, soulmate or even sibling relationship as well as a sexy love story—a mingling of energies from different backgrounds converging on Vienna in the mid-1990s. The other films in the series show a deepening of that relationship, the good, the bad, the ugly, and I hugely admire all the filmmakers for that.
Thanks for doing this, Beth. It was a blast. I need to revisit Ghost, which is a delightful and romantic film too!
Beth’s Top 5 Romance Films - In chronological order
An Officer and a Gentleman | (1982) | [Trailer]
I love a good ol’ “defying convention and hardships” love story as you’ll see threaded in my choices.
Richard Gere is the classic 80s/90s love story hero. My little sister likes to remind me that I had a framed poster of Gere as a child and with good reason. His breakout role in American Gigolo solidified his swoon-worthy status. Later he found success as the highly attractive, charismatic, and somewhat enigmatic male lead in Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, where his pairing with America’s rom-com queen at the time, Julia Roberts, proved mutually beneficial.
It was his early role, however, paired, with another popular American actress of her time, Debra Winger, in An Officer and a Gentleman that tops all of his films. In it, Gere plays Zach Mayo, a rebellious military brat who enlists in the Navy and finds a father figure in the late Louis Gossett, Jr. here playing a strict sergeant named Foley who takes Zach under his wing. As Zach starts to reform under Foley’s tutelage, he meets a factory worker Paula (Debra Winger), a townie who falls for Zach. While factory girls get a bad rap and are vilified by Zach’s peers, referred to as the 80s equivalent of “honeytraps,” Zach doesn’t buy into the lore, and in doing so, finds true love with Paula. Through a series of obstacles, including the death of Zach’s friend, they end up together.
A Room with a View | (1986)| [Trailer]
I harbored a huge crush on the late, great Julian Sands based on his character from A Room with A View. The adaptation of an E.M. Forester novel (the other well-known one is A Passage to India) features a young Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, a young British woman who embarks on a trip to Italy with her cousin. Once there, she forms a friendship with the infectiously warm, intuitive, and uninhibited George Emerson (Julian Sands).
George challenges Lucy’s traditional values by being direct with her and yet she’s undeniably drawn to him as well, try as she may to suppress her feelings. On a day trip to the countryside, George finds Lucy in a field of poppies and whisks her off her feet, drawing her into a passionate kiss. In response to the unwelcome feelings that her attraction to George has posed while in Italy, upon her return to England, Lucy quickly forms an engagement with the boring and self-occupied Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis). George finds his way back into her heart through his earnest and authentic intentions. This film taught me an important lesson about the difference between being a rule-follower and doing what is expected versus trusting your intuition and wants.
On a personal note, I was heartbroken when Julian Sands, an avid hiker, went missing in California earlier this year. His remains were eventually found. He will forever be George Emerson in my heart.
Chances Are | (1989)| [Clip w/theme song]
This film brought us the best Peter Cetera (love ballad king of the 80s) and Cher duet to ever grace the soundtrack screen. Plus, I’m a sucker for a love story with a crossover event. Coincidentally, I was living in D.C. at the time this D.C.-based movie came out. This one packs a punch with an all-star cast, Cybil Shepherd, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Downey Jr. (RDJ), and Mary Stuart Masterson.
It’s funny and emotional which is a tough balance to pull off. RDJ’s raw comedic skills were only bested in this film by the flash of his charming smile. The fact that he pulls off playing the reincarnated father of his girlfriend (Masterson), AND the role of Shepherd’s deceased husband, Louis, is a difficult feat. Sure, Eddie Murphy and Tyler Perry often play ten different characters in one of their films without missing a beat, but for whatever reason RDJ’s performance in this set the bar for me, from a Freaky Friday variation premise perspective.
Ghost | (1990)| [Trailer]
The most iconic love scene ever can be found in the film Ghost and no one ever looked at a potter’s wheel the same way again after seeing that Ghost clip. Demi Moore, with her blunt short black hair, played a grieving widow, Molly, mourning the loss of the love of her life, Patrick Swayze, Sam. Through the power of a psychic, Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), Molly can communicate with Sam and discover who murdered him. Spoiler: It’s the guy who’s trying to bed her, Sam’s best friend. Either way, this film sticks out for me because of the potter wheel scene, Moore’s hotness, and the chemistry of the leads. Plus, The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” playing in the background of the lovemaking scene was brilliant. It was all about the lust factor here. However, the cross-over appeal, much like in Chances Are is there.
Forget Paris | (1995) | [Trailer]
I can’t leave Billy Crystal out of a romance film list from the 80s and 90s. While most people would elect to put his other, more well-known romance in their “top 5” list, what I enjoyed about this film is that it projects the prickly realities of a relationship. I enjoyed that the love story is narrated by friends as somewhat of a cautionary tale to a newly engaged couple.
Mickey (Crystal) is a referee for the NBA and Ellen (Winger), is an airline employee. Theirs is not a conventional relationship or courtship and while they clearly want to be together, their jobs and ambitions are pulling them in different directions. Anyway, Crystal is not the obvious choice as a male love lead, but he’s funny. Funny gets me every time and Winger made two appearances in my top 5 list, which wasn’t something I was keenly aware of my affection for her, but there you go!
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Forgot “Kissing Jessica Stein”!
And if we were to add to Y2K cusp films “Love & Basketball” with Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan was a beloved one.
While ostensibly not a rom-com or plain rom, Good Will Hunting does have romance in it with Matt Damon and Minnie Driver and fits our time period (1997). LOVE that film.