What to Watch on Valentine's Day

my favourite movies about that crazy little thing called love. ——————————————————————————– When Harry Met Sally (1989) [youtube id=”V8DgDmUHVto” maxwidth=”530″] When Harry Met Sally is quite possible the greatest romantic comedy of all time. Starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as the titular characters, the story spans twelve years and focusses on the most important part of any relationship; friendship. The movie shows how friendships grow and evolve, how love can end, and how someone you initially didn’t like can, over time, grow to be your best friend or more. It even addresses the fear that platonic relationships aren’t possible due to the assumption that one party will always be hoping for sex. The characters of Harry and Sally are flawed and have their own quirks, but it’s these flaws that make them perfect; they are human, and we are all flawed. The supporting cast too are amazing. Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby play Sally and Harry’s respective best friends, who themselves develop and grow as the movie, and characters’ lives, progress. It doesn’t just have heart though, it’s also happens to be hilarious. Crystal’s dry delivery and sharp wit are as on point here as ever, and Meg Ryan’s reaction in a café after speaking about orgasms will always be remembered as one of the funniest scenes in movie history. It’s full of little moments that make it feel more genuine than a lot of movies, helped in no small part by Billy Crystal’s ad libs. The jumps through time are broken up with segments of couples being interviewed, telling the stories of how they met and how long they’ve been married for, and even though they’re only actors, the stories themselves are real, told to director Rob Reiner at various points in his life. Love & Other Drugs (2010) [youtube id=”h6w7Dh-QxzY” maxwidth=”530″] Love & Other Drugs is one of my personal favourite romantic comedies. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Jamie, a drug representative for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company, and Anne Hathaway as Maggie, a young artist with stage one Parkinson’s disease. It doesn’t sound like the recipe for side splitting hilarity, and it isn’t, but what it manages to achieve is something special. I’ll admit, this movie is a strange one.  Seamlessly blending comedy and drama, it chooses to focus more on the struggles of the two lead characters, rather than rely on cheap laughs to engage its audience. It can at times be hard to hard to watch, especially during some of the more emotional moments, (a scene involving Parkinson’s sufferers talking about their lives gets me every time), but the balance between comedy and tragedy works so well that it’ll have you laughing through tears. Although the plot can come off a bit confused at times as it tries to balance several sub-plots, the heart and the soul of the movie is clear to see in the relationship between the two leads. It can be of a bit of a cliché in places, and is easily the most ‘Hollywood’ out of the movies I’ve selected, but it works, and Gyllenhaal’s and Hathaway’s performances sell it well. P.S. I Love You (2007) [youtube id=”CZzW6_hR068″ maxwidth=”530″] P.S. I Love You is a beautiful movie that deals with love and loss in a completely unique way. Starring Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler as Holly and Gerry, the story follows Holly as she tries to deal with the tragic death of Gerry, and ultimately get her life back together. Holly and Gerry’s relationship is shown through a series of flashbacks each time Holly receives a letter from Gerry; something he organised to happen before his death. Each letter contains instructions to follow, serving the sole purpose of helping Holly to move on with her life. What follows is a beautiful story about love, loss, and healing, and surprisingly for a movie with such a tragic theme there are some genuine laugh out loud moments throughout. The idea that sometimes you have to look backward before you can move forward plays throughout, with each flashback showing a contrast in Holly’s life then and now. If you’re prone to crying during movies I highly recommend you watch this with a box of tissues nearby as this will get the water works running. I’m not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears when I first watched it. It constantly tugs on your heart strings, but the pay off at the end of the movie makes it all worth it. It is simply wonderful. High Fidelity (2000) [youtube id=”F2L58znA2e0″ maxwidth=”530″] Not only one of my favourite books, but surprisingly one of my favourite movies too. High Fidelity tells the story of Rob, played by John Cusack, a miserable record store owner and music fanatic as he recounts his top five all time break ups, while trying to deal with his latest one. Rob’s top five break ups are told through flashbacks, as he tries to convince himself that he isn’t as hurt as he actually is. The story is heartfelt and absolutely hilarious in places, but never in a slapstick way. The driving force of this movie is the relationships between all the characters, and show how even the most flawed friendships can be our most important. The story feels very personal. Rob is the narrator of his own tale, and his constant breaking of the fourth wall makes it feel like he’s telling us and us alone the story. Add to that the fact that we’ve all been in at least one situation or relationship similar to the one’s Rob’s regaling us about, and he as a character all of a sudden becomes very relatable, and that is easily one of this movies biggest strengths. It’s a movie that gets better as I get older, and every time I watch it means something a little different than it did that time before. ——————————————————————————– So there you have it, a small selection of some of my favourite movies about romance. They’re not your typical Hollywood love stories, I know, but life isn’t a movie, and love isn’t perfect. As you could probably tell from my opening paragraphs I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day, but I am a fan of romance, and that’s why I picked these movies. Give them a watch, or maybe there are movies you’d like to add to the list? I’m interested to hear what you guys think. And with that, I sincerely wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day.]]>