Whether your Valentine’s Day plans involve date night with your sweetheart, a girls’ night with popcorn and champagne or any other combination you can dream up, now is the time to queue up a romantic movie or two on your streaming service. Here, we’ve selected eight of our favorite true love films which tackle the grand subject of love in thoughtful and enticing ways. As different as these films are, they all remind us that no matter the circumstances, love will prevail.
Say Anything (1989)
Lloyd (John Cusack), an underachieving, kick-boxing romantic, pursues cerebral beauty Diane (Ione Skye) as they both graduate from high school. The unlikely pair fumble through their discovery that they may just be perfect for each other. If a shameless display of affection does not equal a man blaring Peter Gabriel “In Your Eyes” on his boombox outside our window, then I don’t want it. This quirky love story is one for the ages.
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Love is never simple in a Jane Austen narrative. In Pride & Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is a man in love with Elizabeth Bennet – but has a hard time making that known. In this adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) lives with her mother, father and sisters in the English countryside. As the eldest, she faces increasing pressure from her parents to marry. When introduced to the handsome and noble Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), sparks fly. Although there is obvious chemistry between the two, Darcy’s overly reserved nature jeopardizes the new relationship.
Loving (2016)
Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga join forces to play real-life couple Richard and Mildred Loving in this film about an interracial couple whose marriage would be the catalyst for invalidating laws prohibiting interracial marriage as their case is taken all the way to the Supreme Court in 1967. While the film does focus on the lawsuit, their faithful, defiant love is the heart of this story.
Moonstruck (1987)
Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage) is the one-handed baker in love with his brother’s fiancée. Loretta (Cher) won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as the Italian American widow who accepts a marriage proposal from her bore of a boyfriend, Johnny (Danny Aiello), only to find herself falling for his younger brother, Ronny. She tries her best to resist, but Ronny blames his brother for the loss of his hand and pursues Loretta relentlessly while Johnny is out of the country. That’s amore!
Up (2009)
In this Pixar film, Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old grumpy balloon salesman, is about to fulfill a lifelong dream. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, he flies away to the South American wilderness. Carl’s worst nightmare comes true when he discovers a little boy named Russell has hitched a ride aboard the balloon-powered house. Adventures abound in this story about how far one would go for love.
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Emma Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility. The film tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (Thompson) and Marianne (Kate Winslet), as they navigate their way through 19th-century relationship issues involving Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) and John Willoughby (Greg Wise).
A Room with a View (1985)
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) is traveling in Italy with her prudish aunt, Charlotte (Maggie Smith). Both disappointed at not getting the room with a view they had been promised, they are hesitant to accept the offer of Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliot) and his son George (Julian Sands), staying at the same inn, to switch rooms so they may have a view after all. They do graciously agree. George is from the start an intriguing romantic interest for Lucy. Lucy does her best to resist her attraction to George. Let yourself be carried away with the beautiful scenery and this incredibly romantic love story.
The Notebook (2004)
What would a list of love stories be without The Notebook? Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as couple Noah and Allie, who begin a tumultuous relationship in the 1940s before the two are separated by her family and then World War II, though that’s far from the end of their love story. The older versions of their characters are played to a full-on weeping effect by James Garner and Gena Rowlands. “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.”
