Romcoms are having a moment, thanks to movies like Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Over the past decade, there have been a ton of great romantic movies that flew under the radar–and frankly, they deserve more love!
Here is the definitive ranking of the top 5 underrated romantic comedies of the 2010s.
What If? picks up a year after Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) dropped out of medical school after walking in on his then-girlfriend making out with his anatomy professor. He goes to a party for the first time since the breakup and meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan). The movie follows their story of becoming friends and the ups and downs of their lives.
While Wallace was kind of immature and possessive at times, Radcliffe and Kazan have crazy-good chemistry in this movie. Anyone who has tried dating in the past decade will recognize so much of this movie as truth.
Ruby Sparks follows an author as he starts a relationship with a girl he literally created from his writing. Zoe Kazan plays the main love interest, Ruby, to the nerdy male protagonist, Calvin, played by Paul Dano.
His writing directly influences Ruby’s actions, feelings, and sense of self-worth. She eventually figures it out, and it causes tension in the relationship that leads to Calvin finally realizing he can’t control her and be happy in the long run.
The movie shows the darker sides of relationships that are more common than most people realize. It highlights the manipulation tactics some people use to get what they want in relationships. In addition, it fights against the “perfect partner” stereotype that so many wait their whole lives for.
Basically, we can’t just sit around and wait for the perfect person to walk into our life; we have to compromise on the things we can but stick to our guns when it’s important to us.
Fun fact: Kazan and Dano are a real-life couple!
The movie follows four couples’ interwoven lives, and it’s based on Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey. The women of the film read the book and take the advice–while the men try to turn the tables on them.
The whole cast is amazing: Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union… I mean, just look at those gorgeous, talented folks!
If you’ve seen Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Mother’s Day, this gives off the same vibe. It also made me want to read Steve Harvey’s book just to see what these women were talking about.
Love, Rosie is a ‘will they, won’t they’ story between two lifelong friends. Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin) have grown up together–and fallen in love with each other.
But they never act on their mutual feelings. They each go through multiple failed relationships, and Rosie’s daughter eventually follows in her mother’s footsteps by falling in love with her own best friend.
This is probably one of my favorite movies of all time, but I do have some gripes about it. So many of their problems could have been avoided had they just talked instead of keeping secrets or being passive-aggressive. Despite that, it’s still worth your time to check this one out!
Letters to Juliet is two love stories at the same time. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) flies to Verona for her “pre-honeymoon” trip with her fiancé, but the trip soon turns into a solo quest to find the lost love of a stranger.
Sophie answers Claire’s (Vanessa Redgrave) letter to Juliet from 1957, and the two of them, along with Claire’s grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), journey to find Claire’s long-lost love. Through the journey, Sophie falls for Charlie and begins questioning her engagement with Victor.
This movie gave me unrealistic expectations of vacations and relationships. It’s still one of the best, most romantic movies I have ever seen. While I don’t necessarily like Shakespeare, I do love the idea of women writing back to those who left letters to Juliet.
Make it a double feature by watching Mama Mia!, also starring the lovely Amanda Seyfried.
