February, what a romantic month! It is the only month where buying overpriced roses are acceptable and a box of chocolate turns into an iconic and memorable gift. Whether you are dining out or cooking a special meal for your significant other or for yourself this Valentine’s Day, there is no better way to end the night by indulging in some of the best romantic movies ever made.
Here are some of the romantic/romantic comedy movies that I recommend you watch this Valentine’s Day:
First up, what better reason do you need to watch “The Notebook” other than the most romantic day of the year? Starring the gorgeous Rachel McAdams and heartthrob Ryan Gosling, this all-time classic won MTV’s Best Kiss Awards in 2005. The movie based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel that follows the journey of a wealthy young teenage girl, Allie Hamilton (McAdams) who falls in love with a poor lumber mill worker, Noah Calhoun (Gosling) during her summer vacation in Seabrook Island, SC.
Over the summer, Allie and Noah develop a quick but passionate love for each other. However, eventually Allie’s parents find out about the two and disapprove of their relationship, believing that Noah is “trash” and no good for a wealthy girl like Allie.
Seven years after their separation, Allie, who recently graduated from a university in New York, is set to marry Captain Lon Hammond (James Marsden). In the meantime, after Noah is released from his war duties, he returns to Seabrook Island and buys the Windsor Plantation – a mansion that he promised to buy for Allie and himself during their short summer romance seven years before.
After renovating and redecorating the property by hand, Noah receives multiple offers for the plantation but denies all of them in hopes that one day he and Allie will live there and start a family. Allie, who sees a picture of Noah buying the plantation on a newspaper, races to Seabrook Island to see the place for herself, abandoning her future husband and her family. Will the star-crossed lovers end up together in the end? I guess you have to watch it for yourself to find out. Spoiler alert, throughout this roller coaster of a movie, tears will be shed.
Moving on, ever heard the phrase “always the bridesmaid, never the bride?” Well, my next suggestion, “27 Dresses” is about just that. Part-time wedding planner Jane Nichols (Katherine Heigl) is a hopeless romantic. Having dreamt about the perfect wedding day ever since she was a little girl, Jane, who has yet to find her true love, begins finding vicarious joy from being a bridesmaid (for 27 different weddings). The only perfect man in Jane’s eyes is her boss, George (Edward Burns) but Jane never acts on her feelings for him.
One night, when Jane is trying to manage being a bridesmaid for two different weddings at the same time, her sudden, and frequent disappearances from one of the weddings catches the attention of journalist Kevin Doyle (James Marsden). Meanwhile, Jane’s younger sister, Tess (Malin Åkerman), flies in from Europe to visit Jane.
Soon after, Tess and George meet at a party, and they begin to start a relationship – a dishonest one, as Tess pretends to be the perfect kind-hearted girl for George. Jane’s jealousy for the couple grows as time goes by but she feels that the love she has for her younger sister is bigger than her crush onher perfect boss. Meanwhile, Jane develops a friendship with the journalist and shows him all of the bridesmaid dresses she has archived to serve as memories.
After learning that Kevin has published a story on her about always being the bridesmaid, never the bride, Jane becomes angry and ends their friendship, but deep down, she knows that they both wanted to be more than just friends.
George, who later finds out about Tess’s lies, leaves her and confesses his feelings for Jane. What will Jane do? Will she fulfill her dream of being together with George, the perfect man? Or will she follow her heart and take the leap of faith with Kevin?
The last movie on my list, but definitely not the least favorite, is “The Proposal.” What would you do if your boss asked you to marry her for a green card in exchange for a career boost? Guess you will have to watch this 2009 romantic comedy to find out!
Academy Awards’ winner Sandra Bullock and PEOPLE’s 2010 Sexiest Man Alive, Ryan Reynolds join forces to star in this hilarious yet romantic movie. Margaret Tate (Bullock), an editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, learns that she is going to be deported back to Canada after she violated the terms of her work visa. Due to her desperation to stay in the United States, she forces her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Reynolds) to marry her so that she will be able to obtain a green card. In exchange, she’ll give him his long-awaited editor position at the company.
The “couple” then travels to Sitka, Alaska for Andrew’s “Gammy’s” 90th birthday to prove to the immigration agent that they are indeed a couple. After being greeted by a warm welcome from Andrew’s family, Margaret learns that Andrew comes from a wealthy family that owns the majority of the local businesses in Sitka.
As the days go by, Margaret and Andrew become closer and the two begin to actually care for each other. One day, Margaret reveals that she is the cold-hearted person that she is right now because when her parents died when she was 16, she had to work for everything that she has achieved, and she did not want people to take advantage of her.
As Andrew is the only child, his parents want him to get married, which comes as surprise to both Andrew and Margaret as they were just planning to get married in New York so that his parents wouldn’t know about their agreement. On the wedding day, Margaret confesses about her situation and tells Andrew’s parents about their agreement. This statement does not shock the immigration agent who attends their wedding as he believed that the whole story about them getting married was a lie from the start.
With Margaret only having 24 hours to leave the United States, will Andrew finally confess that he has fallen in love with her? Will Margaret reciprocate?
Though my recommendations are movies from over a decade ago, I know that these classics will forever be a go-to Valentine’s Day indulgence for many. I hope you will enjoy them too!
Photo courtesy of IMDb
