​Watching romantic movies is a time-honored Valentine’s Day tradition. Whether you’re spending the holiday with your significant other, or just looking for something to do while you wait for annual discount candy day like the rest of us, here are five romantic movies that are about more than just relationships.
“Juno” (2007)- A quirky offbeat comedy about the free-spirited 16-year-old highschool girl Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) who discovers she is pregnant following an awkward, one-night sexual encounter with dorky best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). She finds her life suddenly turned upside down as she now has to face all the hardships that accompany teen pregnancy. The indomitable spirit of Juno, as well as the support she receives from the places she least expects, helps to turn a bad situation into a triumph.
“Amelie” (2001)- A film not necessarily about a specific romance, but a film about romance itself. It is the delightful and stylishly told story of Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou), a precocious girl living in Paris, the city of love, who quite simply loves life. She seeks to make life as good as it can be for those around her. Those who don’t mind films made in French will be treated to a fulfilling tale that transcends language and setting.
“Annie Hall” (1977)- To this day it remains the only comedy that has ever won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In what is widely regarded as his magnum opus, Woody Allen casts himself as Alvy Singer, a neurotic, Woody Allen-type comedian by trade who falls for the insecure, ditzy, Annie Hall. The film, which is set amid the backdrop of 1970s New York City, pauses along the way to break the fourth wall and takes us on a tour of Alvy Singer’s problematic and overanalyzed life, offering his deepest and most candid insights about comedy, tragedy, and love.
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”(2004)- A film to be watched by couples at their own peril, and certainly one to be watched until the end. The film follows Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clemetine (Kate Winslet), who, after their long-term relationship comes to an ugly end, each angrily sign up for an experimental procedure to have the other person erased from their memory. The film is set largely within the mind of Joel as his memories of Clementine- good and bad- are systematically erased. It confronts the age-old question of whether it is better to have loved and lost, or to never have loved at all. Again, do watch until the credits.
“Moonrise Kingdom” (2012)- This simple tale is set in the 1960s on a quaint island off the coast of New England. It’s about misunderstood khaki-scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and an emotionally neglected young schoolgirl, Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). They run away together in search of a storybook life in the wilderness, inciting a frantic manhunt launched by their parents and guardians, whose own emotional and romantic issues keep them from understanding and accepting the young love shared by Sam and Suzy.