As winter drags on, you may be thinking that you need a pick-me-up wherever you can get one. For many, the best form of pick-me-up is a rom-com, even if it isn’t a particularly good one. Of course, there are plenty of genuinely great rom-coms, but once you’ve made your way through the most obvious titles, the well can begin to run dry.
Although they don’t make as many rom-coms as they used to, there are still plenty of great romantic comedies out there if you’re willing to look. We’ve pulled together three of the most underrated for your viewing pleasure below.
About Time (2013)
Combining time travel with other genres can be perilous, but About Time takes what could be a pretty creepy idea and turns it into something pretty moving. The film tells the story of a man who discovers that he is capable of time travel and uses that ability to help him avoid making pitfalls in love.
Thanks to brilliant chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson and a smart script that understands how to make time travel into something lovely, About Time is one of the best time travel movies ever because it’s a fun, surprisingly moving experience. Instead of using time travel for giggles, it uses the conceit to wonder at the passage of time more generally and the way our lives unfold and change even though we have no ability to control it.
About Time can be rented or purchased on Amazon Prime Video.
Enough Said (2013)
Enough Said is great for a wide array of reasons, but chief among them is the chemistry between James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The movie follows a divorced mother who strikes up a romance with a kind, gentle man and discovers that her new friend is also his ex. As her friend bashes various aspects of his personality and character, she begins to question her relationship with him.
It’s a brilliant, small-scale story about two people finding ways to be open and vulnerable with one another. And, while Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus both look great, they also look like normal people, and that’s refreshing in and of itself in a genre usually populated by glamorous stars.
Enough Said is streaming on Paramount+.
Rye Lane (2023)
A vividly directed, highly original rom-com set in London, Rye Lane tells the story of two wounded people who bond with one another as they walk through the city. Although neither one of them is totally forthcoming about their emotional damage in the early stages of their romance, the script is sharp enough to give us an immediate sense of who each of these people is and why their love story may not be as easy as it seems.
The movie’s charms start with its two leads, but they extend outward to the scenery of London, which is captured with a remarkable level of specificity, especially for a city that is filmed so frequently.
Rye Lane is streaming on Hulu.
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