If romance movies have done anything to our relationships is that these films have given us a false reality of what could happen, especially when it comes to Hollywood’s obsession with the perfect love story. These love stories are beautifully written, but most importantly, they have wonderful chemistry between the two leads, which is the driving force of making any romance film work.
Back in the day, the leads would have great chemistry, and that’s what made Hollywood romances possible. Some people do have good chemistry now, but it’s not the same as films made pre-2000s.
If we’re lucky, we can get some good chemistry now, but that is the glue that made everyone fall in love with Hollywood couples. To this day, people still think that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet belong together because of Titanic.
The films on this list have been staples of the genre over the years and will forever hold a place in the hearts of audiences. Some are really quotable, and others are true tearjerkers.
15 Best Love Story Movies in Hollywood
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
This is one of Rob Reiner’s best films he has directed and a very honest script by Nora Ephron. Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) have known each other for years and are very good friends, but they fear sex will ruin the friendship.
Titanic (1997)
The story of the Titanic wasn’t as accurate as the romantic story, but when this was added to that horrid event, the movie became a romance staple. A seventeen-year-old aristocrat named Rose (Kate Winslet) falls in love with a kind but poor artist named Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
The Notebook (2004)
Nicholas Sparks wrote a book that, when it was adapted to the big screen, completely broke audiences. A poor yet passionate young man named Noah (Ryan Gosling) falls in love with a rich young woman named Allie (Rachel McAdams), giving her a sense of freedom. However, social differences soon get in the way.
Casablanca (1942)
This is probably one of the best movies on any AFI list and an iconic love story between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Before this film, Barry Jenkins won an Academy Award for his work on Moonlight, which is also another beautiful love story. In If Beale Street Could Talk, a young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover innocent of a crime he did not commit.
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Although the age gap can raise eyebrows, Andre Aciman focuses on the feeling of forbidden love. In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student named Elio (Timothee Chalamet) and an older man named Oliver (Armie Hammer), who was hired as his father’s research assistant.
La La Land (2016)
While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future. Sometimes, people can be unlucky in love because of the different directions their partners want to go in.
P.S. I Love You (2007)
A young widow (Hilary Swank) discovers that her late husband (Gerard Butler) has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life. The letters are beautifully written and make for an incredible journey for Holly.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Shakespeare’s plays have been revamped and modernized throughout the years, but no one has done it like Baz Luhrmann. Romeo and Juliet is one of his most famous plays, and Luhrmann updated this to the hip modern suburb of Verona with a 90s edge while still using the original dialogue.
Before Sunrise (1995)
Richard Linklater created a trilogy that began with Before Sunrise. A young man (Ethan Hawke) and a woman (Julie Delpy) meet on a train in Europe and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.
Ghost (1990)
In the 90s, Patrick Swayze was the heartthrob that everyone loved. And Ghost is some of his best work. After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger with the help of a reluctant psychic.
Notting Hill (1999)
The life of a simple bookshop owner changes when he meets the most famous film star in the world. In the 90s, no one could touch Julia Roberts, and it’s because all of her romance films were big hits. She had excellent chemistry with all of her co-stars, especially Hugh Grant. The pair made you fall in love with their story, and it’s a classic Hollywood tale.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
When a sports agent (Tom Cruise) has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.
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It may appear as a sports drama, but the romance between Cruise and Renee Zellweger is the heart of the film and the main reason many watch it over and over again.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood. This is as close to a real Hollywood romance as you’ll get. Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds were wonderful together and had beautiful chemistry while singing to each other. It’s an old-fashioned love story that will make you appreciate what filmmakers had to go through during that transition to get to the current state of movies.
Do you have any other recommendations for the Best Love Story Movies in Hollywood? Let us know!
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