From nostalgia-encrusted classics to 2000s flicks, I’ve gathered up some of the world’s favorite holiday-themed rom-coms.
“Love Actually”
As far as I’m concerned, this is the Christmas rom-com. Stories of heartbreak, loss, new love and old love dance across the screen, and somehow, they’re all tangled up together. Audiences are sure to recognize at least one face with a cast including Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Bill Nighy. The film opens with a scene of airport greetings and goodbyes playing beneath Grant’s opening monologue: “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love, actually, is all around.”
“Miracle on 34th Street”
This has been my favorite movie since I was a little girl. I have yet to see the original black and white version from 1947, but the newer version with Dylan McDermott, Richard Attenborough, and Mara Wilson (“Matilda”) has had my heart for as long as I can remember. The movie would make a cynic believe in hope. Brian Bedford (McDermott) loves six-year-old Susan, daughter of Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) as if she were his own daughter. In falling in love with Dorey and her daughter, Brian fulfills Susan’s Christmas wish and proves to her that Santa Clause is real – all in less than a month.
“While You Were Sleeping”
This movie is like a warm cup of tea on a snowy day – you come in from shoveling the walkway, strip off your winter gear, curl up with a blanket and warm your shivering hands with a mug the size of your head filled to the brim with steaming cocoa. Leading lady Lucy (Sandra Bullock) falls in love, but not with the man she claims is her fiancé. When Lucy saves Peter’s (Peter Gallagher) life, she is trapped into telling his family that she is engaged to him; a man she has never met. While Peter is asleep, Lucy falls in love with Jack (Bill Pullman), Peter’s brother, and grows closer to Peter’s whole family. With quotable lines applicable to nearly all situations, it is a true holiday staple.
“The Holiday”
Starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Kate Winslet, this is a fan favorite. It tells the story of two women who travel across the Atlantic Ocean to get away from the bad patterns in their love lives. Amanda (Diaz) and Iris (Winslet) find each other’s homes on a house swapping site. Amanda lives in a Los Angeles mansion; Iris lives in a cozy English cottage. They have each other’s dream lives, and, as it turns out, access to each other’s dream men. Love blooms among frozen white snow and sun-filled windows. Relatable characters experience whirlwind romances over the backdrop of the most magical time of the year: Christmas.
“You’ve Got Mail”
This Nora Ephron classic features Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Their two characters start the film internet chatting not realizing that they’ve met in real life. Joe Fox (Hanks) is the son of the owner of a large conglomerate bookstore, Fox Books, who has recently opened a location only minutes away from Kathleen Kelly’s (Ryan) small children’s bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner. The big business threatens to close her shop’s doors. Knowing each other only as Shopgirl and NY152, they meet. What will happen when Joe realizes that Shopgirl and the “beautiful pill” from The Shop Around the Corner are, in fact, the same person?
So, if you needed something to watch to grow your holiday cheer, take a pick at one of these five movies.
