Romantic comedies are stuffed with a variety of feelings as a result of love might be messy. The style has had many humorous moments as a result of followers can relate to the conditions characters are positioned. Sometimes, they hit somewhat too near dwelling, however not less than there’s some type of emotional connection to the characters.

The 2000s had a number of the finest romantic comedies that had followers of the style speaking. Some motion pictures helped push the style a bit due to how raunchy the comedy was, whereas others went again to fundamentals, which made it such a enjoyable time for everybody. Almost all of the main girls in romantic comedies have change into a staple for the style throughout this era. These now-beloved rom-coms have come to outline the noughties, due to their heartwarming plots, memorable on-screen {couples}, quotable screenplays, and the right manner they seize their specific time and place.

20 ‘A Cinderella Story’ (2004)

Directed by Mark Rosman

The story of Cinderella has been tailored to the display many occasions earlier than, being recycled and revamped to go well with modern audiences. 2004’s A Cinderella Story has change into one thing of a contemporary icon, following the good-natured excessive schooler Samantha Montgomery (Hilary Duff) whose rigorous life working beneath her depraved stepmother takes a pleasant flip when she begins texting with an nameless pen-pal. While she grows excited on the prospect of assembly her web beau on the Halloween dance, her elation turns to panic when she discovers she’s been speaking to the college heart-throb, Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray).

A Cinderella Story is undeniably schlocky, nevertheless it has an easy-going and earnest attraction which makes it clear to see why it did change into a success. Duff is pivotal to this, along with her likability properly being touted because the central facet of the movie. Additionally, Jennifer Coolidge‘s efficiency because the evil stepmother was a comedic spotlight of the film.

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19 ‘The Proposal’ (2009)

Directed by Anne Fletcher

Comfortable adhering to rom-com method and cliches, The Proposal thrives off the again of the chemistry of its two infectious stars to be a rollicking romance flick that’s an amusing, if not fully authentic, movie. Facing deportation to Canada, extremely profitable e-book editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) claims that she is engaged to Andrew Paxton (a humorous Ryan Reynolds character), her hapless assistant. While Andrew performs alongside along with her scheme, he abuses his newfound energy the place he can because the duo evade a suspicious immigration officer whereas careening in direction of their marriage ceremony day.

Overcoming harsh crucial scrutiny, The Proposal grew to become a noteworthy field workplace hit and has endeared itself to many followers with its cozy familiarity, its two note-perfect lead performances, and a few sensible path from Anne Fletcher. It is a defining romantic comedy of the early 2000s that may be a nice movie for style purists.

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18 ’13 Going on 30′ (2004)

Directed by Gary Winick

The early 2000s led to a profession breakthrough for Jennifer Garner as a Hollywood A-lister, an ascension which was finalized along with her main function in 13 Going on 30. The teen rom-com follows an unpopular 13-year-old lady who, after wishing to be older, awakens the next day to search out that 17 years have handed, and he or she is now 30 years outdated. As she struggles to navigate grownup life, she grows nearer to her former next-door neighbor and finest pal, Matt Flamhaff (Mark Ruffalo).

In addition to Garner nailing the a part of a teenage lady in a grown girl’s physique with comedic excellence and loads of attraction, the movie additionally noticed Ruffalo change into an in a single day sensation because the lovable and type boy subsequent door who was at all times in love with Jenna, with the duo changing into a fan-favorite rom-com film couple. Capped off with a beautiful ending that emphasizes the significance of self-respect and real love, 13 Going on 30 stays a cherished icon of early 2000s romance.

17 ‘She’s the Man’ (2006)

Directed by Andy Fickman

She’s the Man boasts a well-known lead efficiency from Amanda Bynes on the high of her recreation, and a intelligent, teen-friendly adaptation of William Shakespeare‘s romantic comedy Twelfth Night. It follows Viola (Bynres) as she disguises herself as her twin brother, Sebastian, and takes his place at an all-boys boarding college to play aggressive soccer when the lady’s group is dissolved. As Viola begins falling in love along with her roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum), Duke experiences emotions for Olivia (Lauren Ramsey) who, in flip, is growing a crush on who she thinks is Sebastian.

The love triangle debacle in She’s the Man allowed for loads of feelings to spill out of the characters whereas additionally resulting in many hilarious and awkward interactions, with Tatum and Byrnes each excelling of their roles. Additionally, its commentary on gender roles was not solely years forward of its time, however dealt with with an class and humor which stays nice and interesting even in the present day.

16 ‘Hitch’ (2005)

Directed by Andy Tennant

Featuring Will Smith on the absolute peak of his powers, Hitch was a success rom-com that stunned many. Smith, in his first foray into the style, performed the titular Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, knowledgeable courting knowledgeable who tries to assist Albert (Kevin James), a bumbling accountant, win the guts of Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), the rich heiress he’s in love with. However, Hitch faces his personal romantic battles as properly, because the columnist he falls for challenges every little thing he thought he knew about courting.

Hitch doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel in terms of rom-com formulation or character designs, nevertheless it excels in its pre-determined framework to be a captivating movie nonetheless. Warm-hearted and boasting a narrative that’s as enjoyable as it’s predictable, Hitch embodied the feel-good magic of romantic comedy.

15 ‘The Princess Diaries’ (2001)

Directed by Garry Marshall

There is a component of teenage fantasy enchantment that made The Princess Diaries the noteworthy hit that it has come to be. Starring Anne Hathaway in her breakthrough function, it follows Mia, a shy teenage lady who learns that she is the only real inheritor to the small European kingdom of Genovia and, so as to declare her title, she should show herself to be a regal girl. Additionally, she should additionally navigate the trials and tribulations of teenage life whereas struggling to return to phrases along with her newfound superstar standing.

While it capabilities extra as a coming-of-age comedy, The Princess Diaries has an underlying coronary heart granted to it by its romantic qualities, with Mia struggling to determine who she ought to love. Elevated by Hathaway’s composed lead efficiency and Julie Andrews‘ hilarious outing as Mia’s grandmother and mentor, The Princess Diaries stays one of the defining rom-coms of the early 2000s.

14 ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ (2003)

Directed by Donal Petrie

Ample proof that generally all that actually issues is nice chemistry, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was a predictable and even generally foolish story that was elevated by the electrical energy between Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It follows an recommendation columnist whose boundary-pushing new article about the best way to get a man to lose curiosity in a relationship in simply 10 days is met with encouragement from her editor. As she units out to conduct her social experiment, she meets an promoting government who has wager that he could make any girl fall in love with him in 10 days.

While the to-and-fro between the 2 career-driven characters with fully reverse motives results in some genuinely humorous moments, it’s at all times Hudson and McConaughey who carry the movie as their characters’ emotions begin to change into real. Thanks to their dynamic pairing, the movie manages to beat its premise’s pitfalls to be an immediate rom-com basic and a must-see film for followers of the style.

13 ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ (2005)

Directed by Judd Apatow

Through the early 2000s, a brand new wave of smutty American comedies started to hit screens. While plenty of them have been forgotten simply as shortly as they got here, there have been a number of which have endured as genuinely good motion pictures able to shedding new gentle on a variety of points that befall trendy society together with, after all, modern views on romance and intercourse. Perhaps no different rom-com has explored that subject fairly as intrinsically as The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Featuring Steve Carell in a star-making flip, it follows a middle-aged retailer clerk who remains to be a virgin. While his colleagues provide encouragement, his romantic life takes an sudden flip when he meets Trish (Catherine Keener), an entrepreneur and a single mom of three youngsters. Surprisingly candy and utilizing its raunchier moments to boost the central romance fairly than belittle it, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is smutty rom-com finished extremely properly.

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12 ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ (2002)

Directed by Joel Zwick

(*20*)

An important film about love and household that at all times has its coronary heart in the proper place and maintains an urge for food for good enjoyable, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is maybe underappreciated for what it presents. It follows Toula (Nia Vardalos), a lady from a big Greek household who, nonetheless single at 30, works on the household restaurant as a lot of her kin fear about her. When she lastly falls in love, nevertheless, she struggles to persuade her household to just accept a non-Greek man as her accomplice.

While it tiptoes round clichés and stereotypes, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is finally honest and candy, relishing in celebrations of human connection and love in a fashion that’s each outrageously humorous and genuinely heartwarming. Its eccentricity and playfulness make it an outstanding hit for rom-com lovers, and should even win over a couple of style converts as properly.

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11 ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ (2003)

Directed by Nancy Meyers

Rising past its comparatively easy premise, Something’s Gotta Give marks a sensible and snappy romantic comedy about falling in love at an older age. Harry (Jack Nicholson) is a shameless womanizer whose plans on a weekend away along with his a lot youthful girlfriend run adrift once they arrive at her mom’s seashore home to search out her mom, Erica (Diane Keaton), already there. While the pair are initially spiteful of each other, a medical emergency for Harry sees him having to remain on the home to recuperate, over which period he and Erica start to develop nearer.

It’s sensible whereas nonetheless being playful, utilizing style tropes to its benefit with out being certain to method or cliché in a manner that may be a detriment to the movie. The finish result’s a snappily humorous and quaintly romantic movie that also presents each Nicholson and Keaton loads of room to flex their appearing muscle tissues.

10 ‘Enchanted’ (2007)

Directed by Kevin Lima

One of Disney’s most revolutionary and authentic story concepts, Enchanted has change into an adored success for its meshing of fantasy and actuality which coasts off the again of Amy Adams’ flawless starring efficiency. She stars as Giselle, an animated princess in a fantasy land who’s quickly to be wed solely to be banished from the dominion by her lover’s evil stepmother. Transported to New York, the starry-eyed princess meets a jaded divorce lawyer and a brand new romance begins to bloom.

Not solely top-of-the-line romantic comedies of the 2000s, Enchanted additionally thrived as certainly one of Disney’s most intriguing and profitable releases of the last decade as properly. Adams and Patrick Dempsey made for an ideal Giselle and Robert Philip, whereas the movie’s fantasy attract imbued it with a component which few different romantic comedies can lay declare to.

9 ‘Love Actually’ (2003)

Directed by Richard Curtis

A celebration of romantic comedies in all of the style’s soppy glory, Love Actually has change into an iconic film due to its ensemble solid, its huge scope, and its eagerness to excel as a permanent vacation flick in addition to a rom-com. Taking place in London as Christmas approaches, it focuses on eight interlinked tales of affection and romance, from budding relationships to marriages that are on the snapping point.

Its all-encompassing method noticed it change into a hit for followers of the style as Love Actually touches on many cherished rom-com clichés, however does so with class, fashion, and no small quantity of comedic heft. While there are those that declare the movie is diluted by having too many tales, few would deny that it nonetheless displays Richard Curtis at his masterful, genre-defining finest when firing on all cylinders.

8 ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (2001)

Directed by Sharon Maguire

Reveling in the truth that love is usually a messy endeavor at any age, Bridget Jones’s Diary discovered a widespread enchantment in its romantic sense of imperfect attraction and its message concerning the significance of staying true to oneself. Determined to enhance herself as a brand new 12 months begins, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) commits to conserving a self-improvement diary whereas discovering herself in the course of a love triangle as two males vie for her affections.

With Hugh Grant enjoying the suave and slick Daniel Cleaver whereas Colin Firth portrays the extra refined and affectionate Mark Darcy, Bridget Jones’s Diary was in a position to assemble one of many all-time biggest rom-com line-ups. With all three of the leads of their prime, the film made for an effortlessly rewatchable romantic comedy which outlined the style on the time and led to 2 sequels. Many audiences have been in a position to relate to Bridget Jones as a result of her down-to-Earth high quality and the truth that the film highlighted the insecurities and anxieties of many ladies on the time.

7 ‘The Holiday’ (2006)

Directed by Nancy Meyers

Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) have been struggling of their relationships. When issues come to a head, they discover a getaway web site with the choice to swap properties. Iris heads to sunny California, the place she will get near Miles (Jack Black) and finds a brand new connection, whereas Amanda heads to a quaint English village, bumping into Iris’ brother Graham (Jude Law)

There are a fantastic many vacation motion pictures which get revisited yearly, and The Holiday is certainly one of them because of its unbelievable solid which works exceptionally properly and its charming screenplay by director Nancy Meyers. While The Holiday does adhere to rom-com tropes fairly carefully, it succeeds in hitting each notice it must and excels as a crowd-pleasing, feel-good romantic comedy which additionally doubles as a heartwarming rom-com Christmas film.

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6 ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ (2002)

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Offering a darkish flip so far as romantic comedies go, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002 cult hit presents a difficult and generally bleak story that makes use of style tropes in fascinating methods. Adam Sandler stars as Barry Egan, a lonely and annoyed toilet provides enterprise proprietor who varieties a romantic bond with the co-worker of certainly one of his seven sisters. However, the budding relationship is threatened as Barry is stricken by an extortionist from when he tried to name a cellphone intercourse line.

Within its many oddities and off-kilter beats, Punch-Drunk Love finds a surprisingly endearing and honest coronary heart in Adam Sandler’s profoundly highly effective efficiency of a lonely but lovestruck recluse liable to dramatic outbursts. The movie has endured as one thing of a sleeper hit through the years, one that’s at all times able to providing nice surprises to new viewers.

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5 ‘Knocked Up’ (2007)

Directed by Judd Apatow

The tide began to vary within the style when Judd Apatow went to the massive display with one of many funniest 2000s rom-coms, Knocked Up. The film follows TV presenter Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) who winds up pregnant after a one-night stand with lovable slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). Not solely did the movie contact on an essential subject, nevertheless it additionally noticed Heigl break onto the massive display after gaining reputation on Grey’s Anatomy, whereas a younger Seth Rogen, who additionally produced the movie, was given ample alternative to showcase his comedic expertise.

Arguably probably the most spectacular facet of the film, although, was the maturity and poignance with which it addressed the characters’ state of affairs with nuance and complexity. Ultimately, Knocked Up discovered the right stability between heartfelt and well-earned emotional stakes and raunchy, R-rated comedy to launch a brand new form of rom-com that appealed to each women and men alike.

4 ’50 First Dates’ (2004)

Directed by Peter Segal

While its premise has aged dubiously through the years, there isn’t a denying that 50 First Dates is a defining rom-com of the early 2000s which nonetheless oozes attraction. It stars Adam Sandler as Henry, a veterinarian who falls in love with Lucy (Drew Barrymore) solely to be taught she suffers from short-term reminiscence loss. Despite his standing towards dedicated relationships, Henry finds himself smitten with Lucy and endeavors to show to her household that his emotions are real.

The flawless chemistry between Sander and Barrymore carries the movie via each its comedic and romantically charming moments, but in addition via its extra critical scenes as properly. Despite having a considerably disconcerting premise, 50 First Dates is unabashedly sentimental, carrying its coronary heart proudly on its sleeve and daring audiences to imagine in that elusive, pure model of real love which few rom-coms are in a position to seize.

3 ’10 Things I Hate About You’ (1999)

Directed by Gil Junger

Despite being a 1999 launch, 10 Things I Hate About You had a monumental affect on teen rom-coms of the early 2000s, over which period it grew to change into one of many style’s defining motion pictures. With a free foundation on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, it follows a love-struck teenager in Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who’s determined to pursue a romance with Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) however cannot as a result of her mother and father will not allow her to see anybody till her older sister Kate (Julia Styles) begins courting. To overcome the impediment, Cameron enlists the assistance of Patrick (Heath Ledger) to woo Kate so he and Bianca can hit it off.

The movie staked its brilliance on the chemistry between Ledger and Styles, whose contradictory characters made for one of many biggest romantic pairings in cinematic historical past. Imbued with a surprisingly sensible screenplay from Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith, the enduring film manages to be humorous and heartwarming whereas exhibiting a wholesome dose of stripling angst and romantic intrigue.

2 ‘(500) Days of Summer’ (2009)

Directed by Marc Webb

Some romantic comedies have extra tears than laughter, and (500) Days of Summer is certainly one of them. As top-of-the-line romance motion pictures ever, it follows a greeting card author and hopeless romantic in Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who’s caught fully off-guard when he’s immediately dumped by his girlfriend, Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Taking a trek down reminiscence lane, Tom decides to revisit a number of the finest moments within the couple’s 500-day relationship.

(500) Days of Summer is an excellent deconstruction of the romantic comedy style, providing a brand new and impressed tackle the basic love story and several other witty and insightful observations about trendy love. Despite not coming to the happiest of endings, the heartbreaking summer time movie stays top-of-the-line 2000s rom-coms of this century, with Tom and Summer making for one of many all-time nice film {couples}.

1 ‘Amélie’ (2001)

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

One of probably the most universally celebrated overseas movies of all time, Amélie has made its mark with its arresting visible show, its quaint story, and its totally endearing protagonist in Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou). A frightfully shy girl with a hyperactive creativeness, Amélie finds pleasure by secretly orchestrating the lives of these round her to assist them discover true happiness. However, she struggles to flee her personal isolation as she finds herself falling in love.

A mesmerizing romantic comedy which additionally doubles as probably the most honest and exquisite love letter to Paris, Amélie is wealthy with all of the attraction, goodness, romantic drama, and cute character interactions followers of the style may need. It was heralded as one of many biggest romantic comedies of its period upon launch and its legend has solely grown since, with many viewing it as the one finest romantic film ever made.

NEXT: The Best Romantic Comedies of All Time, Ranked