#6 — Top 10 Love Films
10. Fast and Furious (Series)
Kicking off the list is a movie series that, when you take away the Mia connection, the fast cars, and the drug lords, is really about the love between two bros. Dom and Brian love each other like real brothers and travel across the world and into endless peril to have each other’s backs.
9. Once
This film, in my opinion, is nowhere near as appealing aesthetically as the Broadway version. That disappointment aside, the music for this is great and the narrative is beautiful — this is a real tearjerking-type story.
8. Forrest Gump
I love that despite all the complications and twists and turns that his life takes, Forrest holds simple truths that stay with him the entire way. One of the truths is that he loves Jenny. As he says in the film, “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”
7. Wall-E
One of two animated films to make this list, I just thought this movie was really cute. There’s not a lot of depth to Wall-E’s love, but it’s true and I find it to be sweet how much he puts himself through for her.
6. Up
This is the only other animated film to make the list, and really I was impressed with how well-developed and moving a love story that Pixar put together within the first few minutes of this picture. Carl and Ellie are complete characters for this story, and even though it’s less than the first 20 minutes you feel so much of everything they go through together.
5. West Side Story
I’m a big fan of the Romeo and Juliet story pattern, but I’m not a big fan of the Romeo+Juliet film. There are reasons DiCaprio doesn’t get Oscars. If you want to see an example of how to properly modernize the star-crossed lovers tale, look no further than West Side Story. Disclaimer: This one is a musical too.
4. Stardust
This is one of my favorite films, I think that Tristan’s character development is terrific. Claire Danes is such a funny leading lady, and the chemistry is great to watch blossom. There’s also a stellar (puns are nice) performance by Robert DeNiro. This is a really fun love story to watch, it’s mostly lighthearted throughout the entire time.
3. Moulin Rouge!
I didn’t see this until we watched it in senior film, and since you’ve all seen it I don’t think it needs justification for being so high on the list. This is a really great film, the song choice is impeccable — I didn’t think it was possible to make me like “Roxanne,” but they proved me wrong.
2. Shakespeare in Love
We watched this in the IB Theatre class last year and I love it. The love story plotline itself is great, and I like even more how they connect different parts of it to Shakespeare’s different works as the film progresses. Also, Joseph Fiennes is just a wonderful Shakespeare.
- RENT
This is not only my favorite love film, it’s also solidly on my top 10 favorite films list. Any of the reasons to watch it are reason enough — the plot is great, the characters are all sympathetic and well-developed, and the songs are incredible. “Seasons of Love” is iconic. Watch this movie and you’ll understand why I love it.
