10 Best Modern Romantic Movies That Will Make You Smile

I love romantic comedies, and so does my husband. But we won’t watch any modern romantic movies.

Last year before Valentine’s Day, we embarked on a quest to find the top 10 romantic comedies for the modern woman. You know, good romantic comedies.

We had two criteria for what makes a good modern romantic movie:

1. The main female character must take charge in solving her own problems – that is, not wait around for a man to ride in on his white horse and save the day
2. The main male character must not be a stereotypical chauvinist – for example, his hobbies must extend beyond eating steak and leering after attractive woman

The “chick flicks” we found were sweet, funny, AND worthy of a modern woman who can change the oil in her car or carry on a conversation that consists of more than tabloid celebrity gossip.

And the best part of all? Not only are these movies fun to watch, they’re as effective as weekly marriage counseling at sustaining a healthy marriage.

Whoa.

Related: How to Reconnect With Your Spouse Like Magic, According to Science {Printable}

10 Modern Romantic Movies That Will Make You Smile

This year, we watched a ton of (fairly) recent romantic comedies to put together another roundup* of the best modern romantic movies.

Some were horrible, some were just okay, and some were absolute gems.

For the best ever valentine’s gift or anniversary celebration, stay in with your honey and watch one or two of these for a romantic movie night. Or pin this list and use it for impromptu, cheap date nights throughout the year.

Our favorite in this roundup is the last one in the list. If you watch nothing else from this list, please watch that one!

* We focused on hetero rom coms, so although I know there are some sweet, funny LGBT love stories out there, they aren’t in this particular list.

1. Begin Again

• What It’s About: Gretta and her boyfriend Dave are college sweethearts and songwriting partners. When Dave lands a record deal, they move to New York. But instead of collaborating on his record, the experience drives them apart and leaves Gretta on her own.
• Why We Loved It: This isn’t your typical romantic comedy, not by a long shot. But it’s a sweet, real story of discovering yourself and what you deserve out of life. Plus, we loved so many songs on the soundtrack that we bought it immediately after watching the movie.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

2. Ghost Town

• What It’s About: Bertram Pincus is a prickly dentist who goes in for a routine medical procedure but dies for a few minutes during the procedure. When he comes back to life, he realizes he can see ghosts. And once the ghosts find out, they won’t leave him alone, demanding that Bertram right the unsettled issues of their lives.
• Why We Loved It: We almost didn’t watch this movie because the main character is kind of a jerk. Actually, there’s no “kind of” about it. He is a jerk. But by the end of the movie, he’s a lovable jerk. We adored this charming little story. This movie also happens to contain the best piece of flossing advice I’ve received in my 37 years of existence.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

3. The Rewrite

• What It’s About: Keith is an Oscar-winning screenwriter whose career (and marriage) have since washed up. He can’t sell a screenplay to save his life, so out of desperation he takes a writer-in-residence position at a university in a tiny Pennsylvania town. His goal is to do as little as possible to teach his class so he can focus on writing his next award-winning screenplay. But then he gets on the wrong side of the Ethics Committee chairperson, and life starts to veer from his plan.
• Why We Loved It: When the movie starts, Hugh Grant is the smarmy guy you love to hate. We adored Marisa Tomei as the foil to his jerkiness. She plays a working student and single mom with two kids, and we couldn’t help but smile when she was onscreen. The whole premise of the movie is a debate on fixed mindset versus growth mindset, and I just ate that up.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

4. (500) Days of Summer

• What It’s About: One day at work, Tom sees Summer, the new administrative assistant – and it’s love at first sight…for Tom. Summer, however, doesn’t believe in all that true love poppycock.
• Why We Loved It: This one makes you think twice about what true love really is. And it has one of my girl crushes, Zooey!
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

5. Ruby Sparks

• What It’s About: Calvin is a young novelist struggling with writer’s block after the tremendous success of his first novel. As a writing exercise, he creates the character of Ruby – the perfect girlfriend. Then one day he walks into his kitchen and finds Ruby, in the flesh.
• Why We Loved It: What a weird little film. But so good! And funny too.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

6. Celeste and Jesse Forever

• What It’s About: Celeste and Jesse were high school sweethearts who got married young. Now that they’re in their 30s, they’ve drifted apart and are on the brink of divorce. But they’re still best friends, and they spend every day and night together. How can they move on when they’re still together all the time?
• Why We Loved It: We were reluctant to watch this one for a while because it’s about divorce. Been there, done that, and we don’t need a “romantic comedy” that’s a downer. But this movie was refreshingly real while still making us laugh. I’m happy we finally watched it!
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

7. Adam

• What It’s About: Adam is a man living with Asperger’s syndrome. His father just died, and he’s trying to find his way in the world without his father by his side every day. When Beth moves into the upstairs apartment in Adam’s building, Adam wants to get to know her but doesn’t know how to make it happen. With the urging of a long-time friend, Adam finally jumps off the deep end into romance.
• Why We Loved It: This tender love story is stripped of the usual drama because Adam says exactly what he means, and Beth learns she has to as well if they’re going to communicate at all. Their story will make you think about what love means to different people.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

8. Music and Lyrics

• What It’s About: Alex Fletcher is a washed-up musician from a 1980s pop band who gets a second chance at fame when a modern pop diva asks him to write a song for her new album. The only problem? He can’t write lyrics. When Sophie shows up to fill in for his usual plant-keeper, she overhears a lyrics brainstorming session and sings the perfect lyrics to herself while she waters Alex’s plants. Alex has a genius lyricist in his midst, but unfortunately for him she’s been burned by the creative process and wants nothing to do with his songwriting venture.
• Why We Loved It: This one’s more along the lines of typical modern romantic movies than the other films in this list, but that’s not a bad thing. This movie almost didn’t make the list because we already had the more recent Hugh Grant film, The Rewrite, but the banter between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore is just plain fun to watch. This movie is light and playful, making it a great romantic comedy.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

9. Safety Not Guaranteed

• What It’s About: Three jaded magazine journalists encounter a bizarre classified ad: “Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.” They decide to answer the ad to find out the real story. But when they meet Kenneth, the man who placed the ad, their hunt takes an unexpected turn.
• Why We Loved It: We actually wanted to put this one in last year’s list! But with About Time being our favorite last year, we figured two time-travel romantic comedies was a bit much for one list. We’re not usually into sci-fi, but this movie is about so much more than time travel. We weren’t expecting to like it, and its quirky charm completely caught us off guard.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

10. What If

• What It’s About: Wallace’s life is a mess. He broke up with his girlfriend and dropped out of medical school. Just when he decides to put his love life on hold, he meets Chantry. The two have an instant spark, but unfortunately for Wallace, Chantry already has a boyfriend.
• Why We Loved It: Wallace and Chantry are just adorable together. I could watch those two all day! This is a sweet, funny love story I will definitely be watching again.
• Watch It: Amazon | iTunes

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Your Turn

What are your favorite modern romantic movies? Share your picks in a comment below!

Hi, I'm Kelly. I'm a mom of four, a recovering perfectionist, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family. Parenting is hard enough without all the guilt we heap on top of ourselves. So let's stop trying to be perfect parents and just be real ones. Sound good? Join my mailing list and as a bonus, you'll get 25+ incredibly helpful cheat sheets that will ease your parenting struggles.