I’ll be honest and say that this was kind of a hard list to make since there are a lot of Rom/Com movies out there from every decade that are just fantastic since the combination of romance and comedy is something that has to really be messed with to come out wrong. When you think about it, whether it’s the 80s or any other decade, the idea of comedy and romance goes hand in hand since it’s all a grand joke to start with when people try to get together. We either don’t know how to react, we’re afraid to do or say the wrong thing, or we’re so anxious about meeting the right person that we make a running tally of mistakes that end up snowballing and making things even worse or, if we’re lucky, make us seem helplessly romantic and possibly cute to the person we’re attracted to. In real life it doesn’t always happen this way of course but in the movies it seems that the more pathetic or obstinate a person is in their pursuit of someone else the more likely it is that they’ll wear that person down eventually.
With that, here are some of the best Rom/Com movies from the 80s.
5. Bull Durham
You’ve heard of love and basketball, well, love and baseball came a little bit before that, or rather quite a few years before that since the love had to simmer down from the lust that it sprang from in this movie. Crash Davis is the kind of guy that doesn’t really do nonsense all that well and when he comes to Durham as the new catcher he has to put up with a ton of it. The only problem is that the nonsense isn’t just confined to the team, it’s bound up in the one woman that seems to be able to cross men’s eyes without even setting foot into the dugout. The back and forth antics of the characters in this movie is something you’ve got to see to really enjoy.
4. Pretty in Pink
There’s something very special to be said about the best friend in any romantic comedy and that’s the fact that many of them are the unspoken protectors of the love interest that they secretly adore but can’t have. A lot of these individuals seem to covet the woman that the leading man eventually ends up with but their love is a rather incomplete thing that tends to blind them to the fact that they have no chance. That being said however they’re still valuable in the sense that they are the ones that will gladly stand in the line of fire for the people they love even if it costs them everything. But in the end they usually end up doing the right thing, and finding that karma is just in its own way.
3. Say Anything
There’s a lot to be said about determination in a rom/com since it usually seems to carry the day in one way or another. Some people might actually call this harassment and stalking by modern-day standards but back then it was seen as the means to getting someone’s attention. Rom/com’s today seem more intent on using the desired technology to perform the same act, though it seems so impersonal at times. In this movie John Cusack knew who he wanted, he just had to realize who he needed to be in order to really win her heart. Through all the obstacles he had to face the biggest one to hurdle was himself.
2. Overboard
A lot of people can’t help but wonder what it was like for Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell to make this movie since even at this time they’d been together for a while. It almost seems as though they might have had to do a few takes over just for the sake of making sure that they weren’t making each other laugh now and again. But the movie is still a classic since it took one of the biggest snobs alive and paired her with a man that barely knew how to manage his own life and created a sense of harmony that the two have shown together throughout their long and very touching relationship.
1. When Harry Met Sally
Obviously men and women can be friends but to those with this particular hangup that’s just not possible since the idea that sex is a barrier that keeps them apart while trying to slam them together is a little too deeply rooted. But Harry and Sally do try despite their failure in the early stages. The one thing anyone needs to remember about dating and sex is that the two can be mutually exclusive, at least for a while. It’s possible.
The average rom/com is usually touching as well as amusing, but some of them are hands down hilarious and capable of being called instant classics.
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