If you’re like me and will be staying home on New Year’s Eve, I’ve compiled a list of movies that might suit you for that night. You can pop it in and be done with it just before the ball drops and the celebrations begin in Times Square.
I picked lighter movies that in some way depict New Year’s Eve. This would be my list…
Hugh Grant and Rachel Weisz star in this film. Grant meets Weisz at a New Year’s Eve party, but the story of the friendship with “the boy” is heartwarming and sweet. Hugh Grant is superb in this role.
Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy star in this comedy where New Year’s Eve plays a prominent role. Akroyd plays the stuffy rich boy, while Murphy plays the slick-talking, street con-man who find their roles reversed by a bet two millionaires make with each other. It’s seriously still funny after all these years.
You can see I have a problem. I love this movie. I put it on every list I make around the holidays. The truth is, it works as a Christmas movie, a New Year’s movie, or just a heartbreak movie altogether. Kate Winslet is fabulous as Iris, a writer at a newspaper who has been rejected by Jasper, a womanizer and user. Jack Black adds humor to the film, and Cameron Diaz and Jude Law meet in the Cotswolds after Diaz and Winslet swap homes for the holidays. The film ends with an adorable New Year’s Eve scene.
Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth star in this flirty, funny, filthy little romp that will have you laughing out loud in parts. Bridget decides to make a New Year’s resolution, keeping a diary, which comes full circle in a delightful way.
When Harry Met Sally
1. When Harry Met Sally.
Probably the best romantic-comedy of all time. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan have chemistry that works beautifully in this film. At the core is this question: Can men and women be friends without the sex part getting in the way? The answer comes during the holidays, with the answer coming down like a thunderbolt for Harry at the toll of midnight. One-liners that we still use in general conversation today (i.e. “It is so nice to eat and not have to talk”), this film’s brilliance lies in the late Nora Ephron’s writing.
