More favorite on-screen couples chosen for their realistic, intelligent stories of relationships. Patrick Wilson and Claire Danes from Evening. What. a. cast. Patrick Wilson singing in that movie changed my life. Not really. But I love him.
Jennifer Westfeldt has a subtle, underrated talent. Chris Messina has been popping up everywhere lately, and I doubt he’ll go out of style. Ira and Abby is a quirky little gem that no one else has seen.
Lovers in fiction and non-fiction, the hottest couple on earth, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz personify exotic European love and hate in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin show that love is not clear cut, or black or white or crystal clear. It’s somewhere in those murky shades of gray that are maddening and blurry and unshakeable, try as you might. Director Drake Doremus said he made this movie the way he saw love, where people are constantly trying to get those perfect first few months back, always running away from the reality that comes after. Which is why the ending is so smart.
And in honor of the late, great Nora Ephron, I have always loved everything about You’ve Got Mail, from the Upper West Side brownstone, to the bookstores and parks of the city, to the perfection of the entire cast. The setting, the story of the publishing world in the 90’s, and YES, I’ll say it - the happy ending with the golden retriever and Tom Hanks and Riverside Park is easily one of the truly sweet romantic comedies. RIP Ms. Ephron. For your observations on life and aging and relationships and people, your black turtlenecks, your love of books and food and entertaining, your books and essays and movies. You were a true classic.
