Just like the 40s marked the heyday of noir detectives, the 90s were all about romantic comedies. The audience grew tired of watching action heroes take down legions of bad guys and needed a break. Demand always meets supply, so Hollywood delivered. And then delivered some more. And more. The golden era of rom-coms saw a dozen movies coming out each year, giving rise to such names as Meg Ryan, Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, and many others. Some films flopped, some succeeded, and some became all-time classics. Let’s explore what was perhaps the most lovey-dovey decade in movie history.
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Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Even the coldest female heart can’t resist the loveable Britishness of Hugh Grant, who plays Charles, a 32-year-old intellectual Englishman with a phobia of responsibility and serious relationships. He always gets stressed-out and bails once the prospect of marriage looms on the horizon. However, everything changes when life begins bringing him together with a beautiful young American named Carrie. The two accidentally meet at weddings and even funerals. Charles does his best to hold the line, yet his defenses crumble before Carrie’s charm and beauty.
Picture Perfect (1997)
Jennifer Aniston in a romantic comedy – now that’s a must-see! In Friends, Jennifer portrayed an easy-going cutie, and the romance line wasn’t the main one. Here we have a rare opportunity to check out Miss Aniston in a real rom-com at her peak and follow the story of an office career woman who struggles to win her boss’s attention but finds true love instead.
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
If movie stars had official titles, Julia Roberts would surely be the queen of the rom-coms. Her ability to play romantic roles and make each of them unique has taken the genre to the next level. Her performance in My Best Friend’s Wedding makes you laugh, sympathize, and even hate sometimes. The plot follows Julianne “Jules” Potter, a food critic from NYC who finds out that her closest friend and probably the only chance for a happy wedding, Michael is going to marry. Jules has four days to sabotage the wedding and convince Michael that she’s his special someone.
Fools Rush In (1997)
Another rising Friends star (Mathew Perry this time) plays Alex Whitman, a successful architect who meets Isabel, a gorgeous Mexican, having no clue that a night of wild passion with this charming girl will spark feelings between the two. Isabel tells Alex that she’s expecting, and he decides to marry her without hesitation. Although he knows little about his beloved, Alex believes that love is forever, and it doesn’t matter how long you’ve known each other.
The Wedding Singer (1998)
Not all Adam Sandler’s movies are golden-oldies, but his early works like The Wedding Singer are still decent. Adam plays Robbie Hart, a singer who entertains guests at weddings. At one event, Robbie meets a good-looking waitress named Julia, who conquers him with her openness, spontaneity, and adorable sense of humor. There’s a problem, though, – both of them aren’t single. Despite this, Robbie and Julia keep in touch, and soon she asks him to help with arrangements for her wedding. Robbie agrees, but not because he wants to help out a friend…
Drive Me Crazy (1999)
Nicole and Chase live next door, but they’ve never had feelings for each other. She’s a typical high school beauty, and he’s a local rebel and rule breaker. Dumped by her boyfriend and having no one to go to prom with, Nicole asks Chase out to make his ex jealous. “Suddenly,” the relationship between Chase and Nicole gradually turns from friendship to romance. Who would’ve thought a popular girl and an outsider have a lot to teach each other? The fake relationship becomes real, marking a moment of transformation for both.
Never Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Geller is an ordinary newspaper editor who gets a chance to become a real journalist – her editor-in-chief needs someone to report undercover at a local high school. In her mid-20s, Josie still looks 17, so she’s the best candidate for the task. The long-awaited chance turns into a disaster, as Josie gets mocked by students. Luckily, her brother Rob enrolls in the school to help her out. An excellent basketball player, he easily gains respect and helps his sister make friends with the top of the school. Everything would be perfect if not for the literature teacher who falls in love with Josie.
She’s All That (1999)
If you haven’t seen this movie, you’re missing out. It has all a rom-com needs: California beaches, romance, studies, high school ball – you name it. The story follows Zack Siler, who never cared about breakups. That’s why he easily dumps his girlfriend Taylor. Now the girl’s got a better boyfriend, a reality TV star, but that doesn’t faze Zack, and he bets his friend Dean that he’ll make the prom queen out of any girl, even Laney Boggs, the most unpopular student one could find.
Blast from the Past (1999)
How many rom-coms do you know that begin like a post-apocalyptic story? By the end of the 90s, scriptwriters began to run out of fresh ideas. That’s how we got Blast from the Past, which starts during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 when Adam Webber’s father secretly builds a fallout shelter. And just when he and his pregnant wife step into it, a US Air Force fighter crashes over their house, leaving the shelter closed for 35 years. Once it’s open, Adam, who was born and raised in a bunker, finds himself in the bustling Los Angeles of the 90s.
Runaway Bride (1999)
As you’ve probably noticed, the wedding is the first key ingredient in a romantic comedy. The other two are Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Symbolically, the iconic couple that began the romantic decade in 1990 with Pretty Woman returned to celebrate its end in 1999 with a touching and hilarious movie. The story of a journalist and a girl who escaped her own wedding so many times that she’s now a local meme somehow hasn’t got old in 20 years.
