SALT LAKE CITY — I know I’m not the only wife whose husband takes some convincing to watch a romcom or romantic movie. So I try to introduce only the best to him — they need to have some substance to keep his attention.
A lot of new romcoms are heading straight to streaming apps these days since blockbuster superhero movies and the like tend to do better in the box office. That means there’s a wide variety in the quality levels of films making their way straight to the small screen, from formulaic to fresh and inspired.
The classics, of course, are always a good choice. There are few greater movies than “An Affair to Remember” and “You’ve Got Mail.” But if you want to give a new or lesser-known movie a shot for your Valentine’s Day date, here’s a list of some old and some new, ranked from zero to five roses for this romantic day.
‘Love Again’ — 4 roses
As far as the romantic comedy genre goes, this movie is just about perfect. Mira, played by the lovely Priyanka Chopra, starts sending texts to the phone number that belonged to her fiance, who was killed in a tragic accident — without knowing his phone number has been reassigned. At the other end of the line, music critic Rob, played by Sam Heughan of “Outlander” fame, receives her texts. The story that ensues is sweet without being corny or cliche. It also features acting and musical performances by Celine Dion — and this movie turned me into a fan. The film has some mild adult situations and humor.
‘Find Me Falling’ — 2½ roses
Jazz legend Harry Connick Jr. returns to the screen as John Allman, a former rocker whose star has faded, who is going back to a place he was once happy — the island of Cyprus — for solitude. The movie leans into the trope of the person who wants to be a hermit and escape society but is forced to do exactly the opposite. Despite some cliches and predictability, this movie has a lot going for it — good acting, a beautiful setting and Connick Jr. singing.
‘Happiness for Beginners’ — 3½ roses
This adaptation of the book by the same name, Ellie Kemper of “The Office” fame, stars as Helen, a woman overcoming a difficult divorce, who has lost some of her vitality and wants to get it back by signing up for a survivalist course. A group of interesting characters make up the rest of the camping party — including her younger brother’s best friend. This heartfelt, relatable film is a prime example of why I’m glad quiet, conversation-based storytelling still has an audience, even if it goes straight to streaming.
‘Love at First Sight’ — 4 roses
Haley Lu Richardson, as Hadley, and Ben Hardy, as Oliver, meet-cute in an airport and then end up next to each other on the same flight to England, where they’re both flying to attend major life events for family members. Without spoiling the plot, I’ll just say the movie takes one of the most clichéd clichés, the idea of “love at first sight,” and one of the most overdone forms of meet-cute — “they’re both traveling, literally and metaphorically, will they ever see each other again?” — and makes it totally new. The chemistry is great. The dialogue is great. The story is great.
‘Once’ — 5 roses
If you haven’t seen the movie that inspired the hit Broadway musical and you enjoy independent movies, you’re in for a treat. Musician Glen Hansard stars as an unnamed struggling musician, and Marketa Irglova as an immigrant and young single mom in Dublin, Ireland. They meet and begin making music together. This is one of those simple movies, made on a small budget, that come along a few times in a generation and somehow strike that perfect magic chord.
‘Somewhere in Time’ — 5 roses
Possibly the most romantic movie ever made — it’s so good that my nonromantic-movie-fan husband wanted to watch it again soon after and has been listening to the soundtrack and getting into his feelings. Christopher Reeve plays Richard Collier, a playwright who becomes entranced by the photograph of an actress from the early 1900s, Elise McKenna, played by Jane Seymour. This movie received mixed critical reception in its time but has since become a cult classic. If you haven’t seen it yet, this Valentine’s Day might be the perfect opportunity.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
