Since the pipeline of movies has slowed as of late, I decided to share three of my favorite romance films. I hope you find something new or are reminded of an old favorite you may want to watch again. Please keep reading below for a little bit about each one!
First on my list is the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s book Pride & Prejudice. It is my all time favorite movie and I think it is a cinematic masterpiece. Joe Wright the director is extremely adept at bringing literary classics to life.
Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy’s love story is the gold standard that all other love stories must measure up to in my opinion. Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) is the daughter of a country gentleman and Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) is a wealthy landowner. Knightley and Macfadyen do a masterful job at bringing these two well known literary characters to life.
Elizabeth’s family does not have much money and relies on other family to stay afloat. It is made apparent by her mother that she would like to marry off her daughters to wealthy husbands. Her family has an air of ridiculousness to them, excluding Elizabeth and her sister Jane. This makes Elizabeth and Jane’s romantic pursuits difficult. The film follows the romance of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy through a litany of misunderstandings and prejudices. If you haven’t seen this yet, you absolutely must!
Next on my list is the 2011 romantic comedy Something Borrowed. Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a successful lawyer and a good person, but she lacks confidence in herself. Darcy (Kate Hudson) is confident, self absorbed and not afraid to go after what she wants. Rachel, has had a crush on Dex since law school, but always thought he was out of her league. When the film begins Dex and Darcy are engaged.
What happens when Rachel tells Dex her true feelings? I don’t want to say anymore because it will ruin it for you. Also, just as a side note John Krasinski plays Rachel’s best friend Ethan. He is likable, funny and in my opinion the best part of the film.
Something Borrowed is the first book in a series about these characters by Emily Giffin. I always hoped that the other books would be made into movies too, but no such luck. I hope you decide to check this one out, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
The third film that I am recommending is called Dirt Music, which was released in 2020. You can actually watch it on Amazon right now. It is based on Tim Winton’s novel and directed by Gregor Jordan. The cinematography (photographed by Sam Chiplin) is absolutely stunning. It showcases the coastline of Western Australia, which I had no idea was so breathtakingly beautiful.
The scenery is a perfect backdrop for a love story between two beautiful souls who are haunted by their pasts and themselves. If you prefer a story with a plot that moves in a straight line, this is probably not the film for you. This film likes to meander around each of the main characters lives, past and present.
Garrett Hedlund, plays Lu Fox, a non-practicing musician with a tragic past. Kelly Macdonald plays Georgie, an unhappy woman who is in a relationship with a man she doesn’t love. Lu and Georgie meet by chance and thus begins their love affair.
Garrett Hedlund does an amazing job at portraying the pain Lu lives with on a daily basis. You might remember him from the movie Country Strong which starred Gwyneth Paltrow. This film isn’t heavy on dialogue and Georgie and Lu are not in a lot of scenes together, but somehow I still really felt the love between them. It had a magical quality to it and I felt really good when it was over. This film is different, but I Ioved it, and I hope you do too!