Careful not to vomit in your popcorn, we’ve hunted out the worst romantic comedies ever to hit the silver screen…
Shall We Dance (2004)
Richard Gere has a midlife crisis and decides to take up dancing in a bid to woo dance teacher J’Lo. Naturally, he’s shit, but of course becomes so accomplished he gets to enter Chicago’s biggest dance competition. This fits the ‘com’ bracket purely for Gere’s chuckle-inducing attempts to dance.
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)
Two hours of self-indulgent cinema that should only be watched by women who devour self-help books, snivel continually with self-pity and have stalker tendencies around men. He’s just not that into you because you watch this type of vacuous crap.
Music and Lyrics (2007)
Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant make music together. Unfortunately the casting directors forgot to hire people who could sing. And their poetry skills are on a par with Clintons Cards. Only for the tone deaf.
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
An aspiring US Senator falls for a maid. Hmmm… we’re betting it’s J’Lo’s snug-fitting uniform and bed turn-down service Ralf Fiennes is interested in, rather than her annoying child and faint whiff of bleach. We give it two weeks.
Serendipity (2001)
John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale spend two hours faffing around, waiting for ‘fate’ to intervene before ditching their other halves in the finale to cop off together. Possibly the most frustrating two hours of cinema ever.
50 First Dates (2004)
Adam Sandler falls for Drew Barrymore. Unfortunately she has short-term memory loss so he has to woo her afresh every day. Like Groundhog Day, in a bad way.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
In an attempt to cash in on the success of the (almost as terrible) Sleepless in Seattle, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks rejoined forces for this rom-com. With a plot thinner than tracing paper, revolving around online chat, but without any vaguely interesting ‘what are you wearing’ moments. Although Tom sweatily hunched over his keyboard in his y-fronts isn’t something we’re in a hurry to see.
Failure to Launch (2006)
First up, Matthew McConaughey’s character is called Tripp. Then he manages to fall for horse-faced Jessica Parker, who has incidentally been hired by his parents to encourage him to fly the nest. How implausible can one plot be?
Before Sunrise (1995)
A young American (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy) meet in Vienna. They spend a night talking and fall in love. And, er, that’s it. A perfect exercise in navel-gazing.
The Holiday (2006)
The most twee piece of cinema in years, The Holiday is like a dull, extended episode of Wife Swap. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet switch continents, only for one to fall in love with a fatty and the other a wimp. The only highlight is whoever decided to call Jude Law’s leading man character the distinctly un-macho Graham.
I hate it when I get drawn into commenting on something that seems purposefully flawed in order to get people to comment.
The fact that the film Return to Me is not on here and for some reason The Holiday is on the list is all the proof I need.
50 First Dates was a great example of the genre doing something different and sleepless in Seattle is a great example of the genre doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
Gigli.
top/bottom lists aren’t all that good when it’s a one sentence description (that’s not even amusing) along with a trailer link from youtube, and this is a prime example