Ahhh… it’s Valentine’s Day.
Yes, it’s perhaps a commercial birthday where flower and candy shops get to guilt people to get something nice for their significant other. I actually told my hubby not to get me flowers this year and instead, we’d get something nice for BOTH of us to enjoy. It is, after all, a holiday to celebrate LOVE and it’s a two-way street.
For today’s post, I want to shine a spotlight on movie couples from various genres. Some of these pairings might not necessarily be from a romantic film, but their romance certainly is memorable. I deliberately exclude those that I have included in my first top 10 movie couples list I did three years ago just for the sake of not being redundant. Here it is again as I’m sure most of you didn’t read that post:
- Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant in Notting Hill
- Gerard Butler & Emily Mortimer in Dear Frankie
- Russell Crowe & Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential
- Christian Bale & Emily Watson in Equillibrium
- Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge
- Harrison Ford & Julia Ormond in Sabrina
- Gregory Peck & Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday
- David Duchovny & Minnie Driver in Return to Me
- Heath Ledger & Julia Stiles in Ten Things I Hate About You
- Michael Douglas & Annette Bening in The American President
Just to make things easier for me to narrow down, I’m focusing on films from the 90s and up. If I were to include classic movies, however, no doubt I’d include Rick and Elsa (Casablanca), Nickie & Terry (An Affair To Remember), Maria & Capt. Von Trapp (The Sound of Music), Joe & Anna (Roman Holiday), and Rhett & Scarlett (Gone with the Wind).
So here is [a sampling] of fourteen of my favorite movie couples, wonderful pairings elevated by the bewitching chemistry of the actors. No matter what the circumstances, even if their romance didn’t work out as they (and we) wish it to be, their passion ignites the screen and warms the heart. Some couples are such an enchanting match that it has lived on for decades (Before Sunrise), whilst others have become more memorable than the films themselves (The New World)… at least to me anyways.
Well, as pictures are often louder than words… I’ll let these images speak for themselves:
Aragorn & Arwen
(Viggo Mortensen & Liv Tyler – The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Amélie & Nino
(Audrey Tatou & Mathieu Kassovitz – Amélie)
…
Kate & Harvey
(Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey)
Hawkeye & Cora
(Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeline Stowe – The Last of the Mohicans)
Darcy & Elizabeth
(Matthew MacFadyen & Keira Knightly – Pride & Prejudice – 2005)
Jesse & Celine
(Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy – Before Sunrise)
Frank & Rachel
(Kevin Costner & Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard)
Jack & Rose
(Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet – Titanic)
Pocahontas & John Rolfe
(Christian Bale & Q’orianka Kilcher – The New World)
Phantom and Christine
(Gerard Butler & Emmy Rossum – Phantom of the Opera)
Jin and Xiao Mei
(Takeshi Kaneshiro & Ziyi Zhang – House of Flying Daggers)
Paul & Victoria
(Keanu Reeves & Aitana Sánchez-Gijón –A Walk in the Clouds)
Bond & Vesper
(Daniel Craig & Eva Green – Casino Royale)
…
Robbie & Cecilia
(James McAvoy & Keira Knightley – Atonement)
I invite you to check out my past romance-related posts:
10 Romantic Comedies I LOVE | Favorite Unconventionally-Romantic Flicks | Roman Holiday Appreciation | Favorite Period Drama Heroes Part I and Part II
Thoughts about my picks of movie couples? Feel free to add your own picks in the comments below.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
BRAVO! Loooove the list! Several on your different lists really strike a chord with me. I love the earlier mention of Peck & Hepburn. Amelie & Niño? Wonderful couple!
Great stuff Ruth!
Thanks Keith! I can’t possibly left out Roman Holiday, they’re my fave classic couple! Glad you like the list. I had to swap out one of them though, as they were in my original list but somehow got left out.
I’m sorry I don’t see Bella and Edward, this must be a purely involuntary omission but I had to to let you know!!!! 😡
Ahahaha… if I ever made a WORST movie couple list they will make #1, Castor!
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Great list Ruth. I’d include the the heartbreaking relationship between Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton in the little known sci-fi film “Code 46”. It’s been too long since I seen it but it always stays with me.
Oh I still need to see that one!! I think that was on Netflix Instant so thanks for the reminder, Mark. I quite like Samantha Morton, such an underrated actress.
I like Morton too Ruth. You should check it out, I really enjoyed it.
Definitely will Mark. Glad to hear you like that one as I’ve been quite intrigued by the story. Normally I’m not too fond of Tim Robbins but I’d still see it for Morton and because you said so 😀
I’m not overly keen on Robbins either Ruth. He’s too baby faced for me to take seriously sometimes but he’s passable enough. It’s the story that grabs more.
Yeah, it’s perhaps would’ve been even more excellent if say, Bobby Carlyle got Tim Robbins’ role instead? 😀 The premise and Morton was what grabbed my attention when I first saw the poster too.
Indeed 😉 Bobby Carlyle would have been a fine choice. He and Morton have worked together before in “The Unloved”. It was Morton’s directorial debut and she remained behind the camera but they still worked together. That’s another fabulous film. Heartbreaking as well.
Oh I didn’t know Morton is a director too! I should give that a watch. Seriously, both of them should do more movies. Thanks for letting me know about it, Mark. I hope I could find it on Netflix or iTunes.
It’s a great film Ruth. A tad bleak that was based on Morton’s actual childhood growing up in children’s homes. I’m not ashamed to admit that i wept during it but I loved it.
Wow, that actually makes me even more intrigued Mark. When you said ‘children’s homes’ is that like an orphanage?? I actually lived in a boarding school for 5 years when I was just 7 and it was kind of like an orphanage for some though. Oh don’t be ashamed for crying, I think I said it before, I think it’s manly for guys to be in touch with their emotion 😉
Yeah, children’s homes are just like orphanages. I respect film’s that don’t shy away from depicting social issues or constructs and Morton certainly doesn’t mince her words on this one. Here’s alibi to my review if you’re interested
http://mrmarakai.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/the-unloved-12/
Good list. I think I would add Rick Dreckard and Rachel from Blade Runner.
Nice! I would too if I had expanded the list to include films from the 80s. I sort of dedicated a post for them a while back: https://flixchatter.net/2010/11/07/musings-on-blade-runner-what-does-it-mean-to-be-human/
Hi, Ruth and company:
Intriguing, very romantic list!
I still like ‘Kate and Leopold’, Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ and Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in ‘Marty’.
Ah, Kate & Leopold! Been a while since I saw that but Hugh was soooo dashing. I still need to see the classic version of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’!
Amelie & Nino for the win!! Seriously, I love that movie, and they’re such a perfect couple. I love this list, except I have to bring up Sense & Sensibility. I know that everyone loves Rickman as Brandon, but for me, Edward and Eleanor are the real love story, and Grant & Thompson sell it so well. One of my favorite movie couples.
Yeah, it’s such a delightfully quirky movie! Took them a while to find each other but it’s sooo worth it! Oh of course Edward and Elinor! I’ve mentioned Sense & Sensibility so much that I decided to leave them out, but yeah, that movie is perhaps my favorite of ALL TIME so I concur, Sam!
As you know I’m not much of romantic film fan but if I have to pick a couple, I’d go with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail; I really enjoyed that film.
Great choice Ted! I love both of them too, and that’s one of the better rom-coms.
Great list! I love that you included Atonement. When that movie ended I cried so hard over them.
It’s indeed heartbreaking. The scenes of Briony’s imaginations are so heart-wrenching too, as you so hope for Cecilia and Robbie to find each other in time.
I adore all your choices! One of my absolute favourite romantic movies is Before Sunset (I prefer it over Before Sunrise) so Jesse and Celine are my top pick! 🙂 I can’t wait for Before Midnight!! I’m so excited to see what happens to them next.
Hi Erin, welcome to FC! Glad to hear you like my picks. That’s amazing the longevity of Before Sunrise… that’s proof that a well-written romance are so timeless. That’ll probably the first truly romantic trilogy!
Love all your picks, and here’s another worthy one: Rufus Sewell and Catherine McCormack in Dangerous Beauty (1998).
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/dangerous-beauty-honest-courtesan/images/18861305/title/veronica-marco-photo
Fantastic pick, Becky!! Gorgeous Rufus in Venice in period costume… what’s not to love? 😀
interesting choices, a few of these I never would have thought of myself. Say Anything (1989) I find very romantic. Not much beats holding that boombox over you head. Sorry it isn’t from the 90s, almost, right? 🙂
I actually haven’t seen Say Anything but I know it keeps showing up on people’s list. I think John Cusack was the king of rom-coms in the 80s and 90s! 😀
Love Heath & Julia in 10 Things… such a great teen romance and shows how good the genre can be with really charismatic stars.
Going to have to disagree with you on Aragorn and Arwen – it’s one of my bugbears. Why, why would he go for the flouncy, weepy Arwen when the fabulous Eowyn is about? I have a little rant about this every time I watch LOTR.
Not sure who my favourite couples are – have to look at the classics. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in Adam’s Rib. Great list- will have me thinking for a while.
Hi Louise. I almost put Heath & Julia again here but I remembered I already included them before. It’s perhaps my only favorite high school romance film. Too bad Heath is no longer w/ us 😦
Ahah, well I see your point about Arwen but one can’t choose who they love. I believe Aragorn was perhaps attracted to Eowyn but he just doesn’t love her as he does Arwen and she was willing to give up her immortality for him! But hey it certainly makes for a great drama 😀
I LOVE Grant and Kerr in An Affair to Remember, I had to mention that in the post.
Oh, lovely choices! Fantastic to see Aragorn and Arwen here, what a great couple it was. I think Christian Bale’s character in The New World is the best husband ever.
Thanks Sati! I remember your lovely post on LOTR and I love that we both agree on Aragorn & Arwen. Bale is soooo romantic in The New World… I hope his next film w/ Malick shows more of his softer side.
Reblogged this on Wind Castle – Place of Memories and commented:
Vừa hay đây cũng là những love story mình rất thix. Ko phải vì Valentine mới xem những phim này. Ngày nào cũng là ngày của tình yêu mà. Mọi người khi nào rảnh nên duyệt qua thử các phim trong danh sách này. Đương nhiên là có những phim rất nổi tiếng như Titanic hay Love Actually nhiều người đã xem. Nhưng top 5 phim yêu thix của mình ko có 2 phim đó, mà là: P&P, Phantom of the Opera, Casino Royale , Atonement và A Walk in the Clouds. Ngoài ra rất rất recommend 2 phim là Amelia và Before Sunrise. 2 phim này phong cách rất mới lạ mà cũng ko kém phần lãng mạn. The New World hay nhưng hơi buồn 1 tẹo, tuy nhiên cũng là phim đáng xem.
Valentine đã qua và tết cũng sắp hết. Nhưng hãy lun làm đầy mỗi ngày bằng tình yêu của mình dành cho người thân và tất cả mọi người xung quanh nhé. Keep fighting, hold on Faith and Love’ll come
Great list! I’m glad you included Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. 🙂
Oh of course! It’s one of the best literary characters ever conceived and I have a soft spot for the 2005 version. I even made a banner of the two of them! 😀
Yay! Jessie & Celine and Robbie & Cecilia made it! 😀 Kate & Harvey, Hawkeye & Cora, and Jin & Xiao Mei are interesting choices. I wouldn’t have thought of them. Great post Ruth!
Glad you like my picks Josh! I actually almost left out Jin and Xiao Mei, but I really like House of Flying Daggers.
Snuck some Bond in there, Ruth, nice. LOL. 😀
Not my strongest suit, so aside from that I’ll bow out of this one 😉
Ahah, well I LOVE Vesper and she’s one of Bond’s ‘true’ loves 😉 Ahah, I expected you to grumble that I didn’t include Rocky & Adrian, Fogs!
*heart* Jesse and Celine. So very much. Kind of really adored Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Oh and Jason Bourne and Marie in the first Bourne films!! That is one of my all time favourite movie couples.
Hi Jaina. I knew someone would mention Gosling, but I thought it’d be The Notebook. I haven’t seen Crazy, Stupid Love yet. Oh Bourne and Marie is a good one, I was sooo sad to see Marie gone in the second film!
Not my area of expertise so I will vote Aragorn & Arwen 😀
Awesome Tim! Thanks.
Still not True Romance love here Ruth? I’m not going to win this battle it looks like. Yet this is the second post of yours where I have to mention Clarence & Alabama 🙂
Sorry Tyson… I like those two but they’re not exactly my faves. No hard feelings? 😀
I’ll forgive you this once Ruth 😛
That’s a REALLY nice list Ruth….because I know half of them 😉
A Walk in The Cloud is definitely in my top ten romantic movie….I know I only watch it because of Keanu (might let that movie pass by unnoticed if Keanu is not in it)
Great list, Ruth! Some of my favorite couples here. Loved the inclusion of Atonement, Amélie, Last Chance Harvey, Before Sunrise, and Titanic. I’d add Julia & Paul Child from Julie & Julia.
Glad to hear you like my list Fernando! Everyone’s idea of ‘romantic’ varies from person to person so glad we are in agreement w/ some. Oh I LOVE Julia and Paul Child, my friend Paula actually did a post dedicated to Stanley Tucci’s performance a while back as a guest post 😀
I’m glad you have Jesse and Celine here. What do you think of the upcoming Before Midnight?
Oh I’m looking forward to that one, that’s the first romantic film trilogy I think.
Not sure how I missed this post. Nice to see a Jesse & Celine shoutout! Really looking forward to Before Midnight later this year, especially after hearing the non-stop Sundance praise.
I knew people love Jesse & Celine and rightly so. It’s rare to see a film that have such a well-developed relationship between two people. Plus the setting is so enchanting.
I was surprised to find that some of those couples made it to your top 14 of the last 20+ years. Some of the surprises were really nice. Amelie and Nino would certainly make my top 10 of all-time. Other nice inclusions were Paul & Victoria from A Walk in the Clouds (underrated film) and Jian and Xiao Mei from the wonderfully stylized House of Flying Daggers.
I’m not sure any of the others would make my own list, but it’s a pretty set of favorites nonetheless.
Yay! Glad you agree with some of my choices, especially Paul & Victoria. YES it’s a massively underrated film indeed, that’s why I included them. Jin and Xiao Mei are lovely. I don’t watch too many Asian films even though I’m from Indonesia, but I do love ‘Flying Daggers.’ Curious which pair you would put on here that’s not on my list, Niels. Would you care to share?
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