Top 10 Movie Couples with Ridiculous Age Gaps
Age ain't nothin' but a number – but in the case of these age gaps, it's a big number. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Movie Couples with Ridiculous Age Gaps. For this list, we're looking at those big screen couples that have such a large age gap that we can't help but be drawn to it and wonder just what the characters are thinking.
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Top 10 Movie Couples with Ridiculous Age Gaps
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Age ain't nothin' but a number – but in the case of these age gaps, it's a big number. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Movie Couples with Ridiculous Age Gaps. For this list, we’re looking at those big screen couples that have such a large age gap that we can’t help but be drawn to it and wonder just what the characters are thinking. This gap can be one that’s explicitly stated in the movie, or one that’s a result of the actors’ actual ages. We’re including intentional age gaps too, not just those movies in which it’s hoped we wouldn’t notice, but we’re excluding one-night stands and other one-off relationships. To be eligible, the two people in question have to be or become an actual romantic or sexually intimate couple in the movie.
#10: Grace Kelly & James Stewart “Rear Window” (1954)
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We’re going back over sixty years for this entry, with a mystery thriller featuring two screen legends in one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest masterpieces. In the film, Jimmy Stewart’s Jeff Jefferies becomes convinced that his neighbor is a murderer, so he enlists the help of his very obviously younger, socialite girlfriend Carol Fremont, played by Grace Kelly. When “Rear Window” was released, Grace was about to turn a chipper 25 years old, the perfect age for the social scene. The only thing is that Stewart was a middle-aged 46, making their gap a troublesome twenty-plus years.
#9: Helen Hunt & Jack Nicholson “As Good as It Gets” (1997)
This film won both the Best Actress and Best Actor Academy Awards, so age differences aside; at least we know the lead performances are good! After he is entrusted with his neighbor’s dog, Jack Nicholson’s Melvin Udall begins to fall for the only woman who will tolerate him: Helen Hunt’s Carol Connelly. This, despite their age difference of over 25 years, which makes Nicholson old enough to be Hunt’s father. It’s still oddly sweet in a twisted way to see a 60-year-old Nicholson court someone almost half his age, though.
#8: Julianne Moore & Joseph Gordon-Levitt “Don Jon” (2013)
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During the previews for this movie about a porn-addicted young man, everyone expected the then 32-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt to end up with the much closer in age, 28-year-old Scarlett Johansson. However, the film threw a curveball at the audience when the titular Don Jon decided to begin a relationship with Esther, played by the 53-year-old Julianne Moore. The twenty-one year age difference is somewhat hard to grasp due to what’s usually considered more normal in terms of age in Jon’s relationship with Johansson’s Barbara, but his move to an older woman is essential in pinpointing his character’s progression. We get what writer/director JGL was trying to do, but it was definitely unexpected.
#7: Olivia Wilde & Liam Neeson “Third Person” (2013)
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For some reason, we just can’t envision the stoic Liam Neeson being with anyone this young, and especially the gorgeous Olivia Wilde! But alas, “Third Person” proves us wrong, as Neeson’s Michael is in an on-again off-again relationship with Wilde’s Anna. Neeson was 61 years young when the film premiered, and Wilde only 29, making their gap of 32 years more than a little disconcerting - despite how awesome Neeson is. That’s only five years less than the age gap between Wilde and her actual dad. So, yeah, in the romance, she is basically dating her father.
#6: Maria Schneider & Marlon Brando “Last Tango in Paris” (1972)
Marlon Brando is practically a god among actors, so really, who cares what the age gap is? You get to work with Marlon freaking Brando! Such seemed to be the case for 19-year-old Maria Schneider, who had to pretend to be sexually interested in Brando, a man over twenty eight years older than she was when her character begins an anonymous sexual relationship with his in erotic drama. Sure, the film focuses on their anonymity, but their intimacy is one of companionship and lovemaking, so it can be a bit hard to imagine an almost 20 year old getting it on with a 48 year old.
#5: Lolita Davidovich & Paul Newman “Blaze” (1989)
In this loose adaptation of Blaze Starr’s memoirs, Paul Newman stars as Earl Long, the brother of an assassinated governor who falls in love with a young stripper, Blaze Starr as played by Lolita Davidovich. The actress was 28 years old when the movie was released and Newman was 64, but since the movie is supposed to be based on reality, we can’t be too amazed by the gap. Their thirty six year difference is a reminder that affairs like this actually take place, especially considering the real age gap between Long and Starr was about the same, give or take a few months.
#4: Catherine Zeta-Jones & Sean Connery “Entrapment” (1999)
Sure, we can see being interested in Sean Connery when he was the cool, suave James Bond of the ‘60s, with his chiseled cheek bones and slicked-back hair. But the white-haired, balding 68-year-old version of Sean doesn’t seem to bother Catherine’s Gin Baker. In this 1999 caper flick, Zeta-Jones’ character is an insurance investigator who falls for an aging thief, Connery’s Mac MacDougal, during a heist. Considering he was turning 69 years old at the time of “Entrapment”’s release, it’s a little hard to believe that Gin would fall for him, especially since Catherine wasn’t even 30 yet, making the age gap a Grand Canyon-sized thirty nine years.
#3: Mariel Hemingway & Woody Allen “Manhattan” (1979)
Often considered one of Woody Allen’s finest films, “Manhattan” follows Woody’s Isaac Davis, a TV comedy writer, who is dating Mariel Hemingway’s teenaged Tracy. The age gap is explicitly stated within the film, and might be considered disturbing to some, as Isaac is 42 and Tracy only 17. Not only is this a 25-year age difference, but their sex life is verging on illegal, as New York law states that an individual over 21 cannot have sex with someone under 17.
#2: Sue Lyon & James Mason “Lolita” (1962)
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Leave it to Stanley Kubrick to adapt such a provocative story. The film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel follows a middle-aged man named Humbert, played by James Mason, who falls for a flirtatious teenager. The age difference is constantly brought up throughout the movie, as Lolita is mistaken for Humbert’s daughter due to their 20-plus year age difference. In real life, Mason was 53 when the film was released and Sue Lyon was barely 16, so when you think of it, it’s almost like you’re watching a young woman be with someone that could pass for her grandfather. But then again, we guess that’s the point. Before unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. - Tilda Swinton & Tom Hiddleston “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013) - Claire Danes & Steve Martin “Shopgirl” (2005) - Amber Heard & Johnny Depp “The Rum Diary” (2011) - Anne Heche & Harrison Ford “Six Days Seven Nights” (1998) - Rooney Mara & Daniel Craig “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011)
#1: Ruth Gordon & Bud Cort “Harold and Maude” (1971)
Perhaps one of cinema’s most diverse yet memorable couples, Harold and Maude have been amazing audiences with their fifty plus year age gap for generations. The plot of this romantic dark comedy revolves around 20-something Harold, played by Bud Cort, who becomes disillusioned with life and soon begins a relationship with the 79-year-old Maude, played by Ruth Gordon. While the film may be beautiful, meaningful, and a true classic, it also seems unrealistic to imagine that a 20-something young man would be so romantically interested in someone his grandmother’s age. And yet “Harold and Maude”’s reputation has grown over time and the fact that the film makes you think about life is perhaps what we should take away from it the most. Do you agree with our list? What movie couple do you think has the most surprising age gap is? For more non-conventional top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
