Top 10 Questionable Decisions in Romantic Movies
Romance movies don't claim to have the most intelligent scripts but come on, these are the most questionable decisions in romance movies. For this list, we're taking a look at unwise choices in cinematic love stories that caused everybody in the audience to simultaneously face-palm. For instance, in Something's Gotta Give, Nancy Meyers chooses the 63 year old womanizer over the hot 29 year old doctor? How about when Danny acted like a greaser jerk in front of Sandy? Or how about when Andie gave up her dream job i How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?
Top 10 Questionable Decisions in Romantic Movies
Love can certainly make people do some strange things. Welcome to MsMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Questionable Decisions in Romantic Movies. For this list, we’re taking a look at unwise choices in cinematic love stories that caused everybody in the audience to simultaneously face-palm. Needless to say (but we will): spoiler alert.
#10: Confessing Your Love to Your Best Friend’s Wife “Love Actually” (2003)
At first Mark seems to be happy for this best friend and his new wife Juliet. However, it turns out that Mark has been secretly in love with Juliet this whole time! (which we find out through a video compilation he shot of Juliet) Creepy much? When he finds the courage to profess his love to her he shows up at her door with note cards. Awe cute right? Come on, a guy who shows up unannounced, tells you to lie to your husband and inappropriately confesses his feelings? Who wouldn’t want that? We’re not sure what Mark was hoping to happen, but he did say he came with no hope or agenda so we guess it was just him being a selfish terrible person.
#9: Not Choosing the Other Guy “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003)
In this Nancy Meyers film, Diane Keaton’s Erica finds herself in the middle of a love triangle. On one hand there’s Jack Nicholson’s Harry, a 63-year-old womanizer who’s reluctant to date anybody over thirty. As a matter of fact, he was dating Erica’s 29-year-old daughter when they met! Then there’s Keanu Reeves’ Julian, an attractive, understanding doctor who adores Erica’s work and doesn’t mind that there’s a twenty-year age difference between them. So naturally, Erica marries . . . Harry. Wait, what? Really? Just for once we’d like to see a romantic comedy where the lead chooses the other guy, especially when he’s clearly the better choice.
#8: Not Coming Clean About the Bet “She’s All That” (1999)
After accepting a bet with his pal Dean, Zack is tasked with transforming the nerdy Laney into the Prom Queen. From there, you know the drill: Zack falls for Laney, Laney finds out about the bet, they fight for most of the third act, but kiss and make up before the credits roll. Here’s an idea, though. Why doesn’t Zack just tell Laney about the bet when he starts to develop feelings for her? Sure, Laney would still be mad, but at the least she might appreciate his honesty and forgive him faster. Anybody who’s seen a romantic movie knows how this trope plays out. So why not skip over all of that drawn-out drama?
#7: Acting Like a Greaser Jerk “Grease” (1978)
After spending a magical summer together, Danny and Sandy discover that they’ll both be spending their senior year at Rydell High. When the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds come together, however, Danny acts like an insensitive jerk in front of Sandy. But why exactly? We guess that Danny is trying to maintain his cool reputation in front of his friends, but he has nothing to be embarrassed about. Sandy might be a quote unquote “good girl,” but she’s also, like, a hot cheerleader. That’s a dream come true for almost any high school guy! If anything, the others greasers should be impressed that Danny is romantically involved with Sandy. There’s no reason to alienate her.
#6: Leaving Your Fiancée at the Altar “Sex and the City” (2008)
Throughout the “Sex and the City” series, Mr. Big demonstrated numerous times that he’s not the most reliable life partner. Big’s most questionable moment occurs in the 2008 film, where he gets cold feet on his wedding day. Fleeing from the church, Big calls Carrie and says that he can’t marry her. Big quickly realizes that he screwed up, and tries to undo the damage, but Carrie is too enraged to hear him out. Big could’ve saved a lot of heartbreak if he’d taken a couple of extra minutes to stave off his big day jitters. By calling the wedding off over the phone, however, he made the biggest mistake of his life.
#5: Giving Up Your Dream Job “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” (2003)
Unhappy with her job at a woman’s magazine, Andie believes that she could be writing more important articles. For somebody who claims to be a professional journalist, though, Andie spends most of the movie perpetuating negative female stereotypes, in order to lose a guy named Ben. Of course Ben’s no angel either, as he only stays with Andie to win a bet. After the truth is revealed, Andie lands an interview in Washington, D.C. for a better job. Yet . . . she gives it all up for Ben, even though their romance was based on deceit, they’ve only known each other for a brief period, and the bad times outweigh the good by a large margin.
#4: Lying About Being a Comatose Man’s Fiancée “While You Were Sleeping” (1995)
Lucy finds herself in the stickiest of situations when . . . she rescues her crush from an oncoming train, he falls into a coma, and she accidentally claims to be his fiancée. She’s given numerous opportunities to explain to his family that this is just a big misunderstanding, but instead digs herself deeper and deeper into deception. To be fair, Lucy is well aware that her choices are reckless and eventually confesses the whole truth. By this point, however, Lucy has kept the charade going for so long that her actions feel more psychotic than quirky. Actually, with a change of tone, this premise could’ve worked as a stalker thriller rather than a romantic comedy.
#3: Trying to Sabotage Your Best Friend’s Wedding “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997)
Upon learning that Michael is getting married, Julianne finds that she has romantic feelings for her best friend. Before even meeting Michael’s fiancée, she decides to prevent the impending nuptials. Although the bride-to-be is nice enough to make Julianne her maid of honor, Julianne still tries to stop the wedding by pulling a series of petty schemes. Julianne even has her friend pose as her fiancé to make Michael jealous. Then just when it seems like Julianne can’t possibly be any more desperate, she bares all to Michael and kisses him. It isn’t until after she’s made a colossal mess of things that Julianne realizes how careless, immature, and potentially life-ruining her actions have been.
#2: Giving Up Too Easily “The Notebook” (2004)
When they first meet, Noah threatens suicide just to score a date with Allie. Since he went to such great lengths to get her attention, you’d think that Noah would move heaven and earth to keep Allie in his life. When he finds out Allie is moving to New York, though, Noah walks away without putting up much of a fight. There are a dozen ways Noah and Allie could’ve avoided this forced breakup. For example, why not join Allie in New York? Sure, Noah is a small-town guy, but he could’ve found blue-collar work there. They also could’ve committed to a long-distance relationship, especially since Noah ended up writing Allie every day anyway. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - Fighting a Mugger “Ghost” (1990) - Stalking a Guy You’ve Never Met … “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993)
#1: Not Sharing the Money “What Happens in Vegas” (2008)
After a drunken night in Las Vegas, strangers Jack and Joy wake up to realize that they got hitched. They intend on getting a quickie divorce, but matters become complicated when Jack hits the three-million-dollar jackpot. Since they’re married, and he won using her quarter, Joy feels that she’s entitled to half of the money. Sounds reasonable, seeing how almost $1.5 million is still more than enough to retire on. Although this movie could’ve been over in ten minutes, our selfish protagonists drag the case to court, where the judge orders them to stay married for six months. Yeah, because that’s not an abuse of power! Seriously, why didn’t Jack and Joy appeal his ruling?