The day after Christmas, silver bells and candy canes were replaced on the shelves with heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. February 14 is still weeks away, but people were already preparing for the “big day.” Whether you have someone to share Valentine’s Day with, or whether you are celebrating alone, here are some romantic comedies to help you enjoy and even laugh at the day.
1. Bridget Jones’s Diary
Singleton Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), makes a New Year’s resolution to get her act together--she’ll lose weight, quit smoking, and drink less alcohol--all while documenting, in absolute truth, her year in her diary. When an affair with her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), as well as a fling with a human rights lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), are added into the mix, will Bridget find someone who loves her, just the way she is?
2. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
A follow-up to the movie mentioned above, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason picks up about four weeks after the end of the first film, and Bridget Jones is already becoming unsure in her relationship with Mark Darcy. Apart from her uncertainties about Mr. Darcy, Bridget has to deal with a new boss, a flirty Daniel Cleaver, and a vacation that ends with her spending time in a Thai prison.
3. Bridget Jones’s Baby
This movie is the third installment in the Bridget Jones franchise. Bridget's focus on single life and her career is interrupted when she finds herself pregnant, but with one hiccup--she is unsure of the identity of her baby’s father.
4. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
This 2003 film stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Benjamin Barry (McConaughey) is an advertising executive and ladies' man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Andie Anderson (Hudson) writes for a magazine and is assigned to write an article on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days."
5. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Another Matthew McConaughey film, this time the Oscar winner plays celebrity photographer, and committed bachelor, Connor Mead. At his brother’s wedding rehearsal, Connor runs into Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner), just one of Connor’s bitter exes. On the eve of his brother's wedding, Connor receives a visit from the spirits of his jilted lovers, who take him on an odyssey through his many failed relationships to try to find out what made him such a cad -- and if there is any hope of Connor finding true love.
6. You’ve Got Mail
Struggling boutique bookseller Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) hates Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), the owner of a corporate Foxbooks chain store that just moved in across the street. When they meet online, however, they begin an intense and anonymous internet romance, oblivious of each other's true identity. Eventually, Joe learns that the enchanting woman he's involved with is actually his business rival. He must now struggle to reconcile his real-life dislike for her with the cyber love he's come to feel.
7. Life as We Know It
After their best friends are killed in a car accident, Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric (Josh Duhamel) become the guardians of the orphaned girl, Sophie.
8. Valentine’s Day
Intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day. The ensemble cast includes Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, and Bradley Cooper.
