No Baggage Just Feelings
Rom coms have a problem. Not the falling in love part, that's fine. The problem is the detour. You know the one. One half of the couple is already with someone, meets someone else, spends 90 minutes emotionally checked out while the audience is supposed to root for them. And somehow by the end, the original partner is the villain for not being perfect enough. I like romance. I don't like being asked to celebrate someone stringing two people along and calling it a love story. The movies in this category skipped that whole arc. The obstacle isn't a partner standing in the way. It's time, fear, circumstance, ego, or just the terrifying fact that feelings are complicated. That's more than enough. It always was. These are rom coms where the drama is real, nobody gets cheated on, and the love actually means something when it lands.
The Picks
Two people spend twelve years being wrong about each other. The dialogue is so good you almost don't notice it's basically a feature-length argument.
Official synopsis
Sex always gets in the way of friendships between men and women. At least, that's what Harry Burns believes. So when Harry meets Sally Albright and a deep friendship blossoms between them, Harry's determined not to let his attraction to Sally destroy it. But when a night of weakness ends in a morning of panic, can the pair avoid succumbing to Harry's fears by remaining friends and admitting they just might be the perfect match for each other?
Jim Carrey plays a man whose repressed rage has developed its own personality and its own dating strategy. Absolutely unhinged from start to finish.
Official synopsis
Rhode Island State Trooper Charlie Baileygates has a multiple personality disorder. One personality is crazy and aggressive, while the other is more friendly and laid back. Both of these personalities fall in love with the same woman named Irene after Charlie loses his medication.
Honorable Mentions
Fake engagement, real feelings, Ryan Reynolds doing his thing. Completely predictable and somehow still works every time.
Official synopsis
When she learns she's in danger of losing her visa status and being deported, overbearing book editor Margaret Tate forces her put-upon assistant, Andrew Paxton, to marry her.