It must be love, actually

Filled with romance, laughs and lots of Julia Roberts, the 25 greatest romcoms are ranked by features editor Adam White

- Adam White

The metaphorical birthplace of Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and tubs of ice cream eaten sadly on the sofa, the romantic comedy has survived cliche, shifting cultural mores and Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. It remains one of the most important and emotionally essential film genres in existence. And that's despite almost all of them being exactly the same. And a staggering amount of them being awful.

To compile the genre’s 25 best, it was important to maintain strict criteria: a romantic comedy must build to a final rush of feeling and close on a kiss (that means no Working Girl, people!), and the central romance must be the primary hook for the entire film (that means no Clueless or Legally Blonde, nerds!).

The usual rules of “good filmmaking” don’t necessarily need to apply, either. The best romcoms are an immaculate fusion of perceptive storytelling, great humour and chemistry in spades. Sometimes, though, you just want to watch pretty actors flirting in immaculate surroundings. Because, truthfully, we’re all just a bunch of lovesick romantics, standing in front of a television set and/or cinema screen, asking to watch beautiful people fall in love.

Did your favourite make the list?

25. Pretty Woman (1990)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Pretty Woman sports a sleaziness so disquieting that it’s no real surprise to learn the film was originally planned to be a gritty sex work drama that ended in tragedy. Thank Cupid for the rewrites, then. The Disney-fied Pretty Woman features Julia Roberts in pure star-isborn mode, her joyous pluck overpowering the film’s murkier elements. That the film’s ostensibly heroic leading man (Richard Gere) is an LA suit who hires an escort for the week is slightly maddening. That Pretty Woman somehow makes all of this ickiness romantic? Even more so.

24. There’s Something About Mary (1998)