The 5 Best Rom-Coms Of The 21st Century

Rom-coms: apologetically comforting and just the thing we need right about now, a pleasant mix of mild romantic peril and eventual, unavoidable happiness before the credits roll.

You no doubt know the classics - and perhaps one day I'll do a 20th century edition of this - but for now, here are my top five best romantic comedies from the 21st century, with an emphasis on the ones you may not have heard of. So a bit more "alternative" than your usual Bridget Jones fare (though I do love Bridget, I'm only human).

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In my book, the best big screen Nick Hornby adaptation ever swaps London for Chicago and - whisper it - actually improves the source material. This is peak John Cusack, made even better with some excellent occasional appearances from an early-in-his-career Jack Black, as well as some underappreciated turns from Catharine Zeta-Jones, Tim Robbins and Bruce Springsteen. No, it's not a traditional rom-com per se - it's about a grumpy music-obsessed record store owner who learns, eventually, to get over his stubborn self - but there's a lot to love here, and I should know, I've watched this movie maybe a dozen times.

Best moment: John Cusack's Rob 'fighting' with his ex-girlfriend's new beau, Ray (Tim Robbins), in the middle of his shop. It's exactly my martial arts style: highly improvised.

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Is it a rom-com? I like to think so. And don't laugh at me for suggesting this Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann body-swap (sorta) comedy, please. The fact is, I just adore it: here's a fun, throwaway movie where 37-year-old Mike (Perry) becomes his 17-year-old self (Efron) after a bizarre accident, ending up somehow flirting with his on-the-rocks other half (Mann) as well as defending his bullied son at school and... it's just fun. Efron is beyond charming, Perry is on great form, there's an enjoyable conceit and the soundtrack isn't bad either. This is a firm favourite round my way when it's a rainy day, I've got the blues or I'm feeling poorly. Did it deserve to win Oscars? No. Have I watched it over ten times? Absolutely.

Best moment: Zac Efron humiliating the big school bully using his impressive basketball skills and quick wits. I love this scene so much I spoke to Efron about it during his 'Movies That Made Me' interview and he was very proud of that basketball trick, understandably! And you can watch that interview on BBC iPlayer.

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Because it's simply adorable. Beyond French, beyond quaint, beyond cute, it's simply beyond. Photo booths, globe-trotting garden gnomes, Paris itself... it's just so loveable. Audrey Tautou is superb as our shy waitress hero, struggling with her loneliness but still willing to help others and change the world for the better. It's eccentric and kooky and maybe it's not for you, but it's definitely for me.

Best moment: It's a cop-out (and a spoiler, so I'll be vague), but the ending, when it all comes together for Amélie Poulain.

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Emma Stone is a phenomenal talent. She won her Oscar for La La Land, but she's been casually brilliant in so many movies for such a long time now. Easy A - now a decade gold by the way - shows off Stone's electric charm in a modern adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, but essentially amounting to a tale about a high school girl who is willing to let guys say that she's slept with them to help them out socially (and for a favour of some kind). It also features my favourite on-screen family ever. Seriously, imagine if Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci were your parents... you'd probably turn out as cool as Emma Stone too, eh?

Best moment: I've got two, if you'll let me. One is the first 'jumping up and down on the bed' "sex scene" and the other is when the lonely and slightly dotty Olive (Stone) becomes obsessed with the song 'Pocketful Of Sunshine', as sung by Natasha Bedingfield. I actually asked Emma Stone about this moment and she said she'd met and spoken to Bedingfield about it... And you can watch that interview on BBC iPlayer.

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Hands up, I am a massive Andy Samberg superfan. I've got officially licensed Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping merchandise, I've lost count of how many times I've watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine all the way through, I'm almost always tempted to press play on any one of his Saturday Night Live skits on YouTube at any given time. In short: Andy Samberg: very funny, very likeable guy. And yes, you can watch my 'Story So Far' interview with him on BBC iPlayer to see a fully-grown man fawning over another fully-grown man whenever you gosh-darn like.

As for Palm Springs - the movie we're talking about here, kind of - well, it stars our Andy and it's a funny, clever, cute, cynical, optimistic, dark, light, complicated sci-fi rom-com that's easy to compare to Groundhog Day - what with its time loop shenanigans - but this take on that tale sees a couple caught in a toxic wedding day that won't end (Cristin Milioti is a goddess and so absurdly good in this film, honestly the reason why it works as well as it does) and generally has a tonally different flavour. It's clever, it's knowing... it's a bit cool for school, I'll give you that - but it's something different in the rom-com world, and I am absolutely here for it. Also J. K. Simmons is an underutilised comedy genius and you should watch him in Being The Ricardos as soon as you can, though I admit that's by the by.

Best moment: The incredible biker bar dance sequence. I long to bust a groove/cut a rug/throw shapes like that. And if all this sounds odd and curious, well... maybe you'll have to watch the movie to see what I'm going on about, eh?

This article was updated on 3 December 2021.