Top 10 Romantic Movies for Valentine's Day

The best movies for Valentine's Day are romantic comedies and stories of true love. Thankfully, there is an abundance of award-winning romantic movies that have received critical acclaim. These top 10 romantic movies are all films that you'd love to watch while curled up on the sofa with your sweetheart on Valentine's Day.

Kate and Leopold (2001)

Kate and Leopold begins in New York in 1876, when Leopold Mountbatten, the Duke of Albany (Hugh Jackman), is enduring pressure from his uncle Millard to marry a rich American woman. He insists that the marriage is necessary to replenish the Mountbatten family finances. Leopold's life changes when he encounters Stuart Besser. He follows Stuart to the Brooklyn Bridge, where he appears to commit suicide by jumping in the East River. Leopold jumps in after him, and awakens to find himself in Stuart's apartment. However, Leopold is unaware that his jump has transported him forward in time 125 years to the year 2001. There he meets Stuart's ex-girlfriend, Kate McKay (Meg Ryan), a career woman who works in market research. Despite extreme differences in opinion and temperament, Kate and Leopold fall in love. After a disagreement over the poor quality of the fat free margarine Kate is currently promoting, she and Leopold part ways, and Stuart returns him to his own time. Kate must decide whether she's willing to give up her career and modern conveniences to join him in 1876. This romantic comedy won an Academy Award for Best Song in 2002.

Chocolat (2000)

Chocolat is a romantic drama set during 1959, when single mother Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) opens a chocolate shop in a small, sleepy French town. The town's mayor, Comte Paul de Reynaud, is angered, because it's Lent, and the shop is across from the church, but Vianne insists on keeping it open on Sundays regardless. Over time, Vianne chocolate shop transforms the lives of the villagers. Conflict ensues when a band of gypsies set up their camp on the edge of the village, and Vianne begins to feel an attraction to a gypsy man named Roux (Johnny Depp.) Chocolat was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

Bright Star (2009)

Bright Star is a deeply moving and romantic tale based upon the relationship between Victorian poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his lover Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). The film details the last three years in the poet's life, and his eventual death at the age of 25. Bright Star was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design. It also won the British Independent Film Award, the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Sound Award, the IF Award for Best Production Design and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

The Time Traveler's Wife is romantic science fiction story based on a novel by Audrey Niffenegger. The story is about a librarian from Chicago named Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana). Henry has a genetic anomaly that allows him to travel through time. When Henry meets Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams) for the first time in 1995, she says she's know him most of her life. When he travels back through time again, he meets Clare as a child, fulfilling the adult Clare's prophecy. The trouble is that Henry can't control his tendency to travel through time. He develops a relationship with Clare and eventually marries her, but his sudden disappearances place a strain on their relationship. Still, they are deeply in love, and cling to whatever time they can get together, even after his final trip through time costs him his life.

Impromptu (1991)

Impromptu is the story of the romance between 19th century author George Sand (Judy Davis) and composer Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant). Sand falls head over heels with Chopin's music before she ever sees his face. She decides to spend two weeks at the home of Duchess d'Antan (Emma Thompson), who has invited Chopin to stay at her estate in the French countryside. Meanwhile her friend Marie D'Agoult (Bernadette Peters) schemes to steal Chopin away from Sand, signing her own name to a love letter which Sand has written to the composer. Impromptu is a comical, romantic romp filled with musical lovers, duels and betrayals. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead in 1992.

A Room with a View (1985)

Based on a novel by E. M. Forester, a A Room with a View begins when Englishwoman Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) discovering that her room in Florence, Italy doesn't have a view. A fellow hotel guest named Emerson (Denholm Elliott) offers to trade rooms with her, since his room has a view of the River Arno. At first, Lucy and her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith). Matters become complicated when Lucy falls in love with Emerson's young son, George. The Emersons are working class, with abrupt, awkward manners that are considered beneath Lucy Honeychurch. Lucy becomes engaged to marry Cecil Vyse, a rich, respectable man of which her family approves. But she doesn't really love him, and George soon moves into her village with his father. Lucy must ultimately make a decision about which man to marry. This romantic drama won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Writing in 1987.

Valentine's Day (2010)

Valentine's Day is a playful romantic comedy with lots of plot twists and turns. It's about a group of romantically involved couples and single people living in Los Angeles, California. Through a series of accidents, mishaps, infidelities, breakups and other incidents, their lives become intertwined. Valentine's Day stars Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Patrick Dempsey, Shirley MacLaine, Hector Elizondo, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Queen Latifah and Eric Dane.

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Based on the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice follows the romance between Elizabeth Bennet (Kiera Knightly) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Mcfayden). The wealthy Mr. Darcy is a gentleman, and considers Elizabeth to be beneath him, since she is merely a member of the landed gentry. He reluctantly falls in love with her, but his continual insults and apparent immoral behavior succeed in pushing her away. She refuses his marriage proposal, but she is deeply in love with him, whether she will admit it or not. Pride and Prejudice was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and for BAFTA awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best British Film.

Laura (1944)

In Laura, a film noir mystery with dark romantic undertones, Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is investigating the death of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney.) During the investigation, as he questions Laura's friends, acquaintances and relatives, reads her letters and gazes at her striking portrait, he begins to fall in love with her. A strange plot twist completely changes the nature of McPherson's investigation. Laura won an Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography in 1944.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a romantic comedy about a budding author Paul Varjak (George Peppard) who falls in love with his neighbor, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn.) The trouble is that Holly is somewhat neurotic and independent to a fault. She loves wild parties and has a strange, questionable job having "conversations" with mob boss Sally Tomato in Sing Sing prison. She also has an ex-husband from Texas who doesn't want to give her up. Paul finally sells a short story, but Holly's continual desire to marry for money complicates their relationship. Breakfast at Tiffany's won an Academy Award for Best Song and for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

For more ideas on this topic, read The Most Romantic Movies of All Time and Cheap Romantic Date Ideas for Valentine's Day.

Sources:

"Awards for Pride & Prejudice (2005)" IMDB.com
"Awards for A Room with a View (1985)" IMDB.com
"Awards for Impromptu (1991)" IMDB.com
"Awards for Kate & Leopold (2001) " IMDB.com
"Awards for Chocolat (2000)" IMDB.com
"Awards for Laura (1944)" IMDB.com
"Awards for Bright Star (2009)" IMDB.com
"Valentine's Day (2010)" IMDB.com
"Awards for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)" IMDB.com