Romantic comedies have been one of the best and most successful genres at the box office since the start of Hollywood. Especially once sound was added, as the dialogue between lovers could be one of the film’s driving forces in proving their chemistry and complicity. Every era has its own romantic stories where there’s a meet-cute, some hijinks, and a big break-up scene, and the characters end up together after a big (usually public), romantic gesture.
There are the best romantic comedies of all time, still watched every day, but there are also rom-coms that, for one reason or another, people have forgotten and deserve a second chance. The genre might’ve had its Golden Age in the ’90s, with three rom-com queens like Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, and Meg Ryan falling in love with different suitors, film after film. With so many rom-coms to watch, some other great films in the genre have become underseen and underrated. Here are 10 underrated ‘90s rom-coms you should watch.
10 I.Q. (1994)
I.Q. is a surprising romantic comedy, with Albert Einstein (Walter Matthau) rooting for the couple to make it. This is the love story between mechanic Ed (Tim Robbins) and intellectual Catherine (Meg Ryan at the top of her rom-com powers). The problem is, she’s already engaged to someone else who doesn’t value her brain and wants her to stay home and raise a family. Having Einstein in your corner might help Ed.
Einstein as a Matchmaker Is Comedy Gold
Using Einstein as a matchmaker is a surprisingly funny idea that the film milks for all it’s worth, as he and his scientist friends Nathan Liebknecht (Joseph Maher), Kurt Gödel (Lou Jacobi) and Boris Podoslky (Gene Saks) all feel Ed is better for her and help him impress her. It’s a breezy film, one that shows love at another time, and with some fun performances. Stream on Hoopla.
9 Beautiful Girls (1996)
Willie (Timothy Hutton) goes back to his town for the high school reunion and spends some time with his buddies from back then, learning that their lives haven’t changed much. All of them have trouble growing up and being the guys their Beautiful Girls deserve.
A Hangout Film With a Stacked Cast
The movie has a stacked cast with Hutton, Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Mira Sorvino, Annabeth Gish, Martha Plimpton, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Rapaport, Natalie Portman, and Uma Thurman in one of her best performances ever. This is a hangout movie with romance in all the gang’s stories, as they have to start growing up. Hutton is at the center of it all, though his infatuation with his 14-year-old neighbor, Marty (Portman), has aged very poorly. Stream on Paramount Plus.
8 Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
In Grosse Point Blank, Martin (John Cusack) is a professional hitman, and his latest job brings him back to his hometown during the day of his 10-year high school reunion. While trying to kill and not be killed, he also reconnects with his high school girlfriend, Debi (Minnie Driver), with whom he still has an electric chemistry.
One of the First Uses of a Hitman in a Comedy
This movie might be John Cusack’s best rom-com, and that’s saying something, as the actor has done many great ones, like High Fidelity, Serendipity, and Say Anything… The movie also earns points for being one of the first at using the hitman profession in a comedy, and mixing the high stakes of his job and his love life to make things as difficult for him as possible. Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Video, and Google Play Movies.
7 The Best Man (1999)
Harper Stewart (Taye Diggs) is a writer about to hit it big as his soon-to-be-published book will be in Oprah’s Book Club. He receives the news on his way to a friend’s wedding, where Harper is the Best Man. The book was inspired by real-life stories that happened to him and his friends in college, and not everyone knows those stories. The problem is his advanced copy is being read by his friends during the weekend, making everything more stressful and complicated.
An Incredible Cast
This movie is one of the best to watch with your partner on Valentine’s Day with an incredible cast, and some of the ’90s Black actors: Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Perrineau, Sanaa Lathan, and Terence Howard in his breakout role. The film was a success and has become a franchise with a film sequel, The Best Man Holiday, and a TV series sequel, The Best Man: The Final Chapters. Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Video, and Google Play Movies.
6 It Could Happen to You (1994)
Based on a real story, It Could Happen to You starts when NYPD officer Charlie (Nicolas Cage) doesn’t have enough money to tip his waitress, Yvonne (Bridget Fonda), so he makes a deal with her: he can give her a double tip tomorrow or share the benefits of his lottery ticket if it wins something. He wins $4 million and fulfills his promise, gaining his wife’s fury in the process.
Cage and Fonda Have Spectacular Chemistry
An endearing story with a great script, this rom-com works because of the spectacular chemistry between Cage and Fonda and how their characters are just good people who like spending time with each other. They might be a bit too naive about how the world works, bringing trouble for them with his wife and her ex-husband, but it’s a breezy, beautiful rom-com that will make you believe in love. Stream on Netflix.
5 But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
But I’m a Cheerleader is a queer love story about cheerleader Megan (Natasha Lyonne), who is sent to a conversion therapy camp as her family and friends suspect she’s a lesbian. At the camp, she meets Graham (Clea Duvall), and they fall in love.
A Queer Love Story
This story starts a bit dark, but proves to be a very funny satire, one full of pink and blue colors, that makes fun of conversion camps, the hypocrisy of the religious right, and the gay community, while also showing a queer love story from a female point of view, and succeeding in all those ideas. Most of the cast has kept working and being successful since the movie, especially Lyonne and Duvall, who often appear in each other’s projects. Stream on MUBI.
4 Sliding Doors (1998)
Sliding Doors is a rom-com for those who think about the “What-if” and the multiverses. This is the story of Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) and two different lives unfolding for her: one where she got on the subway and found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, and one where the subway left without her, and she didn’t find out.
A Great Idea with a Fantastic Dual Performance by Gwyneth Paltrow
The film has become a forgotten romance movie worth checking out, and that’s a shame. The dual story of the what-if is great, used with some comedic effect, and in smart ways, showing both contrasting lives. Gwyneth Paltrow has a superb performance in her dual role, so much so that you’ll even believe she’s British. The movie has some beautiful ideas about destiny and finding the one for you that are still interesting today. Streaming on Peacock.
3 Forget Paris (1995)
The ’90s were a crazy time, when a story about an NBA referee falling in love in Paris could be written, produced, and even have a relatively successful box-office performance. That film was Forget Paris. Billy Crystal plays Mike Gordon, the basketball referee who goes to France to bury his father, and there, he meets a woman named Ellen (Debra Winger), and they fall in love and get married. The movie follows their relationship as a flashback told by their friends.
The Movie Is All Billy Crystal
Crystal wrote, directed, and starred in the film, which’s a mix of When Harry Met Sally…, Before Sunrise, and Sleepless in Seattle, and is very focused not only on the falling in love part, but also on how a marriage can survive and the different sacrifices the two members of the couple must do to compromise and live a satisfying life for both. The idea is great, the film has good dialogue, and has many NBA player cameos. Stream on Hoopla.
2 Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Adapted from the William Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing is a story about true love, deceit, rumors, and an opposites-attract kind of romance. Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard in one of his best performances ever) and Hero (Kate Beckinsale) fall in love, and days before their wedding, they try to make Bendick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) fall in love too.
An Incredible Cast, Location, and Script Adaptation
Kenneth Branagh adapted and directed the film, as this was his Shakespeare phase, and did so with perfect style and cast. Thompson and Branagh are the stars, but there are also supporting roles for Leonard, Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves playing the bad guy, and Michael Keaton. The film was shot in a beautiful Tuscan villa, the set design and clothes are marvelous, and the text by Shakespeare shines in this unique rom-com. If you love Anyone But You, you should know it is loosely based on this play. Stream on fuboTV.
1 The Wedding Banquet (1993)
The Wedding Banquet is the story of Gao Wai-Tung (Winston Chao), a gay Taiwanese man living in New York with his partner, Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein). He hasn’t come out to his traditional Taiwanese parents, who are searching for a woman for him to marry. To satisfy his parents, he decides to marry one of his tenants, Wei-Wei (May Chin), a Chinese woman who needs a green card. When his parents visit to organize the wedding, things get out of hand.
A Rom-Com With Very Realistic Stakes and Characters
This movie was Ang Lee’s second film, and it’s one of the best international rom-coms, mixing a coming-out story with a wedding full of hijinks. It also tries to reconcile the differences between American and Taiwanese cultures. The film is able to do all those things while also having some funny moments and making the characters have realistic imperfections. The movie won the Golden Bear as the best film at the 43rd International Berlin Festival and earned a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Streaming on TubiTV.
