"I'm not like other girls," is the kind of sentence I used to say with my whole chest back in high school, aka my prime rom-com-hating days. So many of the ones I'd let my friends drag me to see in theaters were sugary, forgettable watches. But a few stood out from the bunch, genuinely funny enough that I still quote them to this day and revisit them as guilty pleasures from time to time.
Admittedly, I'm still not the biggest romantic comedy fan; even seeing the "good" ones hasn't made me a dyed-in-the-wool convert. These three, though, are ones I routinely recommend people watch for the quality of the comedy alone. All three never fail to crack me up, no matter how many times I've seen them. If I ever don't lose it at the way Kristen Wiig opens that curtain on the plane in "Bridesmaids," check my pulse. I honestly had to double-check and make sure there was romance in some of these, because what stands out now, over a decade after I've seen some of them, is the hilarious writing and leads.
'She's the Man' (Paramount Plus)
I'll admit that I may have my nostalgia glasses on for this one, but given how many "She's the Man" references have somehow crept into my adult life ("I see you for what you truly are, which is ugly" is a bar, and I'm tired of pretending otherwise), I figured it had to make the list. This modern reimagining of Shakespeare's "The Twelfth Night" has aged like a fine wine, and with Amanda Bynes at her peak Bynes-iest, it never fails to be an early oughts nostalgia trip. And as I just learned while writing this, Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars. That's wild, but validating.
Bynes stars as Viola, a soccer player who's devastated to learn her high school just cut its girls' soccer team. When she's not allowed to join the boys' team, she disguises herself as twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) to play at his elite boarding school while he's off touring with his band. Her disguise leads to all sorts of goofs and misunderstandings, a twentysomething Channing Tatum looks built in a lab to be a rom-com dreamboat, and Bynes is just as effortlessly hilarious as you remember.
Watch 'She's the Man' on Paramount Plus now
'The Big Sick' (Prime Video)
Let's be real, there's nothing more romantic than an on-screen romance inspired by a real-life love story. Comedian Kumail Nanjiani and wife Emily V. Gordon drew from their own relationship to co-write "The Big Sick," which earned the couple a Best Original Screenplay nomination. We’ve all seen the classic tearjerker where a couple finds love only for one's sudden illness to cut their time together short prematurely. "The Big Sick" flips that trope on its head in a way that'll leave you swooning.
Instead of a doomed romance, it follows two exes unexpectedly pulled back together when one’s health suddenly deteriorates. Nanjiani, playing himself, is determined to win back Emily (Zoe Kazan), but if he has hope to succeed, he'll first have to win over her wary parents (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter). "The Big Sick" is the kind of cozy comfort watch that's a delight to see unfold, even if you already know how it ends.
Watch 'The Big Sick' on Prime Video now
'Bridesmaids' (Netflix)
Unlike a lot of the comedies of the 2010s, "Bridesmaids" still holds up. A large part of its staying power comes down to pitch-perfect performances from Kristen Wiig (who also co-wrote the script), Maya Rudolph and Rose Byrne. There’s a reason this cultural juggernaut even earned Oscar nominations, a rare feat for this genre — and why I still quote it regularly now, over a decade after seeing it in theaters with the girlies had us all cackling.
Paul Feig’s breakout hit dives into the surprisingly cutthroat world of pre-wedding planning, where a well-meaning but messy maid of honor (Wiig) goes head-to-head with an overbearing bridesmaid (Byrne) for the bride’s (Rudolph) attention. With each determined to outdo the other (and taking snipes every chance they can get), the bridal party quickly spirals into chaos and the bride-to-be gets caught in their tug-of-war. Rounding out the ensemble are Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey, who each add their own comedic punch.
Watch "Bridesmaids" on Netflix now
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