We’ve watched our fair share of rom-coms, and we’re total suckers for the ‘boy meets girl, and falls in love with her only to have some major relationship derailing thing to happen’ plotline. We know that nine times out of ten the couple is going to be able to work through whatever is thrown at them to end up in each other’s arms happily ever after as long as they both shall live.
But still, it’s the journey. We love watching relationships develop and find ourselves getting really emotionally invested in the couple every time. Thus, we’ve rounded up seventeen of our favorite movie couples who re-defined perfection, the ones that who have great chemistry and make us believe real love exists. These duos make us want a rom-com of our own.
16. Harry & Sally from When Harry Met Sally
If there’s a movie couple more well-suited for each other than Harry and Sally in When Harry Met Sally, we’d be hard-pressed to find them. Harry’s laid-back vibe perfectly balances out Sally’s neurotic, control-freak tendencies, and Sally’s grasp on reality helps keep Harry’s head out of the clouds. The pair was friends first, and saw each other through various seasons of life, which gives us tons of confidence that their relationship will last for the long haul. Can’t you just imagine an 80-year-old Sally ordering apple pie à la mode with strawberry ice cream on the side while an equally-ancient Harry sits across from her rolling his eyes? We can!
15. Jane & John from Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Smith may not seem like your typical rom-com on the surface, but the spy comedy is actually gold. Jane and John are perfectly matched. They’re equally skilled at what they do, which means they both have a fair chance of killing each other by the end of the movie. And they’re also equally damaged — no emotionally stable person is that successful of a cold-blooded killer.
But in spite of all of their baggage, and their jobs literally pitting them against each other, they manage to put their partner first and find some genuine feeling for one another. And really, what more can you ask for in a life partner?
14. Ron & Hermione from the Harry Potter Franchise
Life as the best friends of the most famous wizard on the planet couldn’t have been easy. You’re constantly being pushed into the shadows and neglected the praise that you’re due, regardless of your own talents, strengths and the pretty major hand you had in bringing down the Dark Lord. In the end, that may have been what brought Ron and Hermione together in the first place.
But what kept them together, and what fans love about them so much, is how earnestly Ron appreciates Hermione and is in awe of her intelligence, and how Hermione, despite all of Ron’s blundering, can always see his bravery and loyalty. These two see the other for who they really are, which is what we all want, deep down, in a romantic partner.
13. Princess Lea & Hans Solo from the Star Wars Franchise
If there was ever a couple who came from two completely different worlds, it’s this one. Princess Lea is royalty, Hans Solo is a rouge. But their banter is impeccable, they truly see each other as equals, and they accept the other just as they are. Even in the midst of a major, intergalactic war, these two know that they have something so good that it’s worth fighting for. No matter how many times they bicker and walk away, they always make up and come back for the other time after time. And if someone kisses you despite having two giant cinnamon rolls attached to your head, then you know it’s true love.
12. Melanie & Jake from Sweet Home Alabama
Many of us go through a time in our lives where we’re embarrassed by where we came from. We begin to think that we’re too cool for the small town where we grew up, and so we invent a fake history for ourselves that more closely matches the person we want to be at that moment. It’s a nasty thing, but thankfully, as we grow, we get over it and repent.
Which, of course, is exactly what happens to Melanie in Sweet Home Alabama. She does some truly horrible things to her family and friends, but Jake is always right there to forgive her and welcome her back into the Pigeon Creek, Alabama fold. Not many people would put up with antics like Melanie’s, but the fact that Jake does is proof enough for us that these two are a match made in heaven.
11. Ennis & Jack from Brokeback Mountain
There’s something about a forbidden love that always makes it a little sweeter. That being said, Jack and Ennis’s love would still be incredibly sweet even if it had been made public. The half-lived lives these two are willing to endure to protect the other is a true testament to how deeply they care. And the times when they’re both able to escape their mundane existences for a few short hours together are pure magic. They have a true, life-long LDR, but the fact that they can make it work shows just how genuine their feelings are.
10. Landon & Jamie from A Walk to Remember
He’s a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and she’s a sheltered preacher’s daughter, but from the moment these two meet, it’s clear that they’re destined for each other. Watching Landon soften and grow the more he’s around Jamie is heart melting. And realizing that even after her death she still influences him and encourages him to be a better person is truly a sign of the realest love out there. Landon building her a telescope and then naming a star after her is just one of the most romantic gestures of all time, sets the bar impossibly high for all teenage romance, and we love the idea that their love is literally written in the stars.
9. Kat & Patrick from 10 Things I Hate About You
You know any couple drawn from a Shakespeare play is going to be a good one, but we really love this iteration of The Taming of the Shrew couple. Kat is strong and independent, totally okay with being on her own, and Patrick completely respects that — in fact, it’s kind of what draws him in. While he never tries to change anything about her, he also can see through the front she puts up. Watching this go from a business deal to true soulmate status (he buys her a Fender Strat!), it’s clear that neither one of them could find a person more perfectly suited for them than the other. Here’s to many more paintball dates!
8. Troy & Gabriella from High School Musical
First of all, just look at this couple. They’re so beautiful; way too beautiful for high schoolers. From their chance meeting at a ski resort to their second fortuitous encounter at East High all the way through to their closing graduation number, these two sang their way into our hearts. HSM may have been a Disney Channel Original Movie, but we’ll never be too old for it.
There’s something about a first love that’s so pure and genuine, and no matter how many times they broke up and got back together, we were always rooting for them. Because deep down we all wish our first loves had been as cute and enduring as this one was.
7. Monica & Quincy from Love & Basketball
Quincy McCall might have been a little spoiled, and a little too emotional for his own good, but from the second Monica Wright moved in next door his world changed for the better. From that first rough and tumble driveway game to the final “double or nothing” round, it’s clear that neither baller is their best self without the other. You know a love is good when you can take time apart, pursue your own life and passions, and still find a way back to each other — finding out that nothing’s really changed. We love all four quarters of this love story… and we’d even be down for a sequel!
6. Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice
We all know this classic love story by heart. The aristocratic Mr. Darcy moves to the country with his best friend and meets a local girl at a neighborhood ball. It’s far from love at first sight, and the two don’t see eye to eye for a long time. Until, eventually, Mr. Darcy is honest with himself and realizes he’s fallen “deeply and ardently” in love with Elizabeth. Then it’s all mixed signals and mistakes, until finally, finally they end up together. All we have to say about this made-for-each-other love is, “Yes. Yes, a thousand times yes.”
5. Noah & Allie from The Notebook
From start to finish, The Notebook is true relationship goals. That sweet summertime meeting is how we’ve imagined our own love stories starting countless times (spoiler alert: it never happens), and the passion that exists between Noah and Allie is something we’ve only ever dreamed of experiencing ourselves. He wrote her every day for a year and then, with no reply, built her dream house! For heaven’s sake. Can things possibly get more romantic than that? In the end, the two even die side by side, which is truly tear-jerking but also moving at the same time. They keep hope alive in us that our Noah or Allie may still be out there somewhere.
4. Rick & Ilsa from Casablanca
This is the movie romance that is the definitive standard for all movie romances. Casablanca came out in 1942, but the love between Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Boggart’s characters endures. A tale of lost love, Ilsa Lund reappears in former flame Rick Blane’s life, married. Despite his bitterness and heartbreak, Rick does everything in his power to help his old lover, including, in the end, sending her away to safety with her husband. Because, in the end, they will always have Paris. If their love doesn’t make you cry, then it’s quite possible that you don’t have a heart. Because theirs is one of the greatest love stories of all time.
3. Joe & Kathleen from You’ve Got Mail
You probably don’t expect that you’ll meet your soulmate by e-mail… especially not nowadays. But for Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly, that’s exactly how it happened in You’ve Got Mail. After a fateful meeting in an AOL chatroom on the night of Kathleen’s 30th birthday, these two e-mailed back and forth in anonymity for months, while simultaneously developing increasingly complicated relationships in real life. These two have so much in common and were just such a good fit for each other. Upon our first viewing of the movie we found ourselves crossing our fingers, hoping that NY152 would have a very familiar face and spell his last name F-O-X. Also, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! Unbeatable.
2. Jack & Rose from Titanic
Even the most cold-hearted, love-averse person can’t help but admit that Jack and Rose were made for each other. Despite the fact that their relationship was doomed from the start, we always find ourselves rooting for them and their ultimate happiness every time. We all want to find someone who breaks us out of our shell, helps us end things with our controlling, maniacal fiancé, and then paints us like one of his French girls. And don’t even get us started on the fact that Jack is there to greet Rose after her death, in the exact spot of the happiest time of their lives. They really never let go of each other. *Swoon*
1. Baby & Johnny from Dirty Dancing
This is the teenage romance we all hoped that we’d have. At some point, all of us wanted an older, cooler guy to take an interest in us and transform us from quiet, obedient wallflower to bold, cool last-dance-of-the-season type of girl. Never mind the fact that it was only a summer romance, it proved to us that relationships could be perfect and #goals even if they were only meant to last for a short period of time. Because really, all we ever want in love is someone who makes us “scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.” That’s the Dirty Dancing dream.