Bad Romcoms We Love

Sometimes you just want to put a movie on that turns your brain to melted marshmallow. Enter that most beloved of genres, the Bad Rom Com. Forget your sharp Nora Ephron scripts. Anything with a whisper of indie intelligence can go to the back of the Netflix queue. This is a safe space – where only the comfortable and corny are welcome. We sharing some of our favourite terrible romantic comedies. You know the ones? Movies that are as good for your mind as the takeaway which with these films pair perfectly are for your body.

The Wedding Date

This one may have been marketed as Pretty Woman in reverse – Debra Messing hires a male escort, Dermot Mulroney, to be her date to her sister’s wedding in England, then falls in love with him, all while channeling Julia Roberts? My Best Friend’s Wedding hair – and to be honest, that’s pretty much all there is to this forgettable 2005 attempt. However, it did manage a decent worldwide gross of €47 million on a €15 budget, which is not to be sniffed at. And the soundtrack includes Texas, The Corrs, Joss Stone and Michael Bubl? AKA The Carton of Ros? Playlist on Spotify.

Why do we love The Wedding Date? Because it’s full of familiar tropes, emotional music, nice houses, and two actors who deserve better. Also, English actress Sarah Parish is in there somewhere and we really love Sarah.?Jeanne Sutton

Made of Honour

Remember when Grey’s Anatomy first came on our screens and everyone was like ?Who is that?!? when Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy walked into our living rooms? After stints in Sweet Home Alabama and Enchanted, his matinee idol face should have been on every €6 DVD in Tesco. Alas, eleven series of being a fake neuro-surgeon have put his love interest career temporarily on ice, so we’ll take what we can get before his turn in the Bridget Jones threequel. Although arguments can be made against ever acknowledging 2008’s Made of Honour. The plot? Dempsey is a playboy best pals with Michelle Monaghan, and maybe secretly in love with her. But! Monaghan comes back from a trip to Scotland engaged to a man who wears a kilt and wants her male friend to be her maid of honour (SEE TITLE). Wedding preparations in Scotland ensue, some confessions of love, a scene at a church and about 100 minutes of patronizing Scottish people for their funny traditions and cute accents.?Jeanne Sutton

A Walk to Remember

Arguably one of the cheesiest movies on this list, A Walk to Remember is less a rom-com, and more something that’s so laughably bad and incredibly cringey, you’ll rather enjoy it. For those who’ve yet to witness its magic, it stars Mandy Moore as a pasty-faced teenager grappling with her over-protective, bible bashing father as she finds an unlikely relationship in Shane West’s vitriolic bad boy. At first he barely gives her the time of day as she’s the opposite of the kind of girl he’d usually date, but then, when he hears her glorious (read: average) singing voice, he falls head over heels in love. And that’s where the plot thickens and thickens good. Her father is absolutely raging that this apparent cretin has taken a liking to his daughter because, we soon find out, she’s sick. Without wanting to ruin the wonder of A Walk to Remember, the pair set about striking off all of Moore’s bucket list to-dos, while West transforms from a bit of an arse into a respectable young man. Be prepared to cry your brains out.?Caroline Foran

?

Whatever It Takes

Another gem from the Shane West collection here, this dates back to 2000. This god-awful guilty pleasure also stars a young James Franco, before he went all artistic and weird, when he seemed destined for a career as the handsome high school jerk. As for the plot? So Shane West is the uncool loser type who’s best friends with his female next door neighbour, Maggie. But James Franco secretly fancies her, though she doesn’t quite believe it. Meanwhile James Franco, we learn, is quite pally with the most popular girl in school, who our Shane West fancies his chances with. From there? You guessed it. The two team up to nab the girls of their dreams only to find out that perhaps the girls of their dreams were under their noses the entire, god damn time. AMAZING (ly terrible). Fun fact: it also stars Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul as the token strange geek.?Caroline Foran

?

Follow Jeanne Sutton and?Caroline Foran on Twitter?@jeannedesutun