The 12 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch Tonight

Can men and women ever just be friends? Harry and Sally test the question over 12 years. Nora Ephron's screenplay is the gold standard of rom-com writing — funny, honest, and genuinely insightful about how people avoid what they want. The deli scene remains perfect.

A London bookshop owner accidentally falls for the world's most famous film star. Richard Curtis and Roger Michell created the definitive British rom-com. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts have effortless chemistry, and the supporting cast is extraordinary.

A modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew set in a Seattle high school. Heath Ledger serenading Julia Stiles in the bleachers is one of cinema's great romantic gestures. Sharp, funny, and significantly smarter about gender than most 90s teen films.

An NYU economics professor accompanies her boyfriend to Singapore for his best friend's wedding — and discovers his family is one of the wealthiest in Asia. Visually spectacular, genuinely funny, and with Constance Wu and Henry Golding making a genuinely compelling lead pair.

Bridget Jones documents her chaotic year in her diary. Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth. The love triangle is properly worked out — you genuinely can't be sure who she'll choose. Richard Curtis again, doing what he does best.

A professional 'date doctor' coaches men on how to woo the women they love — and then falls for a celebrity gossip columnist who is determined to expose him. Will Smith and Eva Mendes have genuine spark. Funny throughout and more emotionally honest than most.

A recently separated father (Steve Carell) is coached by a smooth-talking stranger (Ryan Gosling) in how to date again. Three intersecting love stories, each well-drawn. The plot twist is genuinely surprising. The cast — Carell, Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore — is exceptional.

Ten loosely connected love stories play out in London in the five weeks before Christmas. Richard Curtis' most ambitious film — the anthology structure means some stories work better than others, but the ones that work (Knightley/Lincoln, Rickman/Thompson) are exceptional.

A charming, commitment-phobic Englishman keeps encountering the same American woman at social events. Hugh Grant's star-making role and Andie MacDowell make a great pair. The funeral scene, with John Hannah reading W.H. Auden, is one of cinema's most moving moments.

A sorority president follows her ex to Harvard Law School to win him back — and discovers she's actually very good at the law. Reese Witherspoon makes Elle Woods one of cinema's most compelling comic protagonists. Funny, warm, and quietly feminist.

A popular Beverly Hills teenager uses her talent for matchmaking on everyone around her — oblivious to what's right in front of her. Amy Heckerling's adaptation of Emma is still one of the sharpest teen comedies ever made. Alicia Silverstone is perfect.

A food critic realises she's in love with her best friend on the eve of his wedding to someone else — and sets about sabotaging it. Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz. The film is sharper than it looks because the protagonist is genuinely the villain.