Simon Moore selects his ten most convincing movie couples…
Chances are you’ve been recommended at least thirty ‘most romantic’ films by now, very likely accompanied by pictures of couples kissing in torrential rain, or laughing in sunlit streets, flashing their pearly whites and smooth complexions at one another. Just out of focus, you might see tiny puppies skip and bound over the rainbow.
Nine times out of ten, you can’t even begin to see any underlying attraction between these toothy, sculpted supermodels. So this list is not about those kind of couples. Nobody’s objecting to romance in films, let’s get that clear. But we want convincing romances. We want to see two people get together that could plausibly make it, not just because one is equally as pretty as the other. These choices aren’t necessarily from romantic films, but they are the ones I consider the most convincing and compelling to watch. See what you think:
10. Juno & Bleeker (Ellen Page and Michael Cera) in Juno (2007, dir. Jason Reitman)
Love or hate her, Juno MacGuff is meant to be with Paulie Bleeker. She thinks he’s the coolest guy she’s ever met, even if he does try really hard. He still has her underwear. Seriously though, Bleeker puts up with a lot from Juno, because he loves her, mad whirlwind of wisecracks that she is. Watch them play “Anyone Else But You” in that final scene and tell me these two aren’t made for each other.
9. Kermit & Miss Piggy (Jim Henson/Steve Whitmire and Frank Oz/Eric Jacobson) in the Muppets series
It’s a pig and a frog. Except that they’re not just a pig and a frog. They’re one of the strangest, loveliest, most complex romantic pairings ever put up on the screen. And yet, everyone gets them. To the kids they’re the first indication of how weird and wonderful relationships can be. To the adults they’re a sweet and hilarious reminder that love is, if nothing else, completely and utterly unpredictable.
8. Carl & Ellie (Edward Asner and Elizabeth Docter) in Up (2009, dir. Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
Four and a half minutes. That’s all the time it took for Docter and Peterson to convince us how deeply these two childhood sweethearts loved each other. This brief and beautiful montage provides the backbone for the entire film; Carl nearly kills himself and Russell in clinging to priceless memories of Ellie. The man can’t even keep from idly talking to his floating house as if it were her.
7. Han & Leia (Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher) in The Empire Strikes Back (1980, dir. Irvin Kershner)
Of course they were in the other two films, but Empire is when you really believed in the passion and the tragedy of this affair. Kershner’s top priority here is to make us really feel for the characters George Lucas had thus far only briefly sketched in A New Hope; it proves to be the making of a classic. Ford and Fisher’s performances practically steal the film away from Mark Hamill, sniping and bickering and falling head over heels for each other. You saw them alone in the south passage. The princess and the nerf herder. Aww.
6. Marge & Norm Gunderson (Frances McDormand and John Carroll Lynch) in Fargo (1996, dir Joel and Ethan Coen)
She’s a super lady. He paints ducks for stamp competitions, and doesn’t seem the least bit emasculated for being a stay-at-home husband. They’re long past the gazing-lovingly-into-each-others-eyes stage, and they don’t waste words in expressing their affection. Norm Son-of-a-Gunderson seems quite comfortable being the rock Marge leans on, providing moral support and packed lunches for Brainerd’s nicest detective. And with a baby on the way, it almost feels like their life together is only just beginning.
5. Richard Hannay & Pamela (Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll) in The 39 Steps (1935, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
I’ve waxed lyrical about these two before, but they deserve it. Hannay tries his damndest to convince Pamela he’s innocent, but apparently you don’t steal a kiss from this miss without consequences. It’s the classic romantic case of Everyone Sees It But Them, as they jump and start every time one touches the other. Somehow that last shot of their hands held tight seems infinitely more binding and promising for their future than the usual soft-lit smooch. Well played, Hitchcock. Well played.
4. Marlowe & Vivian Sternwood (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) in The Big Sleep (1946, dir. Howard Hawks)
Ingrid Bergman is the one who usually gets paired up with Bogie for these lists, on the strength of their efforts in Casablanca. Personally, I was always for the classic Bogart and Bacall pairing. They were just as flirty in To Have and Have Not and Key Largo, but their real life passion was best portrayed here. It’s fiery and fraught with danger; Vivian lies to Marlowe with every other sentence, but Marlowe sees the love for her sister beneath it all. You can read the thrill of meeting a true equal in their faces, and it makes for such an exciting romance it remains the main selling point of this film some sixty odd years later.
3. Nick & Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) in The Thin Man (1934, dir. W.S. Van Dyke)
Another detective story straying into the realms of romantic comedy, the only criticism anyone can think to make of The Thin Man is that it doesn’t feature enough of the booziest husband and wife ever to grace the silver screen. It is nothing short of a joy to watch this double act of a marriage. For every quip Nick’s got, Nora’s got a zinger to toast right back at him from across a martini glass. The Charleses are totally in tune with each other, as two of the smartest and funniest characters to come anywhere near a detective film.
2. Rocky & Adrian (Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire) in Rocky (1976, dir. John G. Avildsen)
Rocky Balboa visits his local pet shop every day. Just to see Adrian. He even thinks up a new joke every day, just to see her smile. He’s bought turtles… fish…. he’s even eyeing up Butkus the dog. All to be near Adrian, the tiny, mousy woman of his dreams. Somehow, Rocky and Adrian make romantic landmarks out of the dullest brick-heaps in all of Philadelphia. Think of the date at the closed ice rink; the post-fight boxing ring spattered with blood; hell, even Rocky’s grotty, one-room apartment brings us their awkward, fumbling, unmissable first kiss. Watching these two lonely souls finally come together accounts for a lot of the lasting appeal of Rocky.
1. Alvy Singer & Annie Hall (Woody Allen and Diane Keaton) in Annie Hall (1977, dir. Woody Allen)
Fans of rom-coms like to talk about ‘happy endings’. It’s a sort of buzz word for what they like about the genre. Balls. There’s a right and a wrong ending to every story; happy and sad don’t come into it. Alvy and Annie don’t end up together, but that’s okay. It’s right for them. We’ve already bought them as a couple anyway, in a dozen different conversations and situations so real, it’s uncanny nobody before Woody Allen thought to put them on screen.
Then again, who else would think to use First Date Subtitles, or have the girl call up her ex at God Knows When o’ clock to catch a spider in the bath? You know this couple, or you’ve been in this relationship, and you know it. Convincing? If this wasn’t made in the seventies, you’d start to wonder if Woody Allen wasn’t just copying the whole damn screenplay out of your diary.
The ‘could’ve been’ couples…
You start believing in some couples, but they let you down right at the end. Fair enough, in most cases one of them is a little bit evil, but still, we’re rooting for a hook-up between Sarah & Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth, Bruce Wayne & Selina Kyle in Batman Returns, or Stéphane and Stéphanie in The Science of Sleep. It could’ve happened. Couldn’t it?
Who are your picks for the most convincing movie couples? Feel free to let us know in the comments…
Simon Moore is a budding screenwriter, passionate about films both current and classic. He has a strong comedy leaning with an inexplicable affection for 80s montages and movies that you can’t quite work out on the first viewing.
Originally published February 14, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
