Since Valentines Day falls midweek this year, it’s possible that any plans, if you’ve got them, will be centred around the weekend. Alternatively, you might just be planning a lovely quiet evening at home. Either way, Netflix has you sorted out with a menu of love stories and romance to snuggle up to this Valentine’s Day. Who knows, the kids might even stay asleep for the whole date night! Grab some microwave popcorn and chocolate, and get stuck in. Here are 21 romantic date night movies on Netflix, ready for your choosing this Valentines Day.
Shakespeare in Love
This is a movie I’ve loved since my teenage years. The not-at-all-bad-looking Joseph Fiennes plays William Shakespeare, a writer out of cash and ideas. Throughout the film, he meets his ideal woman (Gwyneth Paltrow), and she inspires him to write one of his most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet. It cleaned up at the Oscars back in 1999, winning seven awards including Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It’s a charming love story, and well worth a watch if you’ve not seen it before.
The Notebook
The Nicholas Sparks novel-turned-movie that sparked a tsunami of tears from cinemas, unlived up to expectations from teenage girls worldwide and skyrocketed the career of a certain Mr Gosling. If you’ve lived under a rock and not seen it, the movie is a complicated love story set in 1940s South Carolina. Mill worker Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl Allie (Rachel McAdams) are desperately in love. But her parents don’t approve. When Noah goes off to serve in World War II, it seems to mark the end of their love affair. In the interim, Allie becomes involved with another man (James Marsden). But when Noah returns to their small town years later, on the cusp of Allie’s marriage, it soon becomes clear that their romance is anything but over. Get the tissues ready.
Safe Haven
Another Nicholas Sparks novel translated into film. Katie Feldman (Julianne Hough) moves to a small town on the North Carolina coast, determined to make a new life for herself. She takes a job as a waitress and keeps a low profile, but she is soon won over by the warmth and caring of the close-knit community, especially that of widower Alex (Josh Duhamel). With the help of Alex and his children, Katie learns to love and trust again — but when a mysterious stranger arrives and starts asking questions, Katie’s dark past threatens to reclaim her.
Love, Rosie
Love, Rosie is the movie adaptation of the Cecilia Ahern novel “Where Rainbows End”. I LOVED the book.What happens when you meet your soulmate in primary school but never quite get the timing right? A ton of life gets in the way, that’s what. They may have made them English instead of Irish, and you will spend half the film shouting at them to cop onto themselves, but it’s a really sweet love story, perfect for Valentines Day!
Me Before You
Oh Christ, another tearjerker. Young and quirky Louisa “Lou” Clark (Emilia Clarke – yes, her of Game of Thrones fame) moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker left paralysed from an accident two years earlier. Will’s cynical outlook starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined. I did warn you about the tears.
Dear John
A third Nicholas Sparks entry to the list. He does those romantic dramas so well. When soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets an idealistic college student, Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), it’s the beginning of an intense romance. Over the next seven tumultuous years and separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployment, the lovers stay in touch through their letters, meeting in person only rarely. However, their correspondence triggers consequences that neither could foresee.
PS I Love You
Cecilia Ahern’s bestseller first novel was turned into a movie in 2007 with big names and American accents. They’re not in Dublin anymore Toto. When Gerry (Gerard Butler), the husband of Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank), dies from an illness, she loses the love of her life. Knowing how hard Holly will take his death, Gerry plans ahead. Beginning on her 30th birthday, she receives the first in a series of letters written by him, designed to ease her grief and encourage her to move forward to a new life. Yes, you’ll be shouting at the screen every time Gerard Butler opens his mouth, but it is a charming story all the same.
When Harry Met Sally
A true classic (and not just because it was released before I was born). Can men and women ever truly just be friends? That’s the question at the centre of this late 1980s romcom. In 1977, college graduates Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) shared a contentious car ride from Chicago to New York, during which they argue about whether men and women can ever truly be strictly platonic friends. Ten years later, Harry and Sally meet again at a bookstore, and in the company of their respective best friends, Jess (Bruno Kirby) and Marie (Carrie Fisher), attempt to stay friends without sex becoming an issue between them.
Just Friends
High school student Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) loves his best friend, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). He finally confesses his feelings, but she tells him that she just wants to be friends, and he leaves town in shame. Ten years later, Chris is a successful record executive and involved with self-absorbed pop star Samantha James (Anna Faris). He still pines for Jamie, though, and when his plans to go to Paris for the holidays fall through, he returns to his hometown to try and win her heart. It’s got cheesy scenes with Ryan Reynolds in a fat suit and is genuinely hilarious. Go. Watch. It. Now.
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Ah, the indie-music-lovers had to come in somewhere, especially if Michael Cera was involved. Nick (Michael Cera) cannot stop obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena), until Tris’ friend Norah (Kat Dennings – her from Two Broke Girls) suddenly shows interest in him at a club. Thus beings an odd night filled with ups and downs as the two keep running into Tris and her new boyfriend while searching for Norah’s drunken friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor), with help from Nick’s bandmates. As the night winds down, the two have to figure out what they want from each other.
Sixteen Candles
Time for some Brat Pack! Bring on the Molly Ringwald!
What Happens in Vegas
During a wild vacation in Las Vegas, career woman Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz) and playboy Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) come to the sober realisation that they have married each other after a night of drunken abandon. Besides that, there is a huge 3 million dollar jackpot at stake. An implacable judge freezes the prize money and refuses to grant an annulment, so Joy and Jack must try to make their impromptu marriage work.
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Whats that, not enough falling-in-love-with-the-friend movies? Not to worry, Julia Roberts has another one ready for you. Childhood friends Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney) had a deal to marry each other if they were still single by age 28. Now, four days before her 28th birthday, O’Neil announces that he’s marrying a gorgeous 20-year-old named Kimberly (Cameron Diaz). Suddenly realising that she’s actually in love with him, Julianne vows to stop the wedding at all costs. However, when she is appointed maid of honour, things get even more complicated.
This Is 40
The sequel to Knocked Up, this film focuses on Debbie (Alison’s sister) and her husband Pete and their marriage and life as they hit middle age. After many years of marriage, Pete (Paul Rudd) is the sole male in a household that includes his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann), and two young daughters (Iris Apatow, Maude Apatow). As Pete struggles to keep his record label afloat, he and Debbie navigate a three-week course of sex and romance, career victories and financial hardships, ageing parents and maturing children. They’ll have to learn to forgive, forget and enjoy the rest of their lives — before they kill each other. It’s not as wishy-washy as some of the younger love stories, but there’s a whole lot to relate to from settled-down-land!
Couple’s Retreat
This is one of my very favourite films because it never fails to put a smile on my face (and not just for the yoga scene). Four couples, all friends, descend on a tropical island resort. Though one husband and wife are there to work on their marriage, the others just want to enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon find, however, that paradise comes at a price: Participation in couples therapy sessions is mandatory. What started out as a cut-rate vacation turns into an examination of the common problems many couples face. You’ll be googling flight prices to Bora Bora after watching it for sure.
It’s Complicated
Jane (Meryl Streep), a successful restaurateur, has been divorced from Jake (Alec Baldwin) for many years, although they remain friends. When an innocent meal together turns into an affair, Jane finds that she is the other woman in the now-remarried Jake’s life. Meanwhile, Adam (Steve Martin), an architect hired to remodel her kitchen, is still stinging from his own divorce. He finds himself falling in love with Jane but soon realises that he has become part of a triangle.
I Love You Man
As his wedding day approaches, Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) realises he has no one to act as his best man. Through a series of “man-dates,” he finds Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), and the pair becomes instant friends. But as Peter’s “bromance” with Sydney grows stronger, it threatens his relationship with his fiancee (Rashida Jones), forcing Peter to make a choice.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
In 1913 Connie Reid married wealthy Nottingham colliery owner Sir Clifford Chatterley, but he returns from the Great War disabled and in a wheelchair. Connie is loyal but begins to feel alienated as he engages a nurse, Mrs Bolton, to bathe him and excludes her from pit business. Despite his desire for an heir his impotence results in a lack of sexual activity and Connie is drawn to handsome Oliver Mellors, the plain-spoken former miner her husband has engaged as his game-keeper and who represents the passion she craves. They embark upon a physical affair in Oliver’s cottage but are discovered and betrayed by Mrs Bolton. Connie, now carrying Oliver’s child, must choose between a pampered but joyless existence with her husband or an uncertain future with the man she has come to love. If you’re in the mood for a period drama, this might be right up your alley.
Notting Hill
Would a love story list be complete if Hugh Grant didn’t appear? The answer is probably not. William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is a London bookstore owner whose humdrum existence is thrown into romantic turmoil when famous American actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) appears in his shop. A chance encounter over spilt orange juice leads to a kiss that blossoms into a full-blown affair. As the average bloke and glamorous movie star draw closer and closer together, they struggle to reconcile their radically different lifestyles in the name of love. It’s cheesy, it’s a total chick flick, but it is just lovely.
La-La Land
Titanic
A love story of the ages. Kate and Leo, Leo and Kate… and a big block of ice that just happened to get in the way. James Cameron’s “Titanic” is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic; the pride and joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object ever built. She was the most luxurious liner of her era — the “ship of dreams” — which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in the cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. You might not still shed tears this time around if you’ve seen it before (not that it stopped the sobbing in the cinema around us when we went to see it a few years back in 3D) but it’s an epic worth a second, third or twentieth watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCy5WQ9S4c0
There we have it, 21 perfect date night movies to watch on Netflix this Valentines Day if you’re staying in and looking for something loved up to watch. Is your favourite on the list? Let me know in the comments, or over on Facebook or Twitter!
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Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team and received a Netflix subscription and an iPad Mini in return for posting Netflix updates and reviews, however, all opinions are my own, and I already had a personal subscription before joining the Stream Team.
Looking for more suggestions for what to watch on Netflix? Hope these help!