We all are suckers for romantic movies. Whether it’s The Notebook or Pretty Woman, we can’t help but curl up with our pillows and cry, laugh, or swoon over the Prince Charming-like actors.
It doesn’t matter if we are seeing the movie for the first time or it’s an old favorite, each viewing we come face to face with a story where characters love and face some sort of loss, then pick up the pieces and live happily ever after.
Although romantic comedies get a bad rep for being unrealistic and giving women a \complex about what love is, we still love them. Here is a list of our favorite swoon-worthy characters and why they keep that hope alive:
1. Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You)
We can’t think of many movies that start with a worse reason for a guy to start talking to a girl. He was paid to go out with the weird girl so the class jerk could get with her younger sister. However, in the process, the two fell for each other and went on some pretty sweet dates. While it’s not always common, the bad boy can change—if it’s for the right girl.
2. Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid Love)
Whether you watched the movie because your friends raved to you about his abs or you awkwardly watched this with your parents, there’s no denying that Ryan Gosling’s character had you blushing. While Emma Stone is gorgeous, she plays the quirky girl and that’s why he falls for her. *Extra points for sticking with her during her parents’ marital troubles.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic)
(There was definitely room on that door for the two of them!) We definitely all feel that way. Leo’s character is part of the all-familiar poor boy from little means that gets his shot at the big leagues through some lucky chance—but that’s why we love him. Though he may not be wealthy or successful like Rose’s family, he’s not afraid to put his best foot forward and try to impress them. Although the story only takes place over a few days, let’s not forget that he gave up his spot on that door to save her life.
4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer)
This one is a bit of a wildcard because thoughts about JGL’s character vary immensely. On one hand, many viewers see his character Tom as “needy” and even Gordon-Levitt has called him “selfish”, but no one can deny that this movie is eerily realistic. At one point in our lives, we’ve all fallen for that someone who we once thought was perfect, but in the end they end up being wrong for us. For Zooey Deschanel, it was that she couldn’t commit—at least to him. This film gives audiences a glance into the male psyche and is the perfect movie to watch post break-up.
(*Plus, that Hall and Oates dance scene…amirite?)
5. Ryan Gosling (The Notebook)
No list of movie hunks is complete with Ryan Gosling’s performance in The Notebook. Gosling had girls weeping over his perfection in the film and leaving theatres with the hope that love can last through time, loss, and many other obstacles. Geez, he wrote her 365 letters?! Who wouldn’t want that? He built her dream house even after she left him for years. We wouldn’t complain. He loved her through a failed engagement to another man, family problems, societal pressures, and her failing health as they grew old together.
And THAT KISS. There’s no wonder it won MTV’s Best Kiss award.
While there are an endless number of guys we’ve blushed or cried over in film, nobody will top these 5. They’re as varied as they come with one thing in common—no matter how unrealistic the situation, we still love them.