200 Cigarettes. Bride Wars. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Kate Hudson has made a career out of perfectly adequate if innocuous films that seem ripe for rewatch mid-February. We could publish a whole list of the Best Kate Hudson Romantic Comedies in time for Valentine’s and call it a day.
This is not that list.
That Shelf’s Dara Moats has complied a Hudson-free list of Love Stories, rid of the Goldie-daughter’s infectious smile and affability, but full of many other lovely things to embrace from other, less Kate-ian actors.
So here is our list of Top 10 Kate Hudson-less Love Stories for your pleasure any time of year.
[nextpage title=”10) Johnny in Dirty Dancing (1987)”]
Dirty Dancing is the ultimate feminist romance film. The plain and naive Baby (Jennifer Grey) never has a scene where she receives a makeover to catch hunky Johnny’s (Patrick Swayze) eye. In fact, writer Eleanor Bergstein says Johnny falls in love with Baby when she messes up their first choreographed dance. Johnny loves her because she made a mistake but just kept going and didn’t let it stop her. SWOOON.
[nextpage title=”9) River Phoenix & Keanu Reeves in My Own Private Idaho (1991)”]
When River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves starred in My Own Private Idaho, a film about male hustlers, it was 1991 and considered controversial to have hetero teen idols as gay characters. But director Gus Van Sant crafted a beautiful and tragic love story that obviously did not hurt Keanu’s career. The film is Van Sant’s masterpiece and an early indie film to portray desire between men.
[nextpage title=”8) Natty Gann & Wolf in The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)”]
A Disney film from 1985, The Journey of Natty Gann tells the tale of a 15 year old tomboy (Meredith Salenger) in depression era US, who has to travel cross country on her own to find her father. She is befriended on the way by a wolf/dog she just calls Wolf. I spent the better part of my youth wanting a wolf for a best friend because of this movie. With new studies coming out that say women sleep better with a dog than a man, I’d say Disney was definitely on to something…
[nextpage title=”7) Eddie Murphy & Robin Givens in Boomerang (1992)”]
Eddie Murphy stars as Marcus Graham, a successful womanizer, who meets his match in man-eater Jacqueline (Robin Givens). It’s peak Eddie Murphy and seeing him slowly being emasculated by the careless Jacqueline is always hilarious. It also features the phenomenal Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt and, inexplicably, Halle Berry in the less-attractive-friend role.
[nextpage title=”6) Harold & Kumar in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)”]
Some of the most beautiful love stories are platonic. Take Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn), yin to the other’s yang. Straitlaced and pent-up Harold needs irresponsible, free-spirit Kumar and vice versa. If you don’t already have a best friend who gets you into/out of trouble (depending on if you are the Harold or the Kumar) go out there and get one! STAT! Even Bumble has a friends section now.
[nextpage title=”5) Rocky Balboa & Adrian Pennino in Rocky (1977)”]
Think Rocky is a boxing movie? Think again! At its heart it’s a gentle romance between two lonely losers played by Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture in 1977. But more importantly, it contains my favorite quote about love ever, “She’s got gaps, I’ve got gaps, together we fill gaps.”
[nextpage title=”4) Cynthia & Evelyn in The Duke of Burgundy (2014)”]
Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna play lovers in a lesbian May-December S & M relationship in The Duke of Burgundy. Catch all that? It takes its time drawing characters that, although they have unusual tastes, are still respectful and caring towards each other desires. It’s a beautifully crafted, sumptuous arthouse film, but don’t worry, it still has lots of smut too.
[nextpage title=”3) Everyone in Some Like it Hot (1959)”]
Some Like it Hot is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time. The plot centers around two jazz musicians, Jerry (Jack Lemon) and Joe (Tony Curtis) who accidentally witness the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and have to go on the lam dressed as women in an all-female band starring Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe). While Joe (now Josephine) uses his position as new ‘girlfriend’ to Sugar to get inside information on her turn-ons and then makes himself into her ideal man, Jerry (now Daphne) really transforms into his new identity as Daphne and catches himself a billionaire admirer. No one is angered or hurt by the deception in the end. All the characters here understand that everyone has a right to create their own identity. It is best summed up in the film’s famous last line, “Nobody’s perfect.”
[nextpage title=”2) Judy Benjamin & Herself in Private Benjamin (1980)”]
Private Benjamin is one of my all-time favorite movies. Goldie Hawn plays a spoiled socialite who joins the US Army after her husband suddenly dies on their wedding night. One of the high grossing comedies of the 80s, Hawn was also nominated for an Academy award. It’s one of the few romantic comedies where the female lead walks off into the sunset alone at the end and it’s treated as the happiest of endings.
[nextpage title=”1) Harold & Maude in Harold and Maude (1971)”]
A death-obsessed 17 year-old boy falls in love with a fun-loving 80 year old woman in Harold and Maude, and it is the greatest romance in film history and no one can ever tell me different. Starring Bud Cort as Harold and Ruth Gordon as Maude with a soundtrack by Cat Stevens. If you haven’t seen this Hal Ashby cult classic yet, what are you waiting for?
