After you have finished diving into all the holiday movies you can stomach and the shows coming out this month, it’s time to look back at a classic rom-com or two. They are perfect when you want to shut your brain off for a couple of hours and get lost in a totally fictional story of two people meeting and eventually falling in love. Of course, it’s the journey between these points checkered with humorous moments that make rom-coms so darn delightful.
You’ll find a good selection of rom-coms on all the best streaming services, and these three rom-coms on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in December are a good place to start. One is even holiday-themed so you can stick with the festive spirit.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Midnight in Paris (2011)
While you won’t find as much comedy in Midnight in Paris as you might in other traditional rom-coms, it’s a nice departure from the usual. With Woody Allen’s signature all over it, Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson in an against-type role as Gil, a screenwriter struggling with the state of his romantic life. He loves his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams), but they have very different goals, wants, and needs in life. He discovers more and more how far apart they are when he magically transports back in time every night at midnight and commiserates with all types of historical figures.
He longs to explore the art history in Paris, but Inez has no such interest, so Gil goes there on his own, albeit in his mind. He meets Scott (Tom Hiddleston) and Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Salvador Dali (The Brutalist‘s Adrien Brody), and others like Adriana (Marion Cotillard) in a scene-stealing role as the fictional mistress of Picasso. Gil’s novel is starting to take shape, but more importantly, so is his life.
Stream Midnight in Paris on Amazon Prime Video.
The Holiday (2006)
Iris (Titanic‘s Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) are both in bad places in their lives. Suffering from romantic woes, they meet through a home swap website and agree to switch residences for two weeks so they can enjoy a change of scenery and a much-needed reset. Iris acclimates well to Amanda’s lavish home, but Amanda doesn’t quite enjoy living in the quiet English countryside. So, she decides to return home the next day. Through a series of circumstances, the two women engage in various relationships with men who exist in the other’s orbit.
The Holiday, which also stars Jude Law and Jack Black, is a story of fate, taking chances, and living outside of one’s comfort zone. It’s one of those predictable movies that critics are divided on, but fans absolutely adore. Lap up all of the drama and cheesiness topped off with a picturesque happy ending that defines exactly what you expect from the genre.
Stream The Holiday on Amazon Prime Video.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
If you’re looking for a totally cute, absolutely predictable rom-com, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is it. Andie (Kate Hudson) is a women’s magazine writer who pens a popular how-to column, though she yearns to cover more serious topics. When her friend Michelle (Agatha All Along‘s Kathryn Hahn) complains about yet another breakup, Andie tries to prove to her that it’s her needy behavior that’s the problem, not her looks. So, Andie sets out on a mission: she will emulate all of Michelle’s bad behaviors with the next random guy she finds and guarantees he’ll dump her within 10 days.
However, Andie picks the worst possible potential mate in advertising executive Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey). That’s because he just bet his boss he can make any woman fall in love with him. His prize is snagging the big diamond company campaign his boss doesn’t think he has the insight to handle. So, there’s no way Ben is going to lose.
It’s easy to predict where the story goes from there as Andie tries desperately to annoy Ben while Ben does everything in his power to remain romantic despite how bizarrely she’s behaving. There are plenty of laughs in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, largely thanks to the leads and their commitment to the roles. They’ll have you in stitches while you find yourself rooting for them to make it as an actual couple at the same time.
Stream How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days on Amazon Prime Video.