There are many activities to choose from on the most romantic day of the year, but snuggling in to watch a film highlighting the nuances of love ranks among the best. Whether viewers are seeking something to broadcast the highest heights of joy or the deepest depths of tragedy, or maybe just make them laugh themselves silly, the most meaningful films watched on Valentine's Day showcase love's enduring complexities.
Whether your taste is for the grandiose emotional roller-coaster of Gone with the Wind, or the more contemporary shenanigans of When Harry Met Sally, there are particular lines of dialogue that speak to anyone who has ever fallen in love. Here are 10 of the best quotes from Valentine's Day movies to get you in the mood.
"YOU MAKE ME WANT TO BE A BETTER MAN."
Jack Nicholson is very good at playing likable curmudgeons, and his skill for making the boorish a romantic leading man was never better than in As Good As It Gets. He played Melvin Udall, a successful New York novelist who caught feelings for the waitress at his favorite diner.
Between living with her mother and raising an ill child on her own, her life is a mess, and she doesn't appreciate his snide remarks. When she has to leave her job, it's Melvin Udall who becomes her unlikely friend and something more because as he so memorably tells her, "You make me want to be a better man.".
"I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU."
Whether viewers identify as gay or straight, there's no denying the powerful message of Brokeback Mountain, in which a ranch hand and a rodeo star find love while on the trail. As Ennis Del Mar, Heath Ledger gives a powerfully understated performance, and as Jack Twist, Jake Gyllenhaal provides the emotional core of a forbidden relationship.
The two men know they can never be together because of societal prejudice, so one marries their high school sweetheart, the other a former rodeo performer. Over 20 years they find ways to continue their tragic affair, because as Jack Twist shouts with so much angst, "I wish I knew how to quit you!".
"I CAME HERE TONIGHT BECAUSE WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH SOMEBODY, YOU WANT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE TO START AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."
When Harry Met Sally, arguably Rob Reiner's most famous comedy, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan explore a longterm friendship between a man and a woman by tackling the question; can two people of the opposite gender really just be friends?
Amidst the films' uproarious moments of hilarity surrounding the challenges of love and adult life, the pair messily try to navigate their burgeoning feelings for one another. Harry gives a very impassioned speech to Sally about exactly why their future deserves a shot, and it's one of the greatest defenses of love on film.
"KISS ME. KISS ME AS IF IT WERE THE LAST TIME."
Of all the gin joints in all the world, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) had to walk into Rick's (Humphrey Bogart) nightclub in Casablanca, the original romantic drama about star-crossed lovers navigating a love-triangle as precarious as the war that's breaking out all around them.
Ilsa is married to another man attempting to escape Nazi soldiers, and Rick is his only chance to get out of the country. She knows the effect she has on Rick, and Rick knows it too. He puts her happiness above his own in selfless sacrifice, but not before acquiescing to her request for one last kiss in the name of true love.
"TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT."
Despite being strongly associated with the Christmas season, Love Actually is the perfect film to watch year-round when you want to feel good about being in love. It includes different stories about the sort of love people can share -between siblings, spouses, parents, and children, etc- while making them all interconnected by the end.
One particular look at unrequited love between the best man (Andrew Lincoln) and his best friend's new wife (Keira Knightley) offers one of the best lines in the film. A simple, honest statement about his feelings, knowing full well they'll never be returned.
"I'M ALSO JUST A GIRL, STANDING IN FRONT OF A BOY, ASKING HIM TO LOVE HER."
It seems that anyone going to Notting Hill, with its jovial carnival, Portobello Market, and general English quaintness, would end up falling in love. This is what happens when an American movie star (Julia Roberts) arrives in London and pops into a bookshop owned by William Thacker (Hugh Grant).
Notting Hill may have many of the trappings of a typical romantic comedy, but its aided by the likability of the leads as they navigate a budding romance despite being from two very different worlds. At the end of the day, they're just a boy and a girl taking a chance on love.
"YOU SHOULD BE KISSED AND OFTEN, AND BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW."
Gone With The Wind is considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time thanks to its sweeping love story. It chronicles the epic tale of Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh) as her family falls to poverty, loses their home, and ultimately rebuilds their wealth during the time of the Civil War.
The dashing Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) comes to her aid, though the pampered heiress refuses the assistance of the raconteur at first. He helps her when no one else will because he understands her proud ways, and though they have a tumultuous relationship, he proves to be exactly what she needs in a partner.
"I DON'T KNOW I JUST GOT A FEELING ABOUT HER, YOU KNOW WHEN A SONG COMES ON AND YOU JUST GOTTA DANCE."
Blue Valentine may seem like a depressing movie for lovebirds to watch on Valentine's Day, but only because it explores the hard truths of what it takes to remain together after the lust of love's early stages wears off. Ryan Gosling and Michelle William star as two blue-collar people who showcase what happens after the "honeymoon" period is through.
There are still valid reasons for them to remain together, even when both of them want to call it quits. They remember what attracted them to one another in the first place, and try to hold onto that feeling when life gets in the way of romance.
"SO IT'S NOT GONNA BE EASY. IT'S GONNA BE REALLY HARD. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO WORK AT THIS EVERY DAY, BUT I WANT TO DO THAT BECAUSE I WANT YOU, FOREVER, YOU AND ME, EVERY DAY."
Loving someone over time isn't easy, as life provides a variety of challenges to face, each one changing a partner into someone different. Either two people grow together or they grow apart, and the difference lies in the amount of effort they're willing to put into making their relationship work out.
The Notebook highlights the concept of love as the receipt given for how much work a couple puts into it. Ryan Gosling plays Dean, a miller worker opposite Rachel McAdams' Allie, an aristocrat in the American South in the '40s. Time, war, and societal status come between them, but they keep choosing each other.
"WELL, IT WAS A MILLION LITTLE THINGS THAT, WHEN YOU ADDED THEM ALL UP, THEY MEANT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TOGETHER...AND I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT THE VERY FIRST TIME I TOUCHED HER. IT WAS LIKE COMING HOME...ONLY TO NO HOME I'D EVER KNOWN. IT WAS LIKE...MAGIC."
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have made many romantic comedies together, but few compare to Sleepless in Seattle. Hanks plays a radio program caller, unable to move on from the grief of losing his wife, and Ryan plays the reporter listening in to the program, finding herself falling for him.