by Sumner Strickland | staff writer
Breakups have been a substantial part of the romantic film genre but what are the absolute best that deal with some type of loss like that?
5. 500 Days of Summer
For a movie set around the aftermath of a breakup it never forgets about the heart of all of the couple, which is remorse on both sides of the break up. And on top of that it stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel; so it’s hard to go wrong. Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) who works for a greeting card company meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) one day at the office and gets entangled in a long lasting relationship that leads to an ultimate heartbreak and must decide whether to move on or continue to fight for the one he loves. This is full of great characters and snappy dialogue that keep you caring and enthralled in the story as it progresses.
4. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
For all the Jim Carrey fans out there you better run for the hills because this is a deep, sensitive and misunderstood Jim Carrey that no one has ever seen before. After a bad breakup with long time girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet), Joel decides to get his entire memory of Clementine erased. Dr. Mirewiak (Tom Wilkinson) can make this possible by using a neuro map of the subject and then extracting that memory this creating a “Spotless Mind”. While under, Joel realizes he doesn’t want to forget and tries everything he can to preserve her; even if that means erasing his memory completely. This is disturbing, thought provoking, and definitely one of a kind. If you’re having a bad breakup and want to forget all you can, this film will make you think again; and I assure you you’ll never wish it again.
3. Chasing Amy
For anyone wanting to know how Ben Affleck got to his superstar status, this and Dazed and Confused are where it all started. Holden (Ben Affleck) and his best friend Banky (Jason Lee) are comic book artists, and then one day Holden meets Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams) who is also a comic book artist, and falls for her but things become complicated when she finds out she is a lesbian, and must decide whether to keep it to himself and stay friends or confess his love for her. This movie is unlike anything writer director Kevin Smith has ever done because it dares to be different in the aspect that it questions people’s preference when it comes to relationships and makes us question why something’s are acceptable while others tear couples apart. And it is truly terrific in it’s approach but never forgets about the comedy.
2. Annie Hall
The movie that launched the modern romantic comedies and changed romantic movies forever. Woody Allen’s finest work besides Manhattan, is set in New York in the seventies chronicles the relationship of Annie and Alvy until there ultimate breakup. It’s hard to imagine a romantic comedy without the influence of Woody Allen, but this is his greatest statement on romance and the human nature of all of us, which is we can’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone.
1. High Fidelity
A love story that represents many references to the Woody Allen movies of the seventies but it’s much more than a breakup story, its also a tribute to good classic pop culture mainly music. Rob (John Cusack) a vinyl record store-owner with is two other nit-wit employees Barry and Dick (Jack Black and Todd Louisa) experiences a somewhat harsh breakup, but in an effort to mask the pain goes over his top five most horrible breakup’s until he finally realizes he misses Laura (Iben Hjejle) and must find a way to win her back from her new “boyfriend” Ian “Ray” Raymond (Tim Robbins). Stephen Frears the director of the academy award-winning movie “The Queen” directs this faithful adaptation of the novel (minus the England part). High Fidelity is every video store clerk or aficionado of music you’ve ever met and add in some girl troubles and you’ve got a cult classic. The movie touch’s on the raw nerves of human emotion, which have to do with ego and why we are who we are because of our relationships.
