Photo: Paramount Pictures
Most of us want relationships that are full of passion, romance, and butterflies in the tummy. We want to meet somebody under intense-but-coincidental circumstances, fall in love, and even grow old and die together.
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Some of achieve happily-ever-after status. Others, however, are stuck living vicariously through the characters that we see in the movies. Luckily, in terms of fictitious cinematic love stories, Hollywood has more than enough to choose from if you’re single but too socially awkward to mingle.
Here are eight movie relationships you wish you were in.
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Movie Relationships
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'The Great Gatsby' (2012)
In our younger and more vulnerable years, we might have said that no film could ever come close to the masterpiece that was the novel The Great Gatsby. It was an epic love story that could never correctly translate to film
That all changed when Leonardo DiCaprio wore the tux of Jay Gatsby and brought the elusive, enigmatic character to life, truly, for the first time on screen.
Gatsby shouldn’t have worked. It was an old-fashioned tale in a modern world. But that was the beauty of it. The combination of contemporary songs and classic literature made this a timeless film that shows how far one man would go to reclaim the one who got away.
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'500 Days of Summer' (2009)
You relate on a spiritual level with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the love-struck in 500 Days of Summer. Tom believed fate brought Summer (Zooey Deschanel) into his life and he was instantly smitten. This was the girl of his dreams and he had to make her a part of his life. He did, and everything was going perfectly. Tom was in love and nothing could change that.
Until they broke up. But don’t worry! Summer told Tom that he was “still her best friend.” Tom did not want to be friends. He wanted to be mad. He wanted to curse the universe. Tom was bitter. He drank a lot. Sound familiar?
Tom eventually found closure with Summer and believed, once again, that the fates were on his side. And then he met a girl named Autumn. Because, movies. Spoiler: this probably won’t happen to you.
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'True Romance' (1993)
The title says it all: True Romance. Fate clearly brought together Clarence (Christian Slater), a romantic comic book geek, and Alabama (Patricia Arquette), a prostitute with a heart of gold. Their story is that of star-crossed lovers who find their way to each other while the world around them burns to the ground. People die. Lots of people. All because Clarence and Alabama loved each other.
It’s a Bonnie and Clyde kind of romance and you always thought you’d have something similar. You always knew that you would love a girl as much as Clarence loved Alabama. You still know that, deep down. The moral of the story is: if all else fails, hire a prostitute. She could end up being the love of your life.
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'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' (2008)
In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Peter (Jason Segel) is dumped by his famous and way-too-hot-for-him girlfriend. He doesn’t cope well. After a series of one-night stands and some solid moments of introspection and self-loathing, Peter decides that the best way to forget about Sarah Marshall is to go on a Hawaiian vacation.
The problem is, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) is also in Hawaii and now she’s banging Russel Brand. (Or whatever “character” he was playing.) Despite this, Peter stays and actually meets a new girl, played by Mila Kunis. The two fall for each other, but then Peter screws it up by kinda-sorta hooking up with Sarah again.
You, too, will probably end up hooking up with your ex a couple more times because it’s comfortable and because she’s super hot and you can probably forget that she’s the devil for 7-10 minutes. But when she leaves, you’ll feel empty again, until you meet your own Mila Kunis.
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'A Star is Born' (2018)
Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers the extremely talented Ally (Lady Gaga) singing in a drag bar. She steals his heart almost immediately and the two begin a collision course of a romance that encompasses more passion in a few years than some people experience in their whole lives.
But one of life’s ugly truths is that until you love yourself, you’ll never be able to love anybody else to the fullest. So while Jackson loves Ally a lot, he's missing that love that is so hard to find and even harder to keep: a love for himself.
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'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)
It's a tale as old as time. When Disney released its version of Beauty and the Beast back in 1991, it was a game-changer for the House of Mouse. This movie really captured the hearts and imaginations of theatergoers.
This boy-meets-girl story is magical...though the boy was a beast who was put under an enchanted spell that could only be broken by true love. And the girl happened to be somebody the beast kind of kidnapped and held prisoner.
Like we said, tale as old as time.
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'Titanic' (1997)
Titanic is the most tragic love story since Romeo and Juliet. In fact, Titanic basically is Romeo and Juliet (complete with underage woman), except on a boat. And then that boat sinks. Regardless, Titanic is considered one of the greatest love stories of this generation.
Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) meet on board the R.M.S. Titanic, but their fate was never about the sinking ship they both inhabited. Their fate was each other.
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'The Notebook' (2004)
The Notebook has become a go-to love story reference. Nicholas Sparks wrote a book that was turned into a movie that has been making women (and, to be fair, men) weep for the past 15 years. It tells the story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) who meet, fall in love, break up, get back together, and die, all within the span of 2 hours. It’s the love story to end all love stories, if you’re into those kinds of love stories.
We are. We totally, totally are.
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