Ranked: The 50 Best Romantic Movies to Watch on Date Night

Date night movies need to meet specific criteria. They have to be entertaining enough to please two people that potentially have very different tastes.

They should be heartwarming, at least enough to stoke the romantic flames of a couple that have to navigate their relationship though the boring, hard realities of daily life.

Finally, a date night movie shouldn't bum you out too badly— Schindler's List might be a great movie, but 'depressed about the state of humanity' is not the desired date vibe.

Ahead of Valentine's Day, Newsweek has looked at critical review aggregation websites Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and IMDb to find which date-night-friendly movies got the best scores from critics and viewers alike.

50. Pretty Woman (1990). Total score: 62.25%. IMDb users: 7. Metacritic: 51. Rotten Tomatoes: 5.8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.5.

Directed by: Garry Marshall. Starring: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander.

Plot summary: A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

49. Love Actually (2003). Total score: 64%. IMDb users: 7.6. Metacritic: 55. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.1.

Directed by: Richard Curtis. Starring: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson.

Plot summary: Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

48. Me Before You (2016). Total score: 64.25%. IMDb users: 7.4. Metacritic: 51. Rotten Tomatoes: 5.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.8.

Directed by: Thea Sharrock. Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer.

Plot summary: A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of.

47. Ghost (1990). Total score: 65%. IMDb users: 7. Metacritic: 52. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.5.

Directed by: Jerry Zucker. Starring: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg.

Plot summary: After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

46. The Notebook (2004). Total score: 65.25%. IMDb users: 7.9. Metacritic: 53. Rotten Tomatoes: 5.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.6.

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes. Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gene Rowlands.

Plot summary: A poor yet passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman, giving her a sense of freedom, but they are soon separated because of their social differences.

45. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). Total score: 66.25%. IMDb users: 6.8. Metacritic: 60. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.7.

Directed by: Ol Parker. Starring: Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Andy Garcia, Celia Imrie, Cher.

Plot summary: Five years after the events of Mamma Mia! (2008), Sophie prepares for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna as she learns more about her mother's past.

=43. Dirty Dancing (1987). Total score: 67%. IMDb users: 6.9. Metacritic: 65. Rotten Tomatoes: 6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.7.

Directed by: Emile Ardolino. Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach.

Plot summary: Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.

=43. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). Total score: 67%. IMDb users: 6.7. Metacritic: 66. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.9. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.3.

Directed by: Sharon Maguire. Starring: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant.

Plot summary: A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.

=41. Like Crazy (2011). Total score: 67.25%. IMDb users: 6.7. Metacritic: 68. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.4.

Directed by: Drake Doremus. Starring: Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence.

Plot summary: A British college student falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa.

=41. Chocolat (2000). Total score: 67.25%. IMDb users: 7.3. Metacritic: 64. Rotten Tomatoes: 6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.6.

Directed by: Lasse Hallström. Starring: Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina.

Plot summary: A woman and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a small French village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.

40. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Total score: 67.75%. IMDb users: 7.3. Metacritic: 70. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.3.

Directed by: Gil Junger. Starring: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik.

Plot summary: A pretty, popular teenager can't go out on a date until her ill-tempered older sister does.

39. Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Total score: 68%. IMDb users: 6.8. Metacritic: 72. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.3.

Directed by: Nora Ephron. Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger.

Plot summary: A recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.

38. Notting Hill (1999). Total score: 68.5%. IMDb users: 7.1. Metacritic: 66. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.1. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.3.

Directed by: Roger Michell. Starring: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Rhys Ifans.

Plot summary: The life of a simple bookshop owner changes when he meets the most famous film star in the world.

37. About Time (2013). Total score: 69.25%. IMDb users: 7.8. Metacritic: 55. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.4. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Richard Curtis. Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy.

Plot summary: At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

36. Grease (1978). Total score: 70.75%. IMDb users: 7.2. Metacritic: 70. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.7.

Directed by: Randal Kleiser. Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing.

Plot summary: Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

35. Beauty and the Beast (2017). Total score: 71%. IMDb users: 7.2. Metacritic: 65. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Bill Condon. Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans.

Plot summary: A selfish prince is cursed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he learns to fall in love with a beautiful young woman he keeps prisoner.

34. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Total score: 73%. IMDb users: 7.1. Metacritic: 81. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.2.

Directed by: Mike Newell. Starring: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rowan Atkinson, Anna Chancellor.

Plot summary: Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.

=31. Submarine (2010). Total score: 74.75%. IMDb users: 7.3. Metacritic: 76. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.4. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.8.

Directed by: Richard Ayoade. Starring: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine, Yasmin Paige.

Plot summary: 15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.

=31. Titanic (1997). Total score: 74.75%. IMDb users: 7.8. Metacritic: 75. Rotten Tomatoes: 8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.3.

Directed by: James Cameron. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane.

Plot summary: A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

=31. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Total score: 74.75%. IMDb users: 7.5. Metacritic: 69. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Edgar Wright. Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin.

Plot summary: Scott Pilgrim must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes in order to win her heart.

=27. Crazy Rich Asians (2018). Total score: 75%. IMDb users: 7. Metacritic: 74. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Jon M. Chu. Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan.

Plot summary: This contemporary romantic comedy, based on a global bestseller, follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family.

=27. Groundhog Day (1993). Total score: 75%. IMDb users: 8. Metacritic: 72. Rotten Tomatoes: 8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.4.

Directed by: Harold Ramis. Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott.

Plot summary: A weatherman finds himself inexplicably living the same day over and over again.

=27. Lady and the Tramp (1955). Total score: 75%. IMDb users: 7.3. Metacritic: 78. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.9. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.5.

Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson. Starring: Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee, Hamilton Luske.

Plot summary: The romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker spaniel and a streetwise downtown mutt.

=27. Moonstruck (1987). Total score: 75%. IMDb users: 7.1. Metacritic: 83. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.4.

Directed by: Norman Jewison. Starring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis .

Plot summary: Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.

26. When Harry Met Sally... (1989). Total score: 75.5%. IMDb users: 7.6. Metacritic: 76. Rotten Tomatoes: 8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.5.

Directed by: Rob Reiner. Starring: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher.

Plot summary: Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

25. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Total score: 76.25%. IMDb users: 7.7. Metacritic: 76. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.4. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.9.

Directed by: Blake Edwards. Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal.

Plot summary: A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.

24. Tangled (2010). Total score: 76.5%. IMDb users: 7.8. Metacritic: 71. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard. Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy.

Plot summary: The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.

=22. Love, Simon (2018). Total score: 77.75%. IMDb users: 7.7. Metacritic: 72. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.4. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.4.

Directed by: Greg Berlanti. Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Logan Miller.

Plot summary: Simon Spier keeps a huge secret from his family, his friends and all of his classmates: he's gay. When that secret is threatened, Simon must face everyone and come to terms with his identity.

=22. Say Anything... (1989). Total score: 77.75%. IMDb users: 7.4. Metacritic: 85. Rotten Tomatoes: 8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.6.

Directed by: Cameron Crowe. Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney.

Plot summary: A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.

21. Pride & Prejudice (2005). Total score: 78.75%. IMDb users: 7.8. Metacritic: 82. Rotten Tomatoes: 7.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.9.

Directed by: Joe Wright. Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn.

Plot summary: Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?

=19. Sense and Sensibility (1995). Total score: 79.25%. IMDb users: 7.7. Metacritic: 84. Rotten Tomatoes: 8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.8.

Directed by: Ang Lee. Starring: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Hugh Grant.

Plot summary: Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the titular opposites.

=19. Amélie (2001). Total score: 79.25%. IMDb users: 8.3. Metacritic: 69. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.1. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.2.

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus.

Plot summary: Amélie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.

18. Before Sunrise (1995). Total score: 80.75%. IMDb users: 8.1. Metacritic: 77. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Richard Linklater. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert.

Plot summary: A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

17. The Princess Bride (1987). Total score: 80.25%. IMDb users: 8.1. Metacritic: 77. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Rob Reiner. Starring: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Fred Savage, Peter Falk.

Plot summary: While home sick in bed, a young boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.

=15. Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Total score: 80.5%. IMDb users: 7.7. Metacritic: 81. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: David O. Russell. Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker.

Plot summary: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

=15. A Star Is Born (1954). Total score: 80.5%. IMDb users: 7.7. Metacritic: 89. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.7.

Directed by: George Cukor. Starring: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson.

Plot summary: A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.

14. The Big Sick (2017). Total score: 81.75%. IMDb users: 7.6. Metacritic: 86. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Michael Showalter. Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter.

Plot summary: Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.

=11. A Star Is Born (2018). Total score: 82.5%. IMDb users: 7.9. Metacritic: 88. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.1. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Bradley Cooper. Starring: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott.

Plot summary: A musician helps a young singer find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

=11. Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013). Total score: 82.5%. IMDb users: 7.8. Metacritic: 88. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche. Starring: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche.

Plot summary: Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

=11. Brooklyn (2015). Total score: 82.25%. IMDb users: 7.5. Metacritic: 88. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.4. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: John Crowley. Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson.

Plot summary: An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.

10. Brief Encounter (1945). Total score: 83.5%. IMDb users: 8.1. Metacritic: 84. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.5. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.2.

Directed by: David Lean. Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway.

Plot summary: Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.

9. Before Sunset (2004). Total score: 84%. IMDb users: 8.1. Metacritic: 90. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.3. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Richard Linklater. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff.

Plot summary: Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

8. Your Name. (2016). Total score: 84.25%. IMDb users: 8.4. Metacritic: 79. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.6.

Directed by: Makoto Shinkai. Starring: Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryô Narita.

Plot summary: Two strangers find themselves linked in a bizarre way. When a connection forms, will distance be the only thing to keep them apart?

7. La La Land (2016). Total score: 85.25%. IMDb users: 8. Metacritic: 93. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.6. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Damien Chazelle. Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt.

Plot summary: While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.

6. It Happened One Night (1934). Total score: 85.5%. IMDb users: 8.1. Metacritic: 87. Rotten Tomatoes: 9. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.2.

Directed by: Frank Capra. Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly.

Plot summary: A spoiled heiress running away from her family is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story.

5. Gone with the Wind (1939). Total score: 86%. IMDb users: 8.2. Metacritic: 97. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 3.9.

Directed by: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood. Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell.

Plot summary: A manipulative woman and a roguish man conduct a turbulent romance during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods.

4. Call Me by Your Name (2017). Total score: 86.25%. IMDb users: 7.9. Metacritic: 93. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.7. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.3.

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino. Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg.

Plot summary: In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.

3. The Philadelphia Story (1940). Total score: 87%. IMDb users: 8. Metacritic: 96. Rotten Tomatoes: 8.8. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.2.

Directed by: George Cukor. Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart.

Plot summary: When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

2. Singin' in the Rain (1952). Total score: 88.5%. IMDb users: 8.3. Metacritic: 99. Rotten Tomatoes: 9.2. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.

Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly. Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor.

Plot summary: A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

1. Casablanca (1942). Total score: 90.5%. IMDb users: 8.5. Metacritic: 100. Rotten Tomatoes: 9.5. Rotten Tomatoes users: 4.1.

Directed by: Michael Curtiz. Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre.

Plot summary: A cynical nightclub owner protects an old flame and her husband from Nazis in Morocco.