We all know the classics, from “Casablanca” to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but there’s no law that says you have to go vintage when choosing a movie for Valentine’s Day.
Romance is a perennial in movie theaters, after all, so there’s a love story to choose from almost every week. (Just don’t make the mistake, this week, of choosing “The Boy Next Door.”) Which means there are lots and lots of relatively recent films out there perfectly capable of putting your heart through its paces.
Here are five refreshingly unfamiliar options from the past five years to consider, if the old standbys won’t cut it this Feb. 14. Not that the course of true love appears to be heading in any radically new direction.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” — Steve Carell is at his best as a dedicated family man trying, ineptly, to recover his manhood after his beloved wife (Julianne Moore) cheats on him and asks for a divorce. In addition to being a smart, funny, far-above-average romantic comedy, it scores impressive dramatic points about how crazy, stupid, complicated and painful the big L can be.
“Enough Said” — It’s a shade lighter in terms of emotional heft compared to writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s terrific previous efforts, but “Enough Said” is still a substantial, thoughtful and casually witty comedy-romance. And it comes with the bonus of a particularly warm and engaging performance from James Gandolfini as a bruised survivor of divorce gambling on a new woman (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) — while the specter of his ex looms in the background.
“The Lunchbox” — A million-to-one error in Mumbai’s impossibly accurate hot-lunch delivery service results in a love connection in this very modern, yet very old-fashioned romance from India. Irfan Khan (“The Life of Pi”) plays a soon-to-retire widower who mistakenly receives special lunches meant for the husband of a neglected housewife — leading to a correspondence that gradually turns into something akin to courtship. Though one last big step still needs to be taken.
“Warm Bodies” — The most romantic zombie movie you’re ever likely to see. There’s a moderate amount of gore to placate zombie purists, but the emphasis is on smart, subtle comedy and awkward young love as undead teenager R (Nicholas Hoult) falls for alive-and-kicking Julie (Teresa Palmer). After eating the brain of her boyfriend. Hence the awkwardness. Which only becomes more pronounced as his awakened heart slowly restores his humanity in general.
“Upside Down” — Romeo and Juliet had it easy compared to the star-crossed, gravitationally challenged lovers in this wildly implausible but visually dazzling sci-fi fantasy romance. Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess fall in love after climbing mountains on their opposing twinned planets, which somehow exist face to face and separated by a few hundred yards. Unfortunately, contact between residents of their worlds is punishable by death. Nothing that happens makes much sense, but if you have enough of an amorous inclination, who needs logic?
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Bruce Ingram is a freelance reporter.