LISTS… Meeting that Date in Movie Meet Cute Moments

#1970s #1980s #2000s #AllPosts

 

Or alternatively when a soon to be romantic pair meet for the first time in a movie…

 

Get your tissues ready for a heartwarming Valentine’s Day post.

 

Harold and Maude

Pretty in Pink

 

As a romantic, my favourite part of any movie is the first meeting between those romantic leading characters. This is where I believe the couple’s on-screen chemistry is seen and explored for the first time. My favourite of these as a hopeful romantic has already been reviewed. This is in a post on Romancing The Stone (1984). A movie where I enjoyed this tale proving love can be found unexpectedly, as it more than often is in both film and TV.

These scenes are often the most unique part of the film storyline. Compared with that more contrived boy woos girl, boy falls out with girl and boy makes up with girl storylines. This plot device is often explained as a “meet cute” moment when the potential romantic leads meet in person for the first time. And you’ll note many of these first encounters happening in many of my much loved (and previously reviewed) movies.

 

Pretty in Pink (1986)…

Pretty in Pink 1996… Andie and Blane IMing!, Michael Pecoriello

Pretty in Pink is probably one of my favourite John Hughes, Brat Pack boy meets girl movies. Realweegiemidget regulars will note this film figuring in more than a few lists and other posts. The film tells of poor Andie (Molly Ringwald) who falls for rich guy Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Much to their friends’ concern…

 

Their first meeting all kinds of romantic with him striking up a random conversation with her on ye olde 1980s computer chat. This leads to her meeting him in person and then luckily there’s an obvious mutual attraction… Andie was relieved this wasn’t a pass made by the douchebag of the movie, Steff (James Spader). But by the shy, sensitive and sweet Blane.

 

This is made more romantic with no spoken dialogue between the pair, but using only their facial expressions which spoke volumes. As McCarthy’s co-star Emilio Estevez put it in St Elmo’s Fire (1985), this is one of the “several quintessential moments in a man’s life” and that of “having the right girl smile at you”.

 

Love Actually (2003)…

Love Actually – Prime Minister Meets Natalie, CSIFreak52

Had to have a Richard Curtis rom-com here… Although admittedly I’m not the biggest fan of this writer as a rom-com author. But here in this anthology of love stories with a predominantly British cast, all the potential pairings with their own unique Meet Cutes moments with their stories told in a countdown of days leading up to Christmas. And an inevitable feel-good ending.

This is my favourite, with Tiffany from EastEnders, aka Martine McCutcheon and Hugh Grant. Natalie (McCutcheon) nervously meets her employer, Prime Minister, Hugh Grant. The pair meet during his first day at 10, Downing Street. I love her in this scene where her naturalness wins her attention and this immediately creates a rapport.

But sadly despite their attraction, it takes him practically the whole movie to actually end up with her. As a stereotypical Hugh Grant character, he’s got a lot of awkward flirting and fumbling and bumbling to do. Before love finds a way and takes centre stage… just in time for Christmas.

 

Somewhere in Time (1980)…

Somewhere in Time – Richard Collier Finds Elise Mackenna [HD], Antonhy Cézar Curtis

Although not a rom-com, this is my favourite film soppy moment of all time where boy meets girl. This film is a romantic tale of a man, Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) who falls for an actress Elise McKenna’s (Jane Seymour) portrait and goes back in time to woo her.

It’s a film that I adore (with this also appearing in more than a few reviews) and I love this wonderfully created romantic scene. As we follow Collier’s journey’s climax, he spots Elise for the first time. We see her through the reflection in the glass, as this continuous shot continues we see him walk towards her.

This breathtaking moment combined with the wonderful haunting romantic score leads us to their first meeting. With Elise saying… “Is it you? Is it?”. And this echoes what everyone thinks at some time about someone when they meet the one they hope is the one.

 

Harold and Maude (1971)…

Harold and Maude (1/8) Movie CLIP – Harold Meets Maude (1971) HD, Movieclips

Harold and Maude (1971) is about Harold (Bud Cort), a young man obsessed with death who learns to enjoy his life more after meeting Maude (Ruth Gordon), a fun-loving woman in her late 70s. Although their’s is not a conventional romance this film is full of warm, heartwarming scenes between them.

This initial meeting is a refreshing if not an alternative one. This to those film characters who meet at a wedding or through a mutual hobby. Examples of these include when Jack Nicholson meets the girl of his dreams at a wedding seen in both Heartburn (1986) and Prizzi’s Honor (1985).

This romance between Harold and Maude starts at a funeral with both of them not knowing the deceased. As the pair both “enjoy” this bizarre pastime. And showing both characters at the beginning of a storyline with a wonderful soundtrack from Cat Stevens…

 

Scrooged (1988)…

Scrooged – Chinese Food, Paramount Movies,

Ending this post with a fun 1980s Christmassy rom-com with some fabulous cameos. The film and updated version of the Charles Dickens novel Scrooge. Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a heartless, cynical TV executive takes the Christmas special off the air. After meeting with three ghosts showing him his life in the past, present and future he changes his ways. Cross goes back to a Christmas past and his first meeting with the love of his life Claire Philips (Karen Allen).

This is when she knocks him out literally as they meet. leading to a future nickname for Cross of Lumpy.  During the first meeting, there is obvious chemistry, and sadly this pair is not together in the present. It’s one of those romances, with lovely chemistry that you hope will be rekindled by the credits…

So these moments are just the tip of the iceberg of those burgeoning romances seen in those boy meets girl films on celluloid. Made all the more heartwarming with some wonderfully chosen musical soundtracks.

These include films with fabulous flashbacks to those first meetings. But with closing notes with meetings as diverse as Daisy and Jay in The Great Gatsby (2013) and Oliver and Barbara in War of the Roses (1989). It’s clear if the chemistry is right and a couple sings the same tune, love finds a way… even if they don’t hit a high note for all time…

 

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1st Annual Valentines Day “Meet Cute” Blogathon 2019, No 8

This post added to Phyllis Loves Classic Movies 1st Annual Valentines Day “Meet Cute” Blogathon. Other films with this cast including Pretty in Pink reviewed HERE and HERE. Somewhere in Time is also reviewed in different ways HERE and HERE. Christopher Reeve was also featured in Deathtrap and Superman HERE and HERE. Martine McCutcheon also features in this post in her EastEnders role. Hugh Grant also appears in Music and Lyrics, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Harold and Maude also feature HERE in a Soundtrack. Bill Murray also stars in Tootsie,  The Grand Budapest Hotel and Lost in Translation. Harold and Maude feature as a Main Feature review HERE.

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