Rom-coms have been one of the greatest subgenres in film almost since their inception, but they gained even more success in the '80s and '90s, creating stars out of Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Mathew McConaughey, and Tom Hanks, to name a few. Here are the 10 most underrated romantic comedy performances of all time, ranked.
10 Jack Black - High Fidelity (2000)
High Fidelity is the story of record store owner Rob (John Cusack), and his top-five breakups after her last girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjelje), ends up their relationship. Cusack is the heart and soul of the movie, as he was one of the producers, but the underrated performance goes to non-other than Jack Black as music store clerk, Barry. He spends most of the movie being the loud yang to the quieter yin, Dick (Todd Louiso), getting some of the best jokes, and being a charismatic, sarcastic hurricane in every one of his scenes. His character’s greatest moment might be at the end, when after hearing about how he wants to be in a band for most of the film, he finally sings and shows how good he is.
About casting him, John Cusack told Entertainment Weekly: “I knew that Jack [Black] would be my secret weapon. He had made a movie with Tim Robbins and there was sort of this actors' gang, a crew that Jack was hanging out with, and he was also doing Tenacious D late-night shows and stuff, so I knew the secret that he was a great musician and a great comedian and just hadn’t gotten a role like High Fidelity yet.”
9 Jake Johnson - Drinking Buddies (2013)
Drinking Buddies is the story of two friends, Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) who are friends, but sometimes it looks like it could be something more there, and a couple, Chris (Ron Livingston) and Jill (Anna Kendrick), when they all spend a weekend together.
This film, along with New Girl, proved Jake Johnson could be a romantic leading man, as it was one of his best performances ever. In this movie, he’s funny, and his chemistry with Wilde is what holds the film together, making him able to show his desire for her, while never crossing a line, and the problems that come with that. This was his first collaboration with mumblecore director Joe Swanberg, who loves to improvise, and it worked so well for both that they’ve done three other movies, and a TV series together; a couple of them co-written by Johnson.
8 Heath Ledger - 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
10 Things I Hate About You is a great teenage rom-com that re-tells Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew for modern, teenage audiences. Patrick (Heath Ledger) is paid to date Kat (Julia Stiles), so her younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is also allowed to date and go out. What starts as a money arrangement becomes much more for Patrick and Kat, as they start really liking each other.
This movie shows how charming, charismatic, and fun Ledger could be, even playing someone who starts as a burnout without interests. The actor was able to sell the evolution of his character as the movie goes along, and he falls for Kat, as his whole intimidating, detached persona becomes much more googly-eyed and smiley. Special mention to his song and dance performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” in the bleachers, if that moment doesn’t make you smile, nothing will.
7 Eddie Murphy - Coming to America (1988)
Coming to America is one of the comedic films that made Eddie Murphy a movie star. It even has one of his most essential moments in film, showing the actor knew what he was doing with this story. The film is about Prince Akeem (Murphy) of Zamunda, who is going to America to find true love, with a woman who is much more than a beautiful queen.
Murphy’s comedic talents are always on display but in his Prince Akeem he’s able to add some more insecurities, and heart, looking for real love with someone who doesn’t know his status. That’s why it’s an underrated performance, as the actor shows some more depth and nervousness than his usual manic, a-thousand-jokes-per-minute energy, making the character a bit different from most he plays, and making audiences want him to find true love with Rose (Garcelle Beauvais).
6 Diane Keaton - Annie Hall (1977)
Annie Hall tells the love story between Alvy (Woody Allen) and the aforementioned Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, whose real name is Annie Hall and who was dating Allen at the time). With many fun asides, some great montages, and two leads with different energies that complemented each other perfectly, the film was a success and even won four Oscars.
People said great things about Allen’s work, as he also wrote and directed the movie, but it wouldn’t work without Keaton’s performance. She shows with every interaction, word, and gesture how she’s different from any other woman Alvy has ever dated and makes audiences understand why he’s mesmerized by her. Even when things go wrong, Keaton isn’t afraid to show the worst parts of her Annie Hall, making her a more real, 360 degrees formed character.
5 Will Ferrell - Wedding Crashers (2005)
Wedding Crashers tells the story of John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn), two bachelors who crash weddings to have fun, drink for free and bed women. Everything changes when they crush the Treasury Secretary’s daughter’s wedding and meet Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher). The film might not have aged very well, but it has fun performances by all four, Christopher Walken, and Bradley Cooper as the crazy boyfriend, but the most underrated of all is a cameo by Will Ferrell. The comedic actor bats a thousand in his small role, making audiences laugh-out-loud with his Chazz Reinhold.
About Ferrell’s work on the film, director David Dobkin told Entertainment Weekly: "He was very laid back in the first take and I remember looking at him and I just said, “I think he’s a little crazier.” [Laughs] Which is bad direction, by the way. He was like, 'Oh, I know what you mean,' and he did it again, and I was like, 'Maybe more?' I mean, I really believe that I directed him by just saying “more" until he had that fifth take and that is the whole take that is in the movie. It was one of those things that you shoot, and you’re like, 'Is this really going to work?' It's a pretty weird sequence."
4 Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby - When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
When Harry Met Sally... changed the love movie genre. For some, it’s the best rom-com of all time, and it was a before-and-after kind of movie, as the film shows the love story between Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) over the years and how they start as friends and end up as lovers. The film is really awesome and takes its time with its lead characters, but it wouldn’t work without the stellar performances of both Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby as their best friends. Both characters are able to help Harry and Sally order their thoughts and feelings, make funny asides, and help them realize they’re made for each other.
The work of Fisher and Kirby is so good that, since then, the best friends have been as much a staple of rom-coms as the meet-cute, or the love proclamation in front of a crowd with a slow clap at the end, making actors like Judy Greer get a full career out of these kinds of roles.
3 Jessica Williams - The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
The Incredible Jessica James is all about Jessica Williams, and it wouldn’t work without her. Jessica James is a non-working playwright who has just broken up with her boyfriend, and is a bit lost. Through her own experiences, time, and meeting Boone (Chris O’Dowd), she’s able to leave this bump in the road behind and become a better version of herself.
Jessica Williams is everything you want from a lead in this film; she’s funny, friendly, vulnerable, sexy, sad, awkward, angsty, angry, and charismatic, making every scene of her character believable, while also showing how lost and doubtful about her decisions she really is. The movie flies by, creating a charming story about a woman rediscovering herself, and proving that Williams is much more than a comic and should be an actress full-time (if you like her here, you should watch the second season of Love Life).
2 Cristin Milioti - Palm Springs (2020)
Palm Springs mixes rom-coms and trapped-in-the-same-day movies to make a great film. It all starts with Niles (Andy Samberg) at a wedding, when he seduces the bridesmaid and sister of the bride, Sarah (Cristin Milioti), hijinks ensue and Sarah enters a cave. After that, she repeats the same day over and over again, something that was already happening to Niles, who becomes her guide in this repeating world.
The movie knows how to use that repeating structure to great comedic effect, and Milioti and Samberg have great chemistry together, but the movie wouldn’t work without the actress. Milioti is fun, adventurous, and crass during their adventures, but also has a live crisis about it, showing a much darker and sad side about her. The performance also allows the story to move forward as it’s her character that decides to do something about their predicament of being stuck on time and becomes the real hero of the movie, saving Niles, her gentleman in distress.
1 Philip Seymour Hoffman - Along Came Polly (2004)
Along Came Polly is about the love story between Reuben (Ben Stiller) and Polly (Jennifer Aniston). He is very risk-averse, and she's very free-spirited, so they have an opposites-attract kind of chemistry, and Reuben must decide if it's worth, for once, to risk everything for her.
The most underrated performance in the film is not by either of them, but by non-other than Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy, one of the romantic comedy genre's most memorable best friends. Hoffman does a gonzo performance as Sandy, creating a buffoon that’s a caricature of best friend roles in rom-coms while also being able to give him some heart and perspective about himself. It’s impressive seeing the great actor embrace this ridiculous role and give it his all, making audiences laugh at him and with him at the same time, especially when he’s playing the worst game ever on a basketball court, and giving as bad dating advice to his best friend Reuben.