It’s an A+ idea to watch a B-list ’90s romantic comedy this weekend

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, we talked about our “pop culture pumpkin spice lattes” – things we might call “basic” but love anyway. To the surprise of no one, I shared my love of what I called “B+ to C+ romantic comedies of the ’90s.” Not the universally beloved classics like Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve Got Mail, or even the most fondly recalled B-listers, like The Cutting Edge. All delightful films to watch, but not exactly what I mean.

No, what I’m talking about is the remnants of an age in which it seemed like every movie actor took a swing at romantic comedy. Different combinations of people, different high concepts, different levels of success.

And I owned many (many, many) of them on VHS. Some of them are hard to even find on streaming anymore. But if you want a taste of what I’m talking about – so you, too, can revisit them or enjoy them for the first time – here goes.

One Fine Day

George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer made an enchanting little piece in which they both played single parents trying to get through a very busy day in New York. It’s a very charming movie – Clooney is at the height of his leading-man mojo. (Available to stream.)

I.Q.

In I.Q. Meg Ryan plays the bookish niece of Albert Einstein, played by Walter Matthau. She meets and falls in love with an auto mechanic played by Tim Robbins, even though she’s already got a dull boyfriend – played by Stephen Fry! Somehow, there’s also a subplot about the Russians and nuclear fusion, but obviously, love wins in the end. Seeing Meg Ryan, whose thing is rom-coms, try to light up Tim Robbins, who isn’t exactly known for rom-coms, is fascinating.

Picture Perfect

The team was shocked when I told/reminded them that Jennifer Aniston made a romcom with Jay Mohr the year after he played the sleaziest person in Jerry Maguire, a distinction that’s really saying something. This one falls into the fake-relationship category familiar to so many romance fans. Aniston plays a woman whose boss prefers to promote married people, so she invents a fiancé using a fortuitously taken photo of her and Mohr, who she doesn’t actually know. When the boss wants to meet him, she has to actually produce him, and things progress from there. The best part of this one is Kevin Bacon as the womanizing colleague she’s hung up on who is no good for her. (Available to stream.)

Speechless

Geena Davis and Michael Keaton play opposing speechwriters – and yes, because it came out in 1994, this did remind people of Mary Matalin and James Carville. (This is harder to find to stream.)

Only You

Perhaps one of my favorites of this category, almost good enough to be disqualified, this film brings together Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. in the story of a woman who goes to Italy to chase what she thinks might be her destiny. The plot is really silly, but Tomei and Downey had great chemistry long before they played Tony Stark and Aunt May, and Bonnie Hunt is on hand as Tomei’s best friend. Worth watching just for a scene between Hunt and Downey, and for his impression of Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. (Available to stream.)

So, as the weekends get chillier, grab a cup of cocoa, and look up some highlights of this magical time. You never know who you might bump into.

This piece also appeared in NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what’s making us happy.

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