11 Iconic Movie Couples We're Still In Love With (& 10 Who Were ALL Wrong)
For those who get emotionally invested in the relationships of movie couples, that's completely normal. Over the years, there have been endless couples on the big screen whose love has brought fans to their knees and very possibly ruined their expectations of love in real life.
They've given believers the hope of finding love in the rural countryside in Ireland, meeting their soulmate in a place they don't expect to, and being in a relationship strong enough to defy all the odds. These couples teach fans lessons about love, even though they're at times a little unrealistic. Most importantly, they provide an escape from the harsh realities of dating in 2018.
Of course, it's not possible to have the good without the bad. Just as there are those couples fans are still cheering for after all these years, there are also those couples who seem like they were a mistake to begin with. They're the couples without chemistry, the couples who aren't actually that nice to each other, and frankly, the couples who could do a lot better.
Check out this list of 11 iconic on-screen couples that fans just can't get over, plus 10 couples who shouldn't have been together in the first place.
21 Still Love: Patrick And Kat From 10 Things
Things didn't start out too perfectly for Kat and Patrick, but this couple taught us that you just can't choose whom you love. Our favorite thing about this couple is that Kat wanted to dislike him so badly, but she just couldn't.
And she had so much of an effect on him that he actually changed from being an isolated bad boy to an isolated bad boy with an open heart.
'These two were fiery and honest with each other, and most importantly, accepted each other for who they are. Their romance started off as a charade but became true and genuine.
20 All Wrong: Edward And Bella From Twilight
We know: Twilight fans will call this blasphemy. But the relationship between Bella and Edward was just filled with too many problems. These two were obsessed with each other in an unhealthy way, and to be perfectly honest, they brought out the worst, not the best, in each other. They always maintained that they wanted the best for each other, but really, their relationship seemed to be built more on infatuation than true affection and caring. If we forget all of that, though, we still love to watch them together on the screen as much as the next person!
19 Still Love: Jack And Rose From Titanic
Call them cheesy, but Jack and Rose are the mother of all iconic couples. She was a rich girl in a loveless engagement. He was a starving artist who carried his life in his satchel. And in the midst of disaster, they found each other. They might have known each other for only three days before Jack decided to give up his life in order to save Rose, but isn't that just the meaning of true love? We do secretly harbor an itsy bitsy grudge against Rose for not sharing the floating door with Jack, but what can you do?
18 All Wrong: Miles And Iris From The Holiday
The Holiday has to be one of our favorite romantic comedies, and that's probably because of the characters of Graham and Amanda who hit it off in the U.K.
We love Kate Winslet, who played Iris, in this movie. And we love Jack Black, who played Miles. But together? Miles and Iris get a no from us!
These two characters had a lot to offer as individuals, but they had nothing in common, and very little chemistry when they tried to make it work as a couple. Plus, it kind of seemed like they were both on the rebound when they fell in love.
17 Still Love: Jake And Melanie From Sweet Home Alabama
Jake and Melanie had their share of problems, but we still love them together. It wasn't okay that they never encouraged the best in each other during those early days in Alabama, and there was the fact that he slept during their wedding reception. But as they matured and found themselves, Jake and Melanie realized that despite all the drama, they did actually belong together. The icing on the cake for this couple is the fact that he never really let her go, even after he pretended to, and he was the first boy she ever kissed. Feels everywhere.
16 All Wrong: Nate And Andy From The Devil Wears Prada
We know that Andy spent a lot of The Devil Wears Prada apologizing to Nate and trying to earn his forgiveness, but shouldn't it be the other way around? Let's look at the facts: Andy finally gets a job that's important to her, and it happens to require lots of commitment. That's pretty standard, right? Nate makes her feel super guilty about it and has no consideration for her professional dreams. They don't have a lot in common and he never supports her. All he does is sulk and make delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. She deserves a lot better.
15 Still Love: Mark And Bridget From Bridget Jones's Diary
These two were deliciously awkward together! For Bridget and Mark, it definitely wasn't a case of love at first sight.
But what we love about these two is that neither one of them was perfect, and they accepted each other and loved each other anyway.
Bridget spent the whole movie trying to make herself better to win the approval of people like Daniel when someone like Mark loved all the little flaws that made her who she is. That's worth fighting for. And the way he's willing to fight for her, literally, bumps him up even higher in our book!
14 All Wrong: Ben And Alison (& Their Accident)
Although two people who have no chemistry and nothing in common having a baby together makes for an entertaining movie premise, it does not make for a good couple.
After having a baby, Ben and Alison were always going to be connected, but they just didn't suit each other as a couple.
They were too different in all the wrong ways, had very little respect and genuine understanding for each other, and didn't really make each other happy. Instead, they just kind of put up with each other for the good of the baby, which probably wouldn't have turned into a happy ending for anyone.
13 Still Love: Ian And Toula (& Their Big Fat Wedding)
According to Toula's family, these two were doomed to part ways. They're not from the same culture, and that's basically all that matters. But all we see when we look at them is true love! Spirited and intelligent, Toula needed an intellectual like Ian to come along and sweep her off her feet. Okay, he didn't eat meat and her family planned their lives around roasting lambs on spits. But they loved each other and brought out the best in each other. Ian couldn't possibly have put up with her family and their demands if she wasn't the love of his life.
12 All Wrong: Alex And Gigi From He's Just Not That Into You
This couple had the potential to be a realistic portrayal of a platonic male-female friendship and instead ended up being a total cliché. Alex took the time to teach Gigi that men would only chase her if they really wanted her, and provided a shoulder for her to cry on while she mourned all her unsuccessful dates. Then she fell for him and he had the nerve to get upset! And after all that, they still ended up together because love conquers all the odds. It's upsetting that after all that pain, Gigi really didn't learn a thing, and Alex had no idea what he was talking about.
11 Still Love: Gerry And Holly From P.S. I Love You
It's hard not to get teary even looking at pictures of these two! Gerry and Holly didn't live in a fairy tale where everything works out the way you want it to. But they did have a fairytale romance.
It doesn't get much more romantic than meeting the love of your life among the rolling green hills of the Emerald Isle.
In many ways, they seemed too different to suit each other-Gerry liked to go with the flow while Holly was a control freak. Nobody can say that they didn't love each other passionately, though. They're couple goals for sure!
10 All Wrong: Will And Anna From Notting Hill
A wealthy actress and a humble bookstore owner hitting it off sounds like the perfect love story, but in our opinion, Anna did not handle things well.
In the end, Will deserved better, plain and simple.
At the time Anna first chats him up, she's actually dating someone else, which she doesn't mention. Then she blows up at him when the press hear about their relationship (even though it's not his fault). After that, she ignores him and bags him to a co-star, and then in a surprising twist of events, he ends up apologizing to her. Huh?
9 Still Love: Noah And Allie From The Notebook
You can't have a list about iconic movie couples and not having these two in there. It doesn't get much more romantic than genuinely not being able to survive without each other, and though these two overcame a long journey with several obstacles together, that's what did them in. They proved that conniving parents, the harsh realities of the interaction between the rich and the poor, and time and distance aren't enough to stop true love from thriving. The fact that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams dated in real life makes us even more excited about their characters.
8 All Wrong: Harry And Ginny From Harry Potter
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley in the books? Great. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley on the screen? Not so great. In the movies, it just seemed like Harry and Ginny's relationship was totally rushed, forced, and kind of awkward for everyone in the room. It wasn't clear what was really driving them together, they didn't have a whole lot of chemistry, and they just basically got together out of nowhere. Ron and Hermione, on the other hand, had tension building from the first time they met, which is why their first kiss in the Chamber of Secrets was so epic.
7 Still Love: Edward And Kim From Edward Scissorhands
Not all couples can have a happy ending, but that doesn't mean they love each other any less. It just wasn't meant to be for Edward and Kim-he was a loner from the castle at the edge of the neighborhood with scissors for hands, and she was the popular girl with the not-so-nice boyfriend.
But even though the neighbors made things really difficult for both of them, they took comfort in each other's presence and realized they had feelings for each other.
Even after she moved on and had a family of her own, Kim never forgot Edward and his ice shavings.
6 All Wrong: Mr. Big And Carrie From SATC
SATC fans might not agree with this (unless they're Team Aidan), but we can think of many couples who belong together before Carrie and Big do! Throughout the series, he was emotionally unavailable, even though he liked to mess with her emotions from time to time.
She was supposed to learn to not be so obsessed with someone so unavailable, but in effect, all she did was wait for him to come and chase her in Paris.
In the movie, he put her through even more by jilting her on their wedding day. Even Candace Bushnell thought they shouldn't have ended up together.
5 Still Love: Danny And Sandy From Grease
Danny and Sandy might not be the perfect couple, but they are iconic, and we do still love them to bits. They weren't great models for teenagers, in the 1970s or now, since their message was basically change everything about yourself to get your crush to like you. But their feelings for each other were so strong, after only one summer together, that you can't help but acknowledge the true love between them. Plus, they seemed to be able to dance and sing together perfectly in the spur of the moment, which obviously means they were meant to be.
4 All Wrong: Jamie And Aurelia From Love Actually
Love Actually is one of our favorite romance movies of all time. But not all its couples were created equal. The main problem with Jamie and Aurelia is that it seems like a rebound, on his part anyway. Jamie had just learned that his girlfriend was seeing his brother, so you could argue that he wouldn't have been emotionally ready for his next relationship when he started things up with Aurelia. What's more, these two didn't even speak the same language. He only knew enough Portuguese to propose! Could their love really be strong enough to warrant an engagement?
3 Still Love: Edward And Vivian From Pretty Woman
The way that these two came together wasn't exactly ideal, but their relationship still ended up being based on real feelings.
Edward could afford to have pretty much anyone, and Vivian obviously came into contact with many guys during her time working in Hollywood.
But the stars aligned during their time together. We love that Vivian taught Edward how to be happy again, and showed him that life extends beyond the boardroom. And even though Edward technically bought Vivian, we love that he cared enough about her to not judge her for her past and get her off the streets.
2 All Wrong: Ted And Mary From There's Something About Mary
This movie is all about a group of men who have an unhealthy obsession with Mary. You could argue that Ben Stiller's Ted was just as unhealthily obsessed as the rest of them-he hired a private investigator to track her down, still thought about her after thirteen years, and lied to her endlessly. Yet she somehow decided that he was a better match than her other lying and manipulative suitors.
Together, they put her through a lot, and in real life, Mary probably would have been sworn off men for a while.
If she was going to choose anybody, it should have been Brett!
1 Still Love: Akeem And Lisa From Coming To America
Being a prince is probably harder than most people think. Every time you fall in love, you have to wonder if they're only dating you because you're a royal.
But Akeem didn't have that problem with Lisa, because she fell in love with him thinking he was a poor goat herder.
We love that Lisa definitely wasn't using Akeem for his status and title, and we love that Akeem defied his father and went all the way to America to choose a woman who is intelligent and thinks for herself. This was a match made in '80s heaven!