So, last week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I got to thinking about some of my favorite love stories/movies. So typical, some, well….not what you might think of as a love story. Regardless of what genre you might categorize them as – they are all, in my opinion, top notch options for an at home date night with your sweetie!

Say Anything

Who can forget a young and cute John Cusack serenading Ione Skye via boom box?

This story of first love is sweet, heartbreaking and funny. Also, I like that Cusack’s character Lloyd is best friends with some girls. No sexual tension between them, just a guy hanging out with friends who happen to be female. His love interest, Diane, is not threatened by his friendship with women. Cool.  

True Romance

Two hard scrabble kids from Detroit find each other through some messed up circumstances. Alabama is a prostitute hired to make Clarence feel better on his birthday. They hook up, instantly fall in love and get married.

Clarence goes to get Alabama’s things from her pimp, winds up killing him and making off with a suitcase full of cocaine. That’s where things get really crazy. It’s a Quentin Tarantino film, so violence is prevalent.  

Christian Slater as Clarence is so good spitting dialogue about love, movies and Elvis. Patricia Arquette as Alabama is cute, sweet and tough. The performances makes you believe they really, really love each other despite barely knowing each other. Bonus: a great musical score, an awesome fight scene with Alabama, and Brad Pitt as a constantly stoned-off-his-ass roommate. 

Grease

An innocent girl falls for a bad boy with a heart of gold. Along with great music and fun costumes, I can’t get enough of this movie. While you may say it sends a negative message that you have to change yourself to be with the one you want, I say Danny and Sandy expand their horizons by trying things the other person enjoys – he runs track and becomes more involved in school, she allows herself to be sexy and a little more open. They grow and mature together, which is a positive thing. 

Stand by Me

This is a film not about romantic love, but about the love between best friends. 

Four boys go on a journey in the woods to find a missing kid. Along the way they face a mean junkyard dog, leeches, a near miss with a train and a disgusting story about blueberry pie. Like boys do, they make fun of each other, tell gross jokes and fight. They also stand up for each other. River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton give extremely emotional performances, with a vulnerability rarely portrayed by boys or men on screen.  

Watch it with your bestie and have the tissues ready. 

Coal Miner’s Daughter

Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones tell the story of Loretta Lynn in this bio pic. They get married too young and start making babies. Like any marriage, they have ups and downs. He’s a hot head, she’s naive. He encourages her to sing and perform, which leads to superstardom along with the pitfalls of fame – drug use, infidelity, jealousy. But they stick with each other through heartache and happiness. Get ready to sing along, laugh and enjoy some fantastic acting. 

I hope you love these movies as much as I do.

What’s your number one love story? Tell us in the comments!