10 Rom Coms Where The Girl Falls First | Screen Rant
While there is a myriad of reasons why fans flock to romantic comedies year after year, one of the biggest draws is how fun it is to watch two characters fall in love with each other. Whether it's love at first sight, endless pinning, or even enemies to lovers, few things are better than rooting for two characters to date.
The tropes might be fun and the hijinks wacky, but romantic comedies truly soar when one character falls for their significant other sooner than the other. While it's fun to watch guys turn into lovesick puppy dogs, it's also extremely entertaining to watch girls fall for guys who are oblivious. There are a ton of rom coms where the girl falls first but here's just a small sampling of some of the best ones to add to the binge list.
Another Cinderella Story is the second installment of the modern Cinderella adaptations and one of the best. It centers on Mary (Selena Gomez), a talented dancer who is adopted by a has-been popstar when her mother dies catches the attention of Joey Parker (Drew Seeley), a teen heartthrob who has returned to high school to get his diploma.
While Joey does end up reciprocating Mary's feelings, there's no denying that she's the one who fell first. After all, there's an embarrassing home video of a pre-teen Mary declaring her love for Joey that makes an appearance at the worst possible time.
Jerry Maguire might be one of Tom Cruise's best movies which is fitting since it's also one of the best romantic comedies produced in the 90s. It centers on Jerry (Cruise), a sports agent who leaves a successful company to start his own management firm with the help of Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), the only employee who walks out of the office with him.
While it's unclear if the reason why Dorothy followed Jerry out of the off is that she fancied him, it becomes clear that she does have feelings for him. Dorothy ends up falling for Jerry first, partly because of how great he is with her son, but unlike most rom-com leads, she doesn't let her love blind her from her own passions. That's why Jerry is the one to deliver the epic romantic speech at the end of the movie.
Based on the hit Christmas song by Wham, Last Christmas follows Kate (Emilia Clarke), a jaded holiday store employee whose life starts to turn around after she meets Tom (Henry Golding) one night.
While it might seem like Tom is the one falling for Kate first, it becomes clear after the twist is revealed that Kate is the one who has fallen in love. Over the course of the movie, Kate falls for Tom's kindhearted nature and attentiveness which ultimately helps her become a better person.
Never Been Kissed might not have aged well, but it's still a classic Drew Barrymore rom-com. It centers on Josie (Barrymore) a junior copywriter who gets her first assignment when she is forced to go undercover in a high school. While there she meets Sam (Michael Vartan), the kind and handsome English teacher.
Since Sam is Josie's teacher and doesn't know she's actually an adult, it makes sense that Josie is the one to fall for him first. Though she doesn't act on it until her secret is out, there's no denying the chemistry between these two especially when they dance together at prom.
Plus One is an extremely underrated independent romantic comedy. It follows best friends Ben (Jack Quaid) and Alice (Maya Erskine) who decide to be each other's plus-ones to a marathon of summer weddings they've been invited to.
As they watch people declare their love weekend after weekend, Alice begins to realize she might have deeper feelings for Ben than she's originally let on. Upon her realization, Alice tries desperately to keep Jack close even if it means jeopardizing their longtime friendship.
Pretty Woman is one of the most iconic romantic comedies of all time. It centers on Vivian, a young prostitute, who is picked up by Edward, a wealthy businessman, who pays her to spend the weekend with him in his penthouse hotel room. Though they come from separate worlds, they end up bonding.
Despite having strict rules in place to keep herself from catching feelings, Vivian drops her guard in the presence of Edward and does end up falling for him first. Thankfully, Edward isn't too far behind and what ensures is an epic romance between the most unlikely pair.
Based on one of Shakespeare's comedies, She's the Man centers on Viola (Amanda Bynes), a talented soccer player who pretends to be her brother so she can play soccer at his boarding school. While there she ends up bonding with her roommate and teammate Duke (Channing Tatum).
Since Duke doesn't know that his roommate is actually Viola and since he's hung up on another girl at their school, it's obvious that Viola is the one who falls for Duke first. In fact, it's through her helping Duke get with his crush that she realizes she's a better fit for Duke which complicates matters since she can't act on it.
While Some Kind of Wonderful doesn't have as much comedy as fans of John Hughes are used to it, it does have enough to qualify it as a romantic comedy. One of Hughes most underrated movies, it centers on Keith (Eric Stoltz), a high school outcast who manages to land a date with the most popular girl in school thanks to the help of his best friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson).
While Keith is preoccupied with Amanda (Lea Thompson), Watts begins to realize that she may have more than just platonic feelings for Watts. She puts their friendship on the line by trying to keep him from Amanda which ultimately pays off because he realizes he might have feelings for his best friend too.
Based on the young adult novel of the same name, The Duff follows Bianca (Mae Whitman) on her quest to reinvent herself after discovering she's "the duff" of her friend group courtesy of Wesley (Robbie Amell). Despite Wesly being the reason for her downward spiral, Bianca enlists his help in changing her image.
Over the course of their endless make-over and tutoring sessions and occasional heart-to-heart conversations, Bianca realizes that her childhood friend turned frenemy might not be as bad as she thought. While Wesley ends up falling for Bianca too, it's she who puts her heart on the edge first.
Yesterday is another extremely underrated romantic comedy. Released in 2019, the movie centers on Jack (Himesh Patel), a struggling musician, who wakes up one morning after a global blackout to discover he's the only one who knows who The Beatles are. Encouraged by his best friend Ellie (Lily James), Jack ends up passing off The Beatles songs as his own.
While there's a lot going on in this zany romantic comedy, the heart of the romance stems from Jack and Ellie. While Jack is busy becoming the star he's always dreamed of, Ellie is busy trying to deal with her intense feelings for her best friend.