Rom-Com Redemption: 16 Romantic Comedies That Didn’t Deserve Their Poor Reviews

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The ad wizards who wrote that copy were certainly onto something when they created this memorable tagline, but Decider’s“Take Two” series was specifically formulated in a laboratory by the world’s foremost pop culture scientists to provide a second chance for movies that made a less than stellar first impression upon their original release.

Critics and casual viewers won’t always agree on what makes a great romantic comedy, but looking back at the past three decades in film, Decider can’t help but feel like some of today’s most iconic rom-coms were gravely maligned.

Our team of writers and critics assembled to go to bat for our favorite underrated rom-coms from decades past — films that received poor reviews from critics, audiences, or both, but have good reason to be beloved today.

From ’90s gems like The Cutting Edge and 2006 no-brainers like She’s The Man and The Holiday to newer flops like Home Again, sit back, try to relax, revisit our thoughtful selection of rom-coms, and admit that these feel-good, funny, swoon-worthy movies deserved better.

Read on for Decider’s list of 16 romantic comedies that didn’t deserve their poor reviews, ordered from oldest to most recent.

1. The Cutting Edge (1992)

   The electric 1992 opposites attract charmer The Cutting Edge is an iconic rom-com. This is a hill I’m willing to die on because much like The Karate Kid II soundtrack, I am a man who will fight for this film’s honor. Starring Moira Kelly, D.B. Sweeney, and a runaway freight train of will they/won’t they chemistry, The Cutting Edge follows a talented yet temperamental figure skater (Kelly) who reluctantly teams with a rakish former hockey player in hopes of capturing Olympic gold (The Sweenster). Back in 2019, I doggedly tried to right an egregious pop culture wrong by helping to improve the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score (48% to 56%), but the movie still remains “rotten.” Do people hate love, whimsy, and ’90s figure skating? I truly don’t know. But this movie is gold. Olympic gold. So watch it and (if you’re a Tomatometer-approved critic) review it! — Josh Sorokach

   Where To Watch THE CUTTING EDGE

2. She’s All That (1999)

   There have been many takes on George Bernard Shaw’s original Pygmalion over the years, but few encapsulate the sugar rush of late ‘90s teen life quite like She’s All That. Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is the king of his affluent So Cal high school until his Queen Bee girlfriend Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) dumps him for an MTV personality. After boasting he doesn’t need Taylor because he could make any random girl prom queen just by dating her, frenemy Dean (Paul Walker) makes a bet he can’t manage it with awkward Lainey Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook). Over the course of making Lainey over into a popular girl, Zack begins to realize his superficial world might not be what he wants after all…and that what he wants could be Lainey. We dare you to find a better ‘90s rom-com needle drop than Lainey’s descent down the stairs to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me.” — Meghan O’Keefe

   WHERE TO WATCH SHE’S ALL THAT

3. Serendipity (2001)

   Serendipity is an incredibly intoxicating movie about the power of predestination, or the lack thereof. The film opens with a meet-cute between American Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) and Brit Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale), who duke it out over the last pair of gloves for sale during the holiday crunch in NYC. After one enchanting night together, they let fate take control of their destinies, putting their numbers on a used book and five-dollar bill they immediately put back into circulation. Years later, ahead of both of their weddings to other people, Jonathan and Sara search NYC for clues about how to reconnect with the one that got away. — Meghan O’Keefe

   WHERE TO WATCH SERENDIPITY

4. 13 Going On 30 (2004)

   13 Going on 30 may technically be rated “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, at 64 percent, but considering the lasting impact that Jennifer Garner’s arguably perfect romantic comedy has had on the culture, it deserves a score in the high 80s at least. Unfortunately, Garner’s pitch-perfect comedic timing, her irresistible chemistry with Mark Ruffalo (the hottest he’s ever been), and the sharp script from writers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith were all overlooked when the film was released in 2004, merely because the plot shared elements with the ‘90s Tom Hanks movie Big. Nearly every critic, even the ones who liked the film, decked it points for “originality.” (For what it’s worth, 13 Going on 30 is actually not the same plot Big, even if the concept is similar.) But c’mon! Concepts get reused in Hollywood all the time. Yet “chick flicks”— as some like to call romance films that center on a woman — are never “refreshing” or “poignant.” Chick flicks, no matter how original they are, are “well-worn,” “formulaic” and “uninspired.” Big gets to be on the American Film Institute‘s list of funniest films of all time, while 13 Going on 30 gets dubbed a guilty pleasure. No more, I say! This is a genuinely great film that earned its spot in the rom-com Hall of Fame. — Anna Menta

   WHERE TO WATCH 13 GOING ON 30

5. Sleepover (2004)

   Simply put, Sleepover is the best type of rom-com. There’s no heavy adult stuff — this one is pure high school foolishness, right down to the scavenger hunt that kicks off the antics of the evening. Yes, Sleepover has a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the undervalued 2004 release deserves so much more. At its core, it’s a charming movie about friendship during the early teen years, a time when everything feels like it’s changing faster than ever before. There’s also a very Aaron Samuels/Cady Haron-esque romance between the two leads, Julie (Alexa Vega) and Steve (Sean Faris), and the cast includes two comedy legends: Steve Carrell as a bumbling security officer and Jane Lynch as a mom letting loose during a night out on the town. Sleepover has its faults, no doubt, but it’s a sweet, low-stakes watch worth revisiting, even just for a nostalgia trip. — Greta Bjornson

   WHERE TO WATCH SLEEPOVER

6. The Wedding Date (2005)

   Critics calling the 2005 rom-com The Wedding Date “shopworn, bland, and lightweight” resulted in a measly 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it’s not every day a self-conscious woman (played by someone as understatedly sexy as Debra Messing) hires a stone-cold hottie with perfect hair (Dermot Mulroney) to accompany her to her sister’s (Amy Adams) wedding. So as far as I’m concerned, they were sorely mistaken. Sure, the film featured a predictable business deal-turned-romance. But the chemistry of the characters, the lessons they taught each other, and the swoon-worthy romance is incredibly watchable. And Mulroney, a rom-com king, has never been hotter. (Hellooooo, 3B!)

   WHERE TO WATCH THE WEDDING DATE

7. She’s The Man (2006)

   For a large swath of Millennials and Gen Z, She’s The Man is certified fresh, but if you ask Rotten Tomatoes — actually, if you’re a fan of the film at all, we recommend you steer clear of its score on the review aggregator site. While critics clearly didn’t appreciate the art Amanda Bynes painstakingly procured for us in the mid-aughts, I’m here to respectfully (and vehemently!) disagree. She’s The Man features one of Bynes’ best performances as she effectively takes on two roles — soccer player Viola and Viola-as-Sebastian, the twin brother she impersonates to attend boarding school at Illyria — and includes one of the most iconic makeover montages of the era. Not to mention, David Cross brings all of his Arrested Development weirdness and more as a balding school principal, and Channing Tatum gives lovable himbo, as expected and appreciated. The movie is also based on Shakespeare, so one could argue it spawned a whole generation of Twelfth Night fans, technically. Now are you sure it’s really that rotten? — Greta Bjornson

   WHERE TO WATCH SHE’S THE MAN

8. John Tucker Must Die (2006)

   I was stunned by the rotten score of 28% that the 2006 rom-com John Tucker Must Die garnered on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is peak 2000s high school rom-com material, featuring a star-studded cast of Brittany Snow, Sophia Bush, Penn Badgley, Ashanti, Jenny McCarthy, and more. When four girls join forces to take down John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe), their high school’s heartthrob who has been secretly dating three of them at the same time under the guise of being unable to date during basketball season, revenge, romance, and a whole lot of laughs await them. All of that combined with an iconic 2000s soundtrack that includes the All American Rejects’ “Dirty Little Secret” and The Click Five’s “Just The Girl” makes for a fabulous film that deserves a MUCH higher rating. — Alex Vena

   WHERE TO WATCH JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE

9. Step Up (2006)

   The much-maligned Step Up is secretly the movie that gave us our modern Gene Kelly, Channing Tatum. In the first installment of the (very successful) film series, Tatum plays Tyler Gage, a troubled teenage foster kid who takes the fall for an act of vandalism committed by him and his two BFFs. Sentenced to 200 hours of community service at the arts school he trashed, Tyler is surprised to find himself drawn to dance student Nora (Jenna Dewan) — and the dance classes offered at the school. Tyler soon starts helping Nora prepare for her senior showcase and the two fall in love. This gender-swapped Dirty Dancing not only introduced Channing Tatum to his first wife, Jenna Dewan, but the world to Channing Tatum. His charisma as a romantic song and dance man for the 21st century is fully realized here six years before Magic Mike. — Meghan O’Keefe

   WHERE TO WATCH STEP UP

10. The Holiday (2006)

    I’m appalled I even need to fight for a rom-com as crucial to our culture, our annual traditions, and the genre at large as The Holiday, but with a Tomatometer score of 50%, critics in 2006 dubbed the film “thoroughly preposterous,” “grindingly predictable,” and “flat, featureless plastic.” Because we have taste, Decider ranked the Nancy Meyers classic ninth on our 45 Best Rom-Coms list. The charming, feel-good film follows unlucky-in-love strangers — Iris (Kate Winslet) from England, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) from LA — who meet through a home-exchange website and trade places for (yep, you guessed it!) the holiday. The new digs and time to reflect give them fresh perspectives on life, love, and purpose, and when charming characters — played by Jude Law, Jack Black, and the late Eli Wallach — enter the mix, the magic really begins. A moving Hans Zimmer score, several blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos, an iconic “Mr. Brightside” dance, and the swoon-worthy Mr. Napkinhead all help earn The Holiday a spot in The Rom-Com Hall of Fame. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If The Holiday were a melody, Nancy Meyers used only the good notes.

    WHERE TO WATCH THE HOLIDAY

11. The Proposal (2009)

    What did so many critics in the 2000s have against Sandra Bullock? Was it that she was too charming? Too hilarious? Too sexy in a glamorous-yet-approachable way?! Whatever the reason, the objectively talented Sandy was always taking punches from mean-spirited critics, including her 2009 hit with Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal. It’s arguably one of the romantic comedies of that decade. Betty White’s rain dance? The naked collision? Ryan Reynolds doing Deadpool quips long before he was Deadpool? All classics. I was quoting this film with my friend for a full decade after its release. And yet, critics absolutely hated this one. They called it “dumb,” “sloppy,” and “embarrassing.” You know what’s embarrassing? Turning up your nose at this laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely sweet fake-dating classic. — Anna Menta

    WHERE TO WATCH THE PROPOSAL

12. Valentine’s Day (2010)

    Valentine’s Day has an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critics consensus that points out that the film has “an abundance of rom-com cliches,” so I’m here to tell you that sometimes cliches are good. If you go into nearly any rom-com expecting it to reinvent the wheel, more often than not, you will be disappointed! But that’s not what Valentine’s Day is here to do. Valentine’s Day’s only job is to give us those warm, fuzzy, V-day feels by taking all of the fun tropes that make the genre what it is and throwing them into one movie — and against all odds, it mostly succeeds at it. For those who aren’t familiar, Valentine’s Day has 19 (!!) main characters who are connected in one way or another as their paths intersect over the course of one Valentine’s Day. From elementary schoolers to grandparents, the movie spans all ages and kinds of love (including an LGBTQ+ relationship, which may not seem like a big deal now, but definitely wasn’t the norm in 2010 when Valentine’s Day hit theaters). It’s not perfect, but it does make me tear up during my annual rewatch when I finally reach the scene where it becomes clear how Bradley Cooper’s Holden is connected to the larger story. It also gave us “Today Was A Fairytale” by Taylor Swift, and for that reason alone, Valentine’s Day is worth celebrating. — Angela Tricarico

    WHERE TO WATCH VALENTINE’S DAY

13. Jurassic Park III (2011)

    Is Jurassic Park III a rom-com? I’d say so! An estranged couple (Teá Leoni and William H. Macy) thrown into over-the-top circumstances that force them to reevaluate why they broke up in the first place? The himbo boyfriend who got between them? Ridiculous moments like a dinosaur dream-talking to Sam Neill (“ALAN!”)? Plus, the whole movie is 92 minutes long, the perfect rom-com length? Not only is Jurassic Park III a delightful little goof of a movie (and the best in the franchise), but I dare you to tell me the difference between any over-the-top rom-com premise, and this movie, which thrusts a bickering couple onto a dinosaur-filled island. Some movies have people pretending to be couples; others have dinosaurs that you can hear coming because of the satellite phones in their tummies. Do yourself a favor and make your next date night a Jurassic Park III night. — Alex Zalben

    WHERE TO WATCH JURASSIC PARK III

14. What’s Your Number? (2011)

    It seems that a lot of times when a rom-com is critically panned, it’s because the plot is “predictable.” When it comes to 2011’s What’s Your Number? As soon as Chris Evans’ bro-y Colin enters Ally’s (Anna Faris) apartment, you know exactly where the movie is going. But that old cliche about the journey not the destination is one that applies to this movie. Knowing how it’ll likely end doesn’t make the plot of Ally going through her rolodex of exes and one-night stands trying to find the one that got away any less exciting, especially since What’s Your Number? boasts a murderer’s row of actors in cameo roles as those exes: Anthony Mackie, Zachary Quinto, Andy Samberg, Joel McHale, Chris Pratt, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Dave Annable. The chemistry between Faris and Evans on Ally’s journey is electric — is there really much more could you ask for in a rom-com? It’s funny, swoony, and most of all, has that satisfying ending (even if we see it coming from a mile away). — Angela Tricarico

    Where to watch what’s your number?

15. Sleeping With Other People (2015)

    Sleeping With Other People star Alison Brie once told Decider that the 2015 rom-com is the past project she feels deserved more love, and we wholeheartedly agree. With a Tomatometer rating of 63% and an audience score of 57%, critics and casual viewers alike missed a connection with the innovative storyline, palpable on-screen chemistry, and genuine laugh-out-loud scenes for reasons I still can’t comprehend. Starring Brie as Lainey and Jason Sudeikis as Jake — two old pals who slept together in college, lost touch, and reunited 12 years later in a sex addiction treatment class — the movie puts an unconventional spin on the friends-to-lovers trope. As noted in Decider’s 45 Best Rom-Com’s ranking (which awards Sleeping With Other People the eleventh slot) the Leslye Headland film is hilarious, sexy, and full of heart. The leads are phenomenal. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay produce. And with cameos from Adam Scott, Adam Brody, Amanda Peet, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Mantzoukas, and more what’s not to love? (Also, let it be known that Sudeikis kissing his own hand is one of the greatest scenes in rom-com history.)

    WHERE TO WATCH SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

16. Home Again (2017)

    Written and directed by rom-com royalty Hallie Meyers-Shyer (daughter of Nancy Meyers, who served as a producer) Home Again stars rom-com royalty Reese Witherspoon as Alice Kinney, a newly single mom who just so happens to meet three hot young filmmakers while celebrating her 40th birthday. As one does! Harry (Pico Alexander), George (Jon Rudnitsky), and Teddy (Nat Wolff) need a place to crash while they figure out their lives. And wouldn’t you know it? Alice has a vacant pool house! A recipe for romance and disaster! Candice Bergen, Michael Sheen, and more star in the wholesome, heartwarming rom-com that explores second chances, found family, an extra complex love triangle, and more. It’s a fun, sexy, uplifting story that definitely didn’t deserve its harsh 32% Tomatometer rating. Like, OUCH!

    WHERE TO WATCH HOME AGAIN