From 1990 to 2001, Julia Roberts was one of the major leading ladies of romantic comedies. Her long, curly red hair became her signature after she burst onto the scene, even though she’s often tried to get away from that iconic look. She starred in quite a few more serious films during this period as well, but we all loved her best when she had her megawatt smile at full blast in rom com mode. Today, we’re going to take a look at her five best romantic comedies from that classic era.
You may guess what the top one is going to be, but what about the rest of the list? Take a look below!
Looking for other romantic comedy rankings? We got you: Meg Ryan’s Romantic Comedies – Ranked
5. America's Sweethearts (2001)
Billy Crystal co-wrote America’s Sweethearts with the intention to star in it, but by the time it got made, the role ended up going to John Cusack (though apparently Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to take the role, but Downey lost the part due to his personal issues at the time). The story revolves around the public breakup of a high-profile couple played by Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, with Julia as Zeta-Jones’ personal assistant and sister Kiki. Secret feelings develop between Cusack and Julia, of course, which causes complications throughout the story. You know, it’s definitely not the best of these movies, and we almost considered replacing it with Mystic Pizza instead. But, the brief comedic moments saved its spot here.
4. Runaway Bride (1999)
Julia Roberts and Richard Gere teamed up for a second movie together with Runaway Bride. This time around, Gere is a reporter assigned to do a story on Julia’s character, who has left multiple men at the altar. Word on the street was that Julia refused to do any sequels to her films until the Oceans series, so Runaway Bride was most likely born as a studio compromise to rekindle her money making chemistry with Gere. Is this a true fact? Who knows…. but compared to her other film with Gere (don’t worry, we’ll get to it), Runaway Bride is actually pretty lackluster, though it still has some charm.
3. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
In a twist on the typical romantic comedies of the era, My Best Friend’s Wedding has our leading lady Julianne actually be a little bit nefarious, working to break up the relationship of her best friend and his new fiance so that she can have him instead. The ending is also a bit unexpected as well, as typically (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it), the leading lady ends up with the leading man, but in this case, that doesn’t happen, as the movie is more about Jules growing up and letting go. Apparently, in the original version, she actually ended up dancing with a potential new man at the wedding, but test audiences didn’t like that, so they changed it to her dancing with fan favorite George (Rupert Everett). The film is stacked with comedic moments matched with emotional beats, and is one of the funnier rom coms on this list.
2. Notting Hill (1999)
To some degree, Notting Hill succeeds thanks mostly to Hugh Grant, as it’s really more his movie than Julia’s movie. Nonetheless, she was perfectly cast as megastar Anna Scott who meets and falls for Hugh’s everyday English travel bookshop owner. In many ways, this is a movie about wish fulfillment — getting to see a regular person have a chance with a super famous celebrity when that’s highly unlikely in real life. But because it’s so earnest, it works so well. There are other examples of this type of trope in movies, but none do it better than Notting Hill.
1. Pretty Woman (1990)
You could say it would be a big mistake — huge — if we didn’t have Pretty Woman as our top Julia Roberts romantic comedy. It’s the film that catapulted her to stardom, and for good reason. Can you imagine anyone else in Vivian’s thigh high boots? The casting directors tried, actually, but in the end they struck gold with Julia. The script also started out much darker than what it eventually turned into, including Vivian being addicted to cocaine, and not ending up with Edward in the end. It certainly would not be the movie it is today if it had gone that way, so things turned out for the best!
What’s your favorite Julia Roberts romantic comedy? Do you agree with our list? Let us know in the comments!
- Julia was the highest-paid actress in the world throughout most of the 1990s and in the first half of the 2000s. In 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in Mona Lisa Smile.
- People magazine has named Julia the most beautiful woman in the world a record five times, in 1991, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2017.
- Julia grew up in Smyrna, Georgia, and played the clarinet in her high school band.
- Actress Emma Roberts is her niece through her brother Eric.
- When Julia met her future husband, cinematographer Danny Moder on the set of The Mexican, they were both in other relationships (Moder was married).
- Julia was the highest-paid actress in the world throughout most of the 1990s and in the first half of the 2000s. In 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in Mona Lisa Smile.
- People magazine has named Julia the most beautiful woman in the world a record five times, in 1991, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2017.
- Julia grew up in Smyrna, Georgia, and played the clarinet in her high school band.
- Actress Emma Roberts is her niece through her brother Eric.
- When Julia met her future husband, cinematographer Danny Moder on the set of The Mexican, they were both in other relationships (Moder was married).
