7 Romantic Films Men Love

Want to watch a movie with your man on Valentine’s Day?

“But men don’t like romance movies,” say many women. Think again. They just have to be the right kind.

Common threads of a romantic movie a man will watch: The screenplay is written by men, the film is told from the man’s perspective and the male lead behaves like a man would in real life and the ending of the film is redemptive. The male lead learns a valuable lesson from the experience. We men relate to these characters and stories.

Here are seven.

CASABLANCA:
Plot: Rick (Humphrey Bogart), an owner of a trendy, upscale bar during World War II, turns cynical after being burned by his first love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). While sneaking heroes and patriots out of occupied territories, his love for Ilsa takes a new form.
Why men like it: Choosing your comrades, your country and the survival of the entire world instead of the girl who left you… that’s a man’s man. A hero.
Man Moment #1: When Ilsa pulls out that pistol.
Why that’s a man’s moment: A woman holds a gun and knows how to use it. We men tend to think that’s hot. Especially when she’s screaming truth and putting him in his rightful place. He’s being dominated in the right kind of way. He’s not use to that. He likes it.
Man Moment #2: Rick sees the gun and says, “Go ahead and shoot. You’ll be doing me a favor.”
Why that’s a man’s moment: Because if our first love did to us what Ilsa did to Rick, we’d say the same thing. “Just shoot me.”

500 DAYS OF SUMMER
Plot: Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young professional fresh out of college, falls in love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a girl who uses and leaves him.
Why men like it: We were actually boys at one time in our lives and we learned Tom’s lessons the hard way. The movie is a coming of age story for us.
Man Moment #1: At the park bench when Summer tells Tom she never felt for him the same way she now feels for her husband.
Why that’s a man moment: She twists the blade, reminding him of the harsh reality. “We’ve been there too, Tom,” we say, like consoling a kid brother. “It’s okay. Now, sober up.”
Man Moment #2: Tom’s architecture meeting where he meets Autumn.
Why that’s a man moment: What man doesn’t fantasize about a moment when he finally did or will put the past behind him, and later, meets a woman just as attractive, but only smarter, friendlier and a better fit? It’s like that scene in Gladiatorwhen Maximus leads the victory in the exhibition fight, removes the mask and tells Commodus, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius.” Then he enters the dungeons while the other gladiators stand and chant his name. Hans Zimmer brings it home with that music.

THE NOTEBOOK (Warning. No man will tell his friends he likes this film.)
Plot: Noah (Ryan Gosling) will stop at nothing, NOTHING to be reunited with the only woman he ever loved, Allie (Rachel McAdams). He’ll even build her a two story southern mansion worthy of a place in Southern Living.
Why men like it #1: Noah doesn’t pout his life away. He builds something for Allie and people from all over the world want to purchase it. They even offer more than his asking price. He responds by getting drunk, thinks of burning down the house, and then chases yuppies off his yard with a loaded shotgun. Only a woman can do that to a man and every man has been that angry at least once in his life.
Why men like it #2: Everyone needs a home. And every man, left or right brained, can build a home if he learns how to use the tools and read the blueprints. That’s a universal act of love.
Man Moment: The letter Noah writes Allie telling her he’s not bitter anymore. Not only is it Nicholas Sparks’ writing at its finest, but if it’s your man’s first time to watch the film, you might want to have a ready tissue for him.
Why that’s a man moment: When a man decides to put his first love behind him, it’s the most sobering, real moment of his life. (Except the first time he wakes with a hangover.)

ABOUT TIME
Plot: Tim (Domhnall Gleeson), a young professional, travels through time to find a girlfriend.
Why men like it: What man doesn’t love time travel movies? If he believes he’ll be single the rest of his life, he’s fantasizing about traveling back into time to repair that one relationship where the girl got away.
Man moment #1: After Tim meets his first love, Mary (Rachel McAdams), he travels through time to relive his first sexual encounter with her over and over and over and over.
Why that’s a man moment: Must I explain this?
Man moment #2: Tim and his dad have a warm father and son moment.
Why that’s a man moment: Because the father figure in a man’s life, whether biological or not, is the most important relationship he will ever have.

Read more: 7 Romantic Films Men Love

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Author: Travis Esquivel

Travis Esquivel is an engineer, passionate soccer player and full-time dad. He enjoys writing about innovation and technology from time to time.

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