15 Chick Flicks We All Know By Heart
Chick flicks sometimes get a bad rap from film critics. We tend to think they're full of trivial, idealistic worlds with plots that promote unrealistic expectations about love. Sure, that stuff may be totally true, but we're not going to let that ruin our fun! In fact, we're attracted to chick flicks in the first place because of those characteristics. Look, we know that that we're probably not going to meet our soulmate in a coffee shop, but that doesn't mean that we can't spend 90 minutes immersed in a whimsical love story with a fairy tale ending. Haven't we all dreamed of bumping into a handsome stranger in a big city and living happily ever after? Some of the best movies ever made can be classified as chick flicks When compiling this list, we had a hard time narrowing it down to only 15 films, as they're have been a ton of premium chick flicks made throughout the years, but somehow we managed to do it. Here are the 15 best chick flicks whose lines we can recite by heart
15 Mean Girls
Cady Heron was just a simple homeschooled girl living in Africa for her parents' research expedition. She hadn't yet been exposed to all those dangers of high school like cliques and jealous exes. When her family comes back to the U.S, she attends public school and quickly learns that she has a lot to learn if she's going to survive. Initially, she befriends two Janice and Damia but eventually, of course, a popular group of girls nicknamed "The Plastics," led by the ultimate mean girl Regina George, take Cady under their wing. At first, Cady is reluctant, but Janice convinces Cady to befriend them so that she can infiltrate their ranks and expose their secrets. Cady gets comfortable with her new found popularity and eventually gets wrapped up in her appearance. You've probably seen this one about a billion times already, but there's always time for one more viewing!
14 The Notebook
The Notebook, aka the film that catapulted Ryan Gosling from cute boy to total hunk, is still one of our favorite romantic stories. Set in the 1940s, the film tells the love story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), a teen couple whose summer fling eventually turns into a full-blown romance, but not before Allie's parents try to split them up. Ugh, why do parents always try to break everyone up?! Since Allie is rich, her parents don't think that an average country boy is enough for their daughter. They get separated for seven years, in which time Allie gets engaged and Noah leaves and returns from fighting in World War II, but they eventually make their way back to each other. The most romantic, heart-wrenching part? The entire movie is narrated by an elderly Noah trying to jog Allie's memory because she's been diagnosed with dementia. You love this movie but no matter how many times you've seen it, you know that you need tissues and lots of them.
13 Sixteen Candles
If you're ever felt like an outcast, totally ignored or even forgotten about, then you can definitely relate to the classic 80s John Hughes teen film Sixteen Candles. This film has been referenced in tons of other movies and TV shows whenever characters forget someone else's birthday since that's exactly what happens to Samantha, Molly Ringwald's character. As Sam's sister is about to get married, her family gets so wrapped up in planning that they totally and completely forget about her sixteenth birthday. Which hello is one of the most important birthdays ever! To make things worse, the super popular guy that she likes doesn't really share her feelings. Instead, the school nerd tries his best to woo her. Seriously, some boys just can't take a hint. To a 16-year-old, nothing worse that could possibly happen. For us, it's a nice nod to our own, super crazy teen years, where small things always felt like the biggest crises.
12 The Wedding Planner
The Wedding Planner serves as the perfect reminder that we should never, ever mix business with pleasure. After Mary (Jennifer Lopez), a wedding planner, lands the biggest wedding campaign of her career, she ends up breaking the cardinal rule by falling in love with her client, Fran Donnelly's fiance. Honestly, can you really blame her? We fell in love with him too, so yes Mary we get you. It's a total accident, though. After getting saved from a runaway dumpster, by a pediatrician named Dr. Steve Edison (Matthew McConnoughhey), Marys ends up also getting treated for her injuries in his hospital. The attraction between and Steve and Mary is obvious, so Mary's friend invites Steve to join she and Mary for and outdoor movie night. Sparks fly, and by the time that she realizes that Steve is Fran's soon to be husband, it's too late. She's hooked. We can't really blame her because… Mathew McConaughey.
11 When Harry Met Sally
Nora Ephron gave us the perfect and yet far-from-perfect love story when she crafted When Harry Met Sally. Harry and Sally initially met in college when Harry was dating Sally's friend Amanda. Over the course of twelve years, the two have sporadic encounters where the discuss a question that Harry posed while in college: Can men and women can be platonic friends? He doesn't think so, while Sally maintains that she's cultivated many male friendships over the years. Five years later, they had a less-friendly version of the same argument, after meeting in a bookstore. They also find out that each is in a relationship. More time passes and when they meet for the third time, they're both single and they end up hooking up, finally testing the theory for themselves. This is often referenced even today when people ask whether both genders can really and truly be just friends.
10 The Proposal
Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is a totally vile, insufferable book editor who treats her employees like crap… until she needs one of them to marry her. Margaret is Canadian and in danger of being deported so she blackmails her assistant, Alex (Ryan Reynolds) until he agrees to marry her… but not before he imposes a few conditions of his own, like making her travel to Skita, Alaska to meet his family. At first, it's awful and totally hilarious, but eventually, the unlikely pair warms up to each other. Which usually happens in most movies, and most of the time you can't help but understand the plot because hello do you see these hunks! If you've ever seen a romantic comedy, then you already know that they eventually fall madly in love. After all, you can't be in a scenic place like Alaska, and not fall for Ryan Reynolds. Bonus: Betty White's character (Alex's grandmother) is absolutely hilarious in this movie. But you already knew that since she's Betty White, after all.
9 How To Lose A Guy iIn Ten Days
How do you not love this movie? Andie is a writer at a Cosmo-like magazine called Composure. She gets stuck writing how-to articles when she really wants to report the news. Benjamin is an egotistical ad exec who tries to beat out his friends for a large diamond account with his company. Andie pitches an article about what it would take to lost a guy in ten days, which her editor, Lana accepts. Meanwhile,.Benjamin bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in the same time span. Their respective colleagues realize this set them up, unknowing of the other's motives nad what entails is a hilarious game of tug of war between them. Naturally, he falls in love with her… for real. But you already knew that because this movie is one of those classic chick flicks that you always watch every once in a while for nostalgia's sake.
8 Clueless
Talk about a major throwback. Even after all these years, Clueless has remained a total cult classic. In fact, it was such a big hit that there was also a spin-off TV show. Clueless is a friendship story about two besties, Cher and Dionne, who want to play matchmaker for their teacher in order to earn better grades. They also try to help a student named Tai. Turns out, they're actually good at hooking people up but Cher eventually does some much-needed introspection and realized that she could use a makeover as well… but from the inside out. This is one of those don't judge a book by its cover stories, since when we first meet Cher she's pretty shallow and super into her appearance and looking fashionable. But by the end, of course, she becomes a really good person… but we totally knew that person was there all along.
7 The Princess Diaries
Mia Thermopolis ( Anne Hatheway) is a curly haired, socially awkward teenager who can barely function in her daily life. A visit from her long-lost grandmother( Julie Andrews) changes her life forever when she learns that she's heir to the throne of Genovia and must uproot her entire life to go rule the country. Not only that, but she must also undergo a drastic makeover and sit through princess lessons. To a teen girl who obviously never owned a pair of Tweezers, you can image the horror that she felt to have to go full on glam. Reluctant at first, she eventually gives in and warms up to the idea of being royalty, but not before her two best friends end up feeling left out due to her growing popularity. Mia's comical journey towards princess-hood is a great reminder of the importance of the ability to adapt and grow while remembering the people who were there from the beginning.
6 Miss Congeniality
Who doesn't love a good old makeover in any movie? Gracie Hart is one beauty queen/secret agent you don't want to mess with. The hilarious part of this story? She's a tomboy by heart who goes undercover and enters a beauty pageant. She has to follow her boss's orders and enter the competition… much to the dismay of Kathy Morningside, the head of the pageant. She naturally has to go through a whole big makeover and start wearing tight dresses, makeup, and hair gel. Oh, the horror! Under the name Gracie Lou Freebush, agent Hart tries to solve the case and keep her new friends safe while competing in the pageant. This movie came out a while ago but you couldn't stop watching it, and you've probably seen it about a hundred times since. It's become a real classic chick flick that really put Sandra Bullock on the map.
5 Breakfast At Tiffany's
Is there a more fabulous movie? And such a classic too. Holly Golightly is a lively socialite living in 1960s New York. She lives by herself in her apartment… well, if you don't count her cat. When she's not home, she goes on dates with wealthy men and accepts their gifts but doesn't give much in return. She likes being unattached… until she meets a fellow tenant named Paul. He's an older gentleman who dreams of being a writer but he's dealing with a bad case of writer's block. As the two spend more time together, their relationship progresses romantically until someone from Holly's past ruins it all by revealing a big secret about her. We couldn't make a list about chick flicks and not include this original. Sure, it's a real classic movie and is super well-respected, but at its heart, it's still basically a romantic comedy, no doubt about it.
4 A Walk To Remember
It's a tale as old as time. Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember tells the story of Landon and Jamie, two students from opposite sides of the track. Landon, a troubled teen, is forced to spend time with Jamie, a church girl so that she can help him learn lines for the school play. Jamie agrees to help London as long as he does not to fall in love with her, a condition that he laughs off initially. But low and behold, that's exactly what ends up happening. Shortly after, Jamie reveals to Landon that she's losing her battle with leukemia. Jamie has pretty much made peace with her prognosis and has made a list of things she wants to do before she passes on, but Landon takes the news really hard. At one point in the movie, Landon takes Jamie and has her straddle their state border, so that she's in two places at once, per her bucket list. That's honestly one of the sweetest moment in the whole film. But you already knew that, of course, because you can't stop watching and crying over this movie.
3 The Devil Wears Prada
Probably one of everyone's favorite movie of all time. All the fashion and the whole look at what it's like working at a magazine (hopefully it's not as bad as they make it seem). This is the kind of movie that can make your evil boss seem like a total saint. When Andy graduates from college, she goes to intern with a wicked fashion editor named Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Miranda's demanding attitude almost make Andy give up, but with the help of Nigel, who helps revamp Andy's frumpy wardrobe, Andy eventually proves herself worthy of Miranda's respect. Well, sort of. Of course, as Andy climbed the ranks at the magazine, her boyfriend expresses that he's unhappy with how she's changed, so she must figure out which is more important her career or her relationship. What gives this movie, even more, buzz is that it's based on a book that's supposedly based on the author's stint at Vogue, making Miranda a fictional version of Anna Wintour.
2 Bring It On
Who knew that cheerleading could be so competitive? Torrance is the new team captain of the Mighty Torros. For the past five years, they've been on an unstoppable winning streak. Though there's some opposition from a couple of the team members, Torrance should have no problem leading the squad to their sixth victory. But there's just one little problem. Torrance, unlike the previous captain, has a conscious, and when she finds out that their moves had been ripped off from a rival school, she hires a choreographer to revamp the squads entire routine! If that's not enough to make any high schooler go mad, Torrance also has to deal with losing a team member to an injury, a douchebag of a boyfriend, and her developing feelings for her new friend's brother. You know, just the normal stuff any high school girl has to deal with on a regular basis.
1 Pretty Woman
To this day, Pretty Woman remains the number one most popular romantic comedy of all time, so we naturally had to include it on our list. After a successful businessman (Richard Gere) gets dumped by his girlfriend he meets a hooker named Vivian (Julia Roberts) after taking a detour through Hollywood Blvd. He initially asked her for directions, but eventually hires for one night. The next morning, he hires her on a strictly platonic basis for 3,000 to accompany him on dates for an entire week. He also pays for her to get an entirely new wardrobe and makeover. What was supposed to be a short-term arrangement ends up being way more as the two fall in love and try to figure out what their feelings mean. It may seem like a classic rags-to-riches story and it definitely is, but it's got so much heart that we can't stop watching it, all these years later.