15 Kissing Scenes So Terrible We Couldn't Watch
Who doesn't love a good love story? Whether it's a romantic comedy, a steamy soap-opera or a heartbreaking tale of love and loss: love stories have a way of sucking us in and making us feel all the feels. On-screen kisses have the ability to melt our hearts, especially when they are highly-anticipated. Who doesn't love when that magical moment finally happens, when two lovebirds finally embrace? From old Hollywood films to Netflix Originals, silver screen love has a way of reducing us to blubbering messes. But what happens when that anticipated (or surprise) kiss just flops? The reality is that not all on-screen smooches are swoon-worthy. In fact, some have made us screech and look away from the TV. Bad timing, awkward settings and lack of chemistry can all add up to a disastrous lip-locking.
Then, there's an entirely separate category of kissing blunders. Those that looked great on screen but were actually awful for the actors'. Kissing on cue, while the cameras roll, can definitely rob the moment of any romance or intimacy. No matter how good looking your kissing partner is, staged smooches are set up to be disastrous. Appearances aside, these on-screen kisses have either shocked us, rocked us or swept us away. Let's take a look at the inside stories while we review the 15 Most Awkward On Screen Kisses Ever.
15 The Spider-Man Upside Down Kiss
As far as awkward kissing goes, this one takes the cake! In 2002's Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire, aka Spidey himself, plants a big 'ol weird smooch on Kirsten Dunst's lips… while hanging upside down in an alleyway. In theory, the lead up to the kiss was pretty romantic. Spider-Man rescues his lady love, Mary-Jane Watson, from a gang of assailants. Coming to her rescue, in the rain, for the billionth time, seems like a pretty sweet time for a kiss… right? The only thing is, this kiss missed the mark and fell right into the "awkward" category. There's just something about watching people's lips line up in upside down mode that makes us cringe! We know he's Super-Man, but isn't all of the blood rushing to his head, causing him to feel faint and weak? Just too many uncomfortable questions to distract from the magic. This kiss was a miss!
14 The Casino Face Suck
This kiss was so awkward that it was rated the "worst kiss scene ever" by the reader's of magazine Film in 2003. A classic Scorsese film with a stellar cast did not exempt this smooch from falling way out of the romance zone. Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone play hitman Nicky Santoro and prostitute Ginger McKenna. The scene is set when an emotional Ginger tells Nicky about her stresses surrounding her inability to escape her mobster husband. Nicky promises to take care of her and the two lock lips in one of history's most awful kisses. The chemistry is not at all natural (can one have chemistry with Joe Pesci?) and the kiss forces us to look away. Not to mention, the scene ends when Joe Pesci pushes Sharon into his lap… not very gentlemanly and super uncomfortable on the eyes!
13 The Floating Garth Kiss in Wayne's World
This super awkward smooch is set in 1992's cult classic Wayne's World, when Garth (Dana Carvey) accompanies Honey (Kim Basinger) home. Honey starts to seduce Garth with her dancing while he uncomfortably makes small-talk to calm his nerves. The scene is already heavily uncomfortable to watch, and gets worse when Honey demands that Garth kiss her. A close-up of his quivering lips and eyes wide open make will make you want to run away! They clearly did everything they could to make this scene as awkward as humanly possible, and they certainly succeeded! Garth begins to float while kissing Honey and the scene ends with him crashing to the ground and being picked up and carried out of frame by Honey. One thing's for sure, Dana Carvey does not make the list of top actors we would want to share a smooch with!
12 Necrophilia Kiss in The Shining
This scene is what nightmares are really made of. In the classic Stephen King film, The Shining, hotel concierge Jack (Jack Nicholson) does a routine check on the mysterious Room 237. In the bathroom, he has a vision of a beautiful young girl bathing in the bathtub. She approaches him seductively, and he is drawn in and captivated by her beauty and very… nude presence. She wraps her arms around his neck and they start kissing passionately. Only then is Jack pulled out of his trance-like state, when he sees in the mirror behind him that the vision of beauty he is kissing is actually an old, decaying corpse. The eerie music paired with the cackling of the old corpse is enough to send shivers through our spines. Creepy!
11 Marty's Kiss From His Mother in Back To The Future
When Marty McFly went back in time to 1955, he had no intentions of having his mother, Lorraine fall for him. In an accidental twist of fate, Marty, or Calvin Klein as Lorraine affectionately called him, became his mother's temporary object of affection. At the famous "dance", Marty ends up in a parked car with none other than Lorraine. She tries to calm a visibly nervous Marty, and leans in for a smooch. Luckily for Marty, she senses that something in energetically off when the pair's lips meet. She makes a comment about how it felt like kissing her brother. Well, not brother, but definitely part of the family! We're happy that this kissing scene didn't escalate into anything more x-rated! Lucky for us, it was 1955 and curfew was fast-approaching.
10 The 'Too Much Information' Kiss in Wet Hot American Summer
Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks are two very attractive actors, but put them together and what do you get? One of cinema's most horrendously icky kisses, that's what! These two locked lips in 2001's Wet Hot American Summer, an exaggerated comedic film parodying life at a summer camp in the 80's. Their super-PDA-moment unfolds as a little boy drowns in the lake next to them. Altogether way too much tongue is exposed, as the two slobber away at each other whilst sharing mildly dirty talk. Gross! The pair are clearly cut out for each other. In an alternate kissing scene, Andy tells Lindsay she "tastes like a burger" after she plants a smooch on his lips. Hot! Even better that he follows it up with "I don't like you anymore. Romance at its finest, or trailer trashiest? You decide!
9 The "Human Kisses Ape" Kiss in Planet of The Apes
Tim Burton usually puts out excellent, artistic films, but unfortunately, the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes fell a bit short. Despite having a cast full of stars, Burton's interpretation of the 1968 cult classic left us feeling… meh. One of the weirdest moments? When hunky Mark Wahlberg, aka Captain Leo Davidson leans in to give chimpanzee Ari, played by Helena Bonham Carter, a kiss on the lips. We're open-minded, but this lip-locking just made us cringe! Kissing talking chimps is a little bit out of our comfort zone. The kiss miss was further made into a mockery when the Internet started pointing out that Ari resembled a female Michael Jackson. Not to mention, Helena Bonham Carter is the long time partner of Tim Burton; can you imagine the stress that poor Marky Mark went through filming this scene?
8 Kissing Ducks in Howard The Duck
Here is a Marvel comic book character that should've never made it to the screen. The good news is that this 1986 flop has pretty well been forgotten. That is, until now, when I come along to inform you that, once upon a time, actress Lea Thompson had a super awkward kiss with… an animated duck. That's right folks, the same actress that portrayed Lorraine McFly in the Back to the Future series (and kissed her son, see above) also got down and dirty with Howard the Duck. Has this woman no boundaries?! The awkward factor is increased by Beverley's inappropriate high-cut pink briefs and Howard's flannel pajama set. I can't un-see this moment and really wish I could. Do not watch this movie. Don't even YouTube the kissing scene.
7 The Not Another Teen Movie Cruel Intentions Parody
Not Another Teen Movie is a notorious parody poking fun at a plethora of teen movies from the 80's and 90's. Who doesn't recall the famous girl kiss between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair in Cruel Intentions? The original kiss was a dream come true for tween boys in the 90's, but the remake? Less so! Mia Kirshner recreates the scene with a much older (she was 74 at the time of filming) Beverly Polcyn. The exaggerated smooch is made more nauseating with its excessive slobber and saliva exchanging. The scene set out to be disgusting, and it sure didn't fall short. Next time you see this film on rerun, avert your eyes from one of the most awkward kissing scenes of our generation.
6 The Jim Carrey-Ate-My-Face In Dumb and Dumber Kiss
Who hasn't dreamt of grabbing hold of Jim Carrey and pulling him in for a passionate kiss? OK, I'll admit, he's not what immediately comes to mind when you think of sexy stars you'd like to lock lips with. Although, these days, his newfound spirituality and zen side is pretty hot. Back in the Dumb and Dumber days, however, Jim Carrey was anything but swoon-worthy. The super open-mouthed kiss between Lloyd Christmas and his lady love, Mary, made us feel like we were drowning a little bit on the inside. Luckily, this smooch happened only in Lloyd's imagination, but unfortunately for Lauren Holly, she still had to be present to shoot the scene. Because Jim is such a loveable and silly guy, it's a little easier to take, but still tips the scale into awkward kissing territory. His man-grunting during the scene do not help matters. One that we could definitely go without revisiting!
5 Two Hotties Don't Make a Right in The Tourist
Eeew! OK, so let's just get to the point. The Tourist is not a good movie. Great cast, great expectations: unfulfilled. This film drags us through almost two hours of really bad chemistry between Elise (Angelina Jolie) and Frank (Johnny Depp). Two of Hollywood's hottest people (at least back in 2010, they were!) with absolutely zero passion between them. They literally couldn't even fake it. The kiss is set against a backdrop of dramatic, meant-to-be romantic music, Johnny Depp sporting a two-piece Dad-style pajama set, and Angelina in sexy lingerie. He awkwardly grabs her by the messy-bun and pulls her in for the most unemotional, passionless kiss we have ever seen. Proof that being hot is not enough to guarantee a hot make-out session! A total miss.
4 The "I Kissed A Ghost And I Liked It"
Ghost is one of my Top 5 favorite romantic movies of all time. Despite a heartbreaking/beautiful storyline, I have to give cheesy points where they are due. With respect to the late, great Patrick Swayze, he really was good at playing the overly devoted, super-cheesy, big-haired romantic guy who was either good at dancing, pottery-making, or both. The final scene is bittersweet. Sam is finally able to pass on to the next world, but first, he wants to say a proper goodbye to his woman. The romance points are notched way down due to the unnatural glow that the producer's added to our beloved Swayze. We get it, he's a ghost, but why'd you have to make him look like a mix of Mr. Clean and Edward Cullen, sparkling like that? It's distracting!
3 The Eclipse Miss Between Bella And Jacob
Kristen Stewart's face was pretty much set in a permanent scowl for the entire Twilight series. We get it, it's part of the character. But… can't you at least fake it a little bit when the hottest werewolf in town goes in for a kiss? We KNOW you like him, Bella. We read the books. Who wouldn't want to kiss Taylor Lautner?! Serious question. What should have been a super romantic, epic kiss between girl and wolf turned into a very disappointing and non-climactic event. To make matters worse, Bella pushed him away and tried to punch his beautiful cheekbones. The nerve! There was a better follow-up kiss (wasn't there?) between these two, but as far as awkward movie kisses go: they each get one point.
2 The "I Kissed my Sister" in Star Wars
No awkward kiss-list could be complete without a shoutout to Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. Yes, this weird sibling smooch took a few years to be processed as "weird" (or just a few hours if you waited until age 30 to binge watch the entire collection, like me!) Nothing screams revenge on Han Solo quite like smooching your twin brother right in front of him. Did you see the look on old Harrison's face? That's probably the best part of this entire, awkward segment. Well, at least Luke Skywalker was able to enjoy his kiss-bliss for a little while, before the reality of his twin status was revealed. Still gross.
1 The I Love You, Man Kiss
Hey, it's Paul Rudd again! The king of awkward kissing! This is the best awkward kiss on the list, because it manages to be cute, funny and sweet at the same time. After a successful dinner "date", Doug is saying his goodbyes to Peter. The pair shake hands, agree to meet again, and that's when the magic happens. Doug pulls Peter in for a smooch that is completely unreciprocated, which makes it that much funnier. Doug is really, really into the lip lock- and Peter is just… confused and not sure how to react. The best part is how Doug goes in for a final peck after the main embrace has ended. Priceless.
