Archive Top 10 Movies to Avoid this Valentine’s Day (PHOTOS) What can possibly be worse than the 2010 stinker Valentine’s Day ? From Made in Manhattan to the ‘Bennifer’ oeuvre, Anna Klassen picks the 10 to avoid this holiday.
Published Feb. 13 2012 4:45AM EST
It’s hard to beat a good romantic comedy, but it’s apparently very easy to create a bad one. Valentine’s Day , starring just about everybody in Hollywood, made its mark as one of the worst to hit theaters in years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t alone. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, here’s a list of the worst romantic comedies ever made. Employee of the Month , Because I Said So , and more horrendous flicks to steer clear of this holiday.
Most movies about other movies are doomed for failure. Take 2006’s Rumor Has It , a self-aware retelling of The Graduate . Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah, a young woman who finds out her mother and grandmother both slept with the same playboy millionaire (and yes, she sleeps with him, too). On the verge of incest, even the film’s all-star cast (Kevin Costner , Mark Ruffalo , Shirley MacLaine can’t save it from its laughless and gag-inducing plot.
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
We’re curious: who thought it was a good idea to cast comedian Dane Cook as a leading man? With a potty-mouthed script and overly offensive jokes to boot, Employee of the Month reeks from lousy casting and even worse acting. While it is technically a romantic comedy, the romance occurs most frequently in the form of Cook's bromance with Dax Shepard . Rarely do we actually witness the two boneheads competing for the new girl’s (Jessica Simpson ) attention.
Lions Gate / Courtesy Everett Collection
The second film in which both Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey star, Fool’s Gold is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days on water. The pair shares the same back-and-forth banter, just with less clothes and more explosions. Fool’s Gold follows a soon-to-be-divorced husband and wife as they go on a high-seas adventure in search of treasure—and rekindle their lost romance. Lots of slapstick, lots of body doubles, and very little of anything else. Even a half-naked McConaughey couldn’t save this romcom from drowning.
Although she has been in an excess of tacky, melodramatic movies (A Walk to Remember , License to Wed , How to Deal ), we’d like to think Mandy Moore ’s breakout role (and the pinnacle of her acting career) came in the form of the singing and dancing Lana in The Princess Diaries . Because I Said So is about a mother (Diane Keaton) and her incessant meddling into the love life of her daughter (Moore). Desperate to find her a mate, Keaton’s character tries to set her daughter up with numerous men until she realizes—wait for it—maybe her need to meddle has more to do with her own problems than her daughter’s. Gag.
Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
From Justin to Kelly is a movie musical starring Kelly Clarkson from American Idol and that kid with the crazy hair who came in second place. That’s really all you need to know. Made up almost entirely of scenes of the pair singing and dancing in costume-y getups on the beach, 2003’s From Justin to Kelly is one extended, Beach Party –inspired music video.
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy Everett Collection
Have you noticed a casting trend on this list? Such as, singers turned actors, and Matthew McConaughey ... Is it his Southern accent or self-tanning tendencies that make him seem insincere and appear more like a playboy type than the leading man? Jennifer Lopez plays the title character who falls for her latest client (McConaughey). The dialogue is cringeworthy (“You saved my shoe … and my life”), the plot is stale, and the film simply isn’t funny. The Wedding Planner adds up to a whole lot of nothing.
Columbia Pictures / Everett Collection
Don’t get us wrong, we're big fans of Kristen Bell. How could we not be after seeing her have a complete meltdown over a sloth on the Ellen show? But unfortunately her charm and cute demeanor couldn’t save this 2010 romcom from making our list. Bell stars as a young professional who, on a trip to Rome, throws a coin into a fountain and wishes for love. She is then pursued by an entourage of suitors determined to win her over. Costarring Josh Duhamel , Jon Heder and Bell’s real life fiancé Dax Shepard , When in Rome combines cheesy dialogue and overplayed slapstick to create something unbearable.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Back when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were “Bennifer,” they collaborated on Gigli . The 2003 flop follows a thug (Affleck) as he takes a man hostage and makes a lesbian assassin (Lopez) fall in love with him. Everything about the film is uncomfortable to watch, and the lack of chemistry between Lopez and Affleck is equally painful. IMDB rated Gigli as the worst romantic comedy ever made , and we don’t disagree. It was pulled from theaters after just three weeks, and earned its stars Razzie Awards for their poor performances.
Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Leap Year stars Amy Adams as a disgruntled single woman who travels to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, because apparently that’s the one day of the year that it’s acceptable for a woman to propose. Aside from the sexist undertone, the trailer for the 2010 romantic comedy didn’t look half bad. It was only when we got to the theater that we realized every single cute or clever line had been crammed into that minute and a half. Leap Year wasn’t overacted or (too) corny, but it never quite arrived. Although it had the gorgeous backdrop of Ireland, we kept waiting for the plot twist, the emotional connection—anything to keep us hooked. But we were always one, or two, steps ahead of this film, which translated into a boring and slow movie set in a pretty location.
Universal / Everett Collection
We swear we have nothing against Jennifer Lopez, but romantic comedies are not her strong suit. Maid in Manhattan suffers from a big casting misstep: Harry Potter ’s Voldemort as the love interest of Jenny From the Block . This Cinderella story revolves around a high-rolling hotel guest who falls in love with a maid, only to think she is another guest. Can they overcome the social divide? Will love prevail? Well, we won’t give away everything. Maid in Manhattan is as predictable as it is miscast, and unless it’s the only thing on Showtime when you’re scrolling through channels at 2 a.m., steer clear of this romcom failure.
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