The best date scenes in movies
Some movies are great for watching on a first date (see: Four Weddings, Midnight in Paris) while others also show the best dates. Here’s 17 movie dates we wish we’d been on.
Rex Features50 Shades of Grey (2015)
As we know, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) has rather ‘particular’ taste in the bedroom, but his idea of a good date has more mass appeal. As a billionaire with his own helicopter, he whisks Ana (Dakota Johnson) away for a ride (before, of course, introducing her to his kinky peccadilloes).
See the heli-romance here
AlamyCrazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Three words: Dirty. Dancing. Lift. (OK, five: Topless Gosling.) When Jacob (Ryan Gosling) relays his seduction technique to Hannah (Emma Stone), he tells her that recreating this moment is his never-fail ‘big move’. She claims she can resist its charms. She can’t. Neither can we.
Rex Features(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer’s (Zooey Deschanel) trip to IKEA is one of the cutest scenes in the film about a relationship from the sweet beginnings to the bitter end. Although you can tell it’s fiction: instead of it degenerating into a pass-agg row about cacti (we’ve all been there), they have an adorable time playing house.
Watch it here
AlamyTwilight (2008)
Hanging out with your new boyfriend’s family is no one’s idea of a fun date. Unless your new boyfriend is Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family consists of a load of super-speedy, super-strong vampires who need a lightening storm to mask the sound of their turbo-powered baseball match. Then, sure, count us in.
See the Cullens play ball here
AlamyAnnie Hall (1977)
Alvy (Woody Allen) and Annie (Diane Keaton) date like New Yorkers. No Netflix and a takeaway laziness for them, they’re into activities – tennis, cooking, singing. But their first date is the most iconic, because Alvy suggests that kiss at the beginning. “We’ll kiss now, we’ll get it over with and then we’ll go eat”. He’s either crazy romantic or a massive chancer. You decide.
Alamy10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
What could be more 90s than a paintball date? In the modern re-imagining of The Taming of Shrew, Patrick (Heath Ledger) is paid by Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to woo Kat (Julia Stiles) so that he in turn can date Kat’s sister. And Patrick plays a blinder. They go from pedalo ride to paintball park and it concludes with a snog on a haystack. Perfect. Shame he’d been paid to do it.
AlamySuperman (1978)
An at-night fly-by of the Statue of Liberty while clinging on to a muscular bicep, and wearing an awesome floaty 70s dress. What’s not to like about Lois Lane's (Margot Kidder) night out with Superman (Christopher Reeve)? Also, can John Williams write the soundtrack to all our romantic moments?
AlamyDesperately Seeking Susan (1985)
After using newspaper small ads (so thrillingly retro!) to arrange their meet-ups, and surviving kidnapping and mistaken identity, Susan (Madonna) and Jim (Robert Joy) finally manage to have a cinema date. Meanwhile, Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) goes to make amends with Dez (Aidan Quinn) while he works the projector in the same cinema. Susan and Jim manage to watch about ten minutes of the film before Roberta and Dez snogging causes the reel to run out.
See it here
Rex FeaturesWALL-E (2008)
Robot dates are just as adorable as human ones, as WALL-E demonstrates. WALL-E is the only functioning trash compactor left on an earth that has been used up and abandoned by humans. Then he encounters and befriends Eve, a probe. But when he presents her with the tiny living shrub he’s found, Eve abruptly goes into standby mode. WALL-E takes her on boat rides, to watch sunsets, and protects her from the elements, while trying to figure out how to cure her. The cutest sentient robot since Short Circuit’sJohnny 5.
Rex FeaturesBridget Jones's Baby (2016)
Bridget (Renee Zellweger) does everything in a charmingly upside down way, so of course she finds out she’s pregnant before she has an official date with Jack (Patrick Dempsey). But his determination to woo her the old fashioned way – by turning up at her flat with food and flowers – almost had us rooting for him over Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Almost.
Rex FeaturesSilver Linings Playbook (2012)
A bog-standard diner isn’t a lot of peoples’ idea of a date venue – especially if you order cereal – but as Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany points out “It can still be a date if you order Raisin Bran.” Pat (Bradley Cooper) insists otherwise, but their chemistry in this scene makes it the datiest non-date ever.
AlamyBefore Sunrise (1995)
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train to Vienna and after arriving they spend the night walking around the city and falling in love, before Jesse has to go home to the States and Celine has to go back to Paris. Such a successful all-night first date, that they made two sequels.
Rex FeaturesThe Holiday (2006)
While house-swapping in the UK, American Amanda (Cameron Diaz) sleeps with Englishman Graham (Jude Law) and only then do they go on their first date (we’ve all been there, part 2). After a rocky start where their chat resembles a job interview, they find their groove and have the sort of dinner date banter that you dream of when you’re facing a monosyllabic Tinder timewaster across a restaurant table.
Rex Features13 Going on 30 (2004)
When Jenna (Jennifer Garner) wakes up as a 30-year-old after making a birthday wish, she tracks down her childhood best friend Matty (Mark Ruffalo), and they eat Razzles and jump off the swings, just like they would if they were still both teenagers. It’s the date you dream of having with your first crush (especially if your first crush grew up to look like Mark Ruffalo instead of ‘Paul who works in HMV’).
Rex FeaturesRoman Holiday (1953)
Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) longs for a day off from her royal duties, and after a chance encounter with journalist Joe (Gregory Peck) he helps her do it, in the gorgeous setting of Rome. They take in the Spanish Steps and the Mouth of Truth and whizz around the city on a Vespa while looking super-chic. Bonus fact: their preferred mode of transport in the film turned tandem scooter riding into a trend.
Audrey Hepburn's reaction in the Mouth of Truth scene was entirely authentic. She didn't know Gregory Peck was to pretend he'd had his hand cut off. Watch it here
Rex FeaturesPitch Perfect (2012)
When Jesse (Skylar Astin) drops in to Beca’s room to show her the ending to The Breakfast Club (a genius ruse to spend time with her), they almost kiss as they watch. Unfortunately they're then interrupted by Beca’s roommate. Damn communal living!
Rex FeaturesNotting Hill (1999)
Awkward William (Hugh Grant) takes Anna (Julia Roberts) to a dinner party with his eccentric West London dwelling friends, without warning them beforehand that ‘Anna’ is Anna Scott, gigantic movie star. Their reactions, quintessentially British chat, and the way they embrace Anna, are exactly how you’d want your boyfriend’s mates to welcome you, film star or not.
Watch their reactions here
