No compatibility worries here. HBO Max is speaking your love language with the 16 romantic comedies on this list.

16 romantic comedies on HBO Max to make you believe in love again

No compatibility worries here. HBO Max is speaking your love language with the 16 romantic comedies on this list.

By Ilana Gordon and Angela Andaloro

April 30, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET

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Ryan Gosling as Jacob Palmer in 'Crazy, Stupid, Love'; Tina Fey as Claire Foster in 'Date Night'; Steve Carell as Andy Stitzer in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'. Credit:

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection; 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection; Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Humans might not be the species best equipped to mate for life — we'll leave that to the grey wolves and gibbons — but what we lack in long-term partnering abilities, we make up for in charm and style.

Those two attributes are on full display in these romantic comedies selected from the last 95 years. Featuring comedy blockbusters like *Wedding Crashers* (2005), indie debuts like *Tiny Furniture* (2010), and classic stories like *Casablanca* (1942), you'll be surprised by the amount of love HBO Max has to share.

Ready to meet your rom-com soulmate? Read on for **'s list of the 16 best romantic comedies on HBO Max.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Catherine Keener as Trish and Steve Carell as Andy Stitzer in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'.

Suzanne Hanover/Universal Studios

Judd Apatow’s first cinematic directing project had the potential to fail on an epic scale. *The 40-Year-Old Virgin* — a movie about Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell), a retail employee whose co-workers decide to take charge of his love life after learning he never lost his virginity — could have been callous, shallow, and deeply unfunny. But while Apatow has no problem dabbling in broad comedy (see: the waxing scene), he refrains from punching down, presenting Andy as a man who is afraid to grow up, but enthusiastic about trying.

Featuring Apatow stock players, including Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the cast is excellent, but it’s Carell’s earnest performance as Andy that makes the film an instant classic. *—Ilana Gordon*

**Director: **Judd Apatow

**Cast: **Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen

Am I OK? (2022)

Dakota Johnson as Lucy in 'Am I OK?'.

A coming-out and coming-of-middle-age movie codirected by comics and real-life spouses Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, *Am I Ok? *is the queer millennial movie you didn’t know you needed.

Dakota Johnson stars as Lucy, a woman stuck in career and romantic limbo, who is forced out of her everyday mundanity by a new understanding of her sexuality and her best friend’s upcoming international move.

A comedy about love — both platonic and romantic — the movie was filmed during the pandemic and premiered at Sundance, but has since found a home on HBO Max. It's also cultivated a fan base amongst those who enjoy authentic comedies about late bloomers finding love and themselves. *—I.G.*

**Directors: **Tig Notaro, Stephanie Allynne

**Cast: **Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Kiersey Clemons, Molly Gordon

Casablanca (1942)

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in 'Casablanca'. Everett Collection

Despite boasting some of the best quotes in all of cinematic history, *Casablanca* was just one of many films churned out by the studio system in the early years of World War II. But something about the movie's heart-wrenching love triangle, political and social relevance, and lush setting charmed viewers, propelling the project to an unexpected Best Picture win and a permanent spot on almost every "Best of" list.

Electricity rations were common at the time of its release, but entirely unnecessary — the sexual currents pulsing between stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman had to have been strong enough to generate power for a small city, at the very least. *—I.G.*

**EW grade:** A

**Director: **Michael Curtiz

**Cast: **Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains

City Lights (1931)

Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp and Virginia Cherrill as the Blind Girl in 'City Lights'.

Courtesy Everett

HBO Max offers a number of Charlie Chaplin’s movies, both features and shorts — the actor, director, and composer made 81 throughout the course of his career — but *City Lights *shines brighter than most.

Released in 1931, a few years after “talkies” began overtaking theaters, Chaplin chose to limit *City Light’s *sound to its score. But even without dialogue, this romantic comedy is, as EW's critic puts it, a "consummate weeper."

Chaplin returns as the Little Tramp, his signature character, who falls in love with a young blind woman. When the woman mistakes him for a millionaire, the Tramp befriends an actual millionaire and hopes to use his money to pay for an operation that would restore the woman’s sight. The movie is a must-see for any comedy or cinema history enthusiast. —*I.G.*

**Director: **Charlie Chaplin

**Cast: **Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers, Al Ernest Garcia

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Ryan Gosling as Jacob Palmer and Emma Stone as Hannah in 'Crazy, Stupid, Love'.

Ben Glass/Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

Long before Dan Fogelman was tugging on our heartstrings with *This Is Us*, he gave Hollywood a taste of what he could do with *Crazy, Stupid, Love*.

It stars Ryan Gosling as Jacob, a super-smooth chick magnet who passes his vast dating knowledge onto the newly single Cal (Steve Carell), whom he meets at a bar. Cal is wounded from his separation from his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), following her affair with a coworker (Kevin Bacon). But just as Cal gets the hang of the single life, Jacob suddenly finds himself falling for a girl named Hannah (Emma Stone) who’s not so easily impressed.

EW's reviewer writes, "*Crazy, Stupid, Love* is the perfect combination of sexy, cute, wise, hilarious, and true." *—I.G. *

**EW grade:** A

**Directors: **Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

**Cast:** Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon

Date Night (2010)

Tina Fey as Claire Foster and Steve Carell as Phil Foster in 'Date Night'.

Suzanne Tenner/Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy Everett

A screwball comedy modernized to highlight the exhausted suburban parent, *Date Night* follows Claire and Phil Foster (Tina Fey and Steve Carell), a New Jersey couple who decide to break out of their mundane routine by enjoying a trendy dinner in the city — only to find themselves confused for another pair and embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Pursued around New York City by cops and mobsters, the two rediscover their connection at gunpoint. Carell and Fey — both operating at the height of their TV comedy careers — are perfectly matched and happy to elevate an already solid script with improvised ad libs. *—I.G.*

**EW grade: **B

**Director:** Shawn Levy

**Cast:** Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Taraji P. Henson, Common, Mark Wahlberg

Dinner With Friends (2001)

Toni Collette as Beth, Dennis Quaid as Gabe, Greg Kinnear as Tom, and Andie MacDowell as Karen in 'Dinner With Friends'. Everett

HBO Max's adaptation of Donald Margulies' Pulitzer-winning 1998 play, *Dinner With Friends *maintains the original's simple premise while mining deep for emotional and personal revelations.

It tells the story of two New England couples dealing with the fact that one of the pairs is divorcing, capturing the unexpected moments of vulnerability and honesty that define long-term relationships — even ones that are falling apart.

Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell are perfectly cast as a pair of foodies who are more comfortable navigating what's on their plates than what's going on in their friends' lives, and Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette toggle between insecurity and self-assurance as the couple whose marriage is broken up by an affair with a younger woman. *—I.G.*

**Director: **Norman Jewison

**Cast: **Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette

I Married a Witch (1942)

Frederic March as Wallace and Veronica Lake as Jennifer in 'I Married a Witch'.

Donaldson Collection/Getty

Fans of the ‘60s sitcom *Bewitched *might want to check out *I Married a Witch*, a romantic comedy whose lighthearted absurdism was likely intended to serve as a distraction from the violence happening overseas during the Second World War.

Veronica Lake stars as Jennifer, a witch who returns to Earth centuries after being burned at the stake, seeking revenge against the descendant of Jonathan Wooley, the Puritan who persecuted her. But her plans for retribution are rerouted after Jennifer meets Wallace Wooley, an aspiring politician, and falls in love with him.

All of the Wooley men in the movie are portrayed by Fredric March, but it’s Lake’s wit and charisma that carry the film. *—I.G.*

**EW grade: **B+

**Director: **René Clair

**Cast: **Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward, Cecil Kellaway

The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000)

Billie Whitelaw as Evelyn and Judi Dench as Elizabeth in 'The Last of the Blonde Bombshells'. HBO/Everett

A film with a sensibility that can only be described as singularly British, *The Last of the Blonde Bombshells *is a romantic comedy with rhythm. Elizabeth (Judi Dench) spent World War II playing saxophone in a swing band called the Blonde Bombshells. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth reconnects with Patrick (Ian Holm) — the band's former drummer and only male member, who avoided conscription during the war by cross-dressing.

When the pair starts dating, Elizabeth decides to get the band back together, but discovers the Bombshells have scattered, with members in jail, struggling with alcoholism, or devoted to the Salvation Army.

Witty and nostalgic, *The Last of the Blonde Bombshells *is another piece of evidence that blondes really do have more fun. *—I.G.*

**Director: **Gillies MacKinnon

**Cast: **Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Romola Garai, Olympia Dukakis

Let Them All Talk (2020)

Meryl Streep as Alice in 'Let Them All Talk'. HBO Max

Joan Didion once said "Writers are always selling someone out," and that is exactly what Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Hughes (Meryl Streep) is accused of doing. In *Let Them All Talk*, Alice boards the Queen Mary 2 on a transatlantic trip with the intention of writing her new book and spending time with two of her oldest friends (Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest).

But as the voyage proceeds, Alice ends up battling with Roberta (Bergen) over how much of her original book was based on Roberta's life, and watching as her nephew, Tyler (Lucas Hedges), falls for her literary agent, Karen (Gemma Chan).

Funny, wise, bitter, and made in barely two weeks, EW's critic describes the film as "a chance to spend two hours watching Streep & Co. make the most of Deborah Eisenberg's deliciously salty script." *—I.G.*

**EW grade: **A–

**Director: **Steven Soderbergh

**Cast: **Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest, Gemma Chan, Lucas Hedges

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The Lobster (2015)

Jessica Barden as Nosebleed Woman and Colin Farrell as David in 'The Lobster'.

Everett Collection

An absurdist black comedy that satirizes our culture's discomfort around uncoupled people, *The Lobster* asks what would happen if singles were given 45 days to find a mate — or be transformed into the animal of their choice.

After David's (Colin Farrell) wife leaves him, he is taken to a hotel and instructed to find someone compatible. But when an incident involving a potential life partner forces him to flee into the woods to live with the loners, David discovers that it doesn't matter where you are or who you're with — falling in love is never easy.

*The Lobster* is one of the most original romantic comedies we've seen. It'll claw at your brain for weeks after watching. *—I.G.*

**EW grade: **A

**Director: **Yorgos Lanthimos

**Cast:** Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, John C. Reilly, Olivia Colman

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

John Corbett as Ian Miller and Nia Vardalos as Toula Portokalos in 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. Gold Circle Films

Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) embraces her role as the loyal yet overlooked member of her enormous clan — until she decides to take control of her life at 30.

While her parents tirelessly seek the perfect Greek man for her, Toula knows none of those suitors stand a chance against WASP English teacher Ian Miller (John Corbett), who's head over heels and eager to win her family's approval. (He's really all that and a bottle of Windex!)

Adapted from Vardalos' one-woman show, *My Big Fat Greek Wedding *delves into the dynamics of growing up in an immigrant household and navigating a world that centers on conformity. —*Angela Andaloro*

**Director:** Joel Zwick

**Cast:** Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides**

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden and Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood in 'Singin' in the Rain'. Everett Collection

Widely considered one of the best musicals ever captured on film, *Singin' in the Rain* has everything from music and dance to comedy and romance. Released 29 years after the entertainment industry premiered its first movie featuring sound-on-film, it stars Gene Kelly as a celebrated silent film actor struggling to make the jump to the talkies, and Debbie Reynolds as an up-and-coming actress trying to break into the business.

The majority of the film's comedy and over-the-top dance numbers are provided by the charismatic Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen makes a delightful (and Oscar-nominated) turn as Lina Lamont, a silent movie star with a face for film and a Brooklyn accent strong enough to stop traffic.

A beloved treasure and shining representative from Hollywood's Golden Era, *Singin' in the Rain* continues to endure and inspire. *—I.G.*

**Directors: **Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

**Cast: **Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen

Tiny Furniture (2010)

Lena Dunham as Aura and Alex Karpovsky as Jed in 'Tiny Furniture'.

Lena Dunham made a name for herself with 2010's *Tiny Furniture*. In addition to writing and directing the indie, Dunham stars alongside her mother and younger sibling, Cyrus Grace Dunham. This rom-com is among the first to investigate millennial post-grad life from the perspective of a real millennial.

A forerunner to Dunham's HBO series *Girls*, *Tiny Furniture* covers similar thematic territory and includes a few familiar faces. EW’s critic writes, “ It’s a tiny tale of inertia, and it’s also the grand triumph of a young artist with a mature trust in her own unique voice.” *—I.G.*

**EW grade:** A

**Director: **Lena Dunham

**Cast: **Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Cyrus Grace Dunham, David Call, Alex Karpovsky

Wedding Crashers (2005)

Rachel McAdams as Claire Cleary and Owen Wilson as John Beckwith in 'Wedding Crashers'. Everett Collection

A bromantic comedy with more depth than meets the eye, *Wedding Crashers* tells the story of John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn), two D.C. mediators with little faith in the sacred bonds of matrimony.

What they do believe in, however, is the power of the wedding reception to act as an accelerant for picking up women, which is why these best friends have turned the act of crashing weddings into a seasonal sport. But after John meets Claire (Rachel McAdams) at her sister’s nuptials, he finds he’s willing to overlook traditional crashing etiquette to get closer.

And while spending the weekend with Claire’s wealthy and powerful family at their Maryland compound, John and Jeremy are forced to reexamine their beliefs around love and marriage, and discover there might be more to life than crashing. *—I.G.*

**EW grade: **A–

**Director: **David Dobkin

**Cast:** Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper

We Live in Time (2024)

Andrew Garfield as Tobias and Florence Pugh as Almut in 'We Live in Time'.

Peter Mountain/StudioCanal

A romantic dramedy about love, aging, and what it truly means to live life to the fullest, *We Live in Time* unfolds across three different timelines.

From the moment Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) first meet — she hits him with her car as he’s on his way to sign divorce papers — it’s clear this film is not interested in employing a traditional, linear, narrative structure. It jumps between past, present, and future, and while the logic behind its structure isn’t always clear, the characters, their relationship, and the chemistry between Pugh and Garfield are strong enough to ground the audience through the leaps. *—I.G.*

**Director: **John Crowley

**Cast: **Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh

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