Film Gecko Five: Romantic Movie Moments, Part 3
February 13, 2009 by Jane Boursaw
In honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I’m doing a series on Top Romantic Movie Moments. Check out Part 1 and Part 2, and see if you agree with my choices in Part 3 below. And add your own favorites in the comments section!
1. An Officer and a Gentleman. Zack (Richard Gere) is a commitment-shy Naval trainee who’s afraid of love. Paula (Debra Winger) is a world-weary factory worker whose Naval officer father loved and left her mother 20 years earlier. It looks like this relationship is headed for NoWheresVille, too, but then…Zack strides through the factory in his white Navy uniform, swoops Paula up in his arms, and carries her out as all of her friends cheer. And we cheer, too, because, well…the guy usually doesn’t come back. Not in real life, anyway.
2. Sleepless in Seattle. As Annie (Meg Ryan) wanders sadly around the top of the Empire State Building, she’s afraid she blew her one chance at happiness. Then she sees a backpack and picks it up, just as Sam (Tom Hanks) and his son, Jonah, step off the elevator. Sam and Annie can’t stop looking at each other as they all get on the elevator and begin the rest of their lives together…sigh…
3. Romancing the Stone. They faced down smugglers and kidnappers together, but when Jack (Michael Douglas) jumps over the side of that boat in search of the crocodile that ate the diamond…well, we never expected to see him or the diamond again. And neither did Joan (Kathleen Turner), which makes him showing up outside her NYC apartment with new yacht in tow all the more sweeter.
4. When Harry Met Sally. It’s New Year’s Eve, and Sally (Meg Ryan) is looking around for someone to kiss, but everyone is taken, and then…we see Harry (Billy Crystal) running frantically down the street and into the party. He fights his way through the crowd to find her and says breathlessly, “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Yes!
5. An Affair to Remember. Nickie (Cary Grant) is getting ready to leave Terry’s (Deborah Kerr) apartment forever, and then he stops and realizes…he strides across the room and opens the door of an adjacent room, sees the wheelchair, and goes back to embrace her. “Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but my own!” she cries. “I was looking up… it was the nearest thing to heaven! You were there…” And we just know she’ll be able to walk again, but even if she doesn’t, all is right with the world.
Images: Amazon.com
