Valentine’s Day has come and passed.  The chocolate has melted into a gooey pile of brown, and the paper hearts have been crumpled away in a dusty drawer.  The holiday has ended with a black Sharpie line through the calendar’s glossy “14,” but fear not!  There is a way to keep the love alive! Though there is only one commercial day dedicated to love (as far as I know of), you can watch a romantic movie any day of the year.  Though the world is an ever-changing place, these gooey flicks remain the same.  

Today I will be assessing the merits of two classics – Love Actually and Say Anything.

On face value, these two movies have a lot in common: without even delving into the plotlines, they both consist of snappy two-word titles that quote iconic lines from each film.  But in genre, style, and subject matter, they contrast in many ways.

Love Actually is a British Christmas-themed romantic comedy made in 2003, following the romances of 8 distinct, but interrelated couples.  Not every story has a happy ending, but that adds to the beauty of the story as a whole.  Every circumstance is different, and the audience finds that love is not defined singularly, but can come in many forms.

Contrarily, Say Anything is an American-made comedic romance / drama, that follows the story of high school “nobody” Lloyd (John Cusack!!) as he courts the beautiful and intelligent valedictorian, Diane.  Their love story is complex and nonlinear, and who could forget the iconic boombox scene?

Truly I have found that these movies are rather incomparable . . . So, I don’t really know what I’m getting at here.  Both are romances, and both are great movies, so I would recommend watching each at some point in your life (for the pop-culture references if nothing else).  Personally, I am biased towards preferring anything John-Cusack-related, so I am going to go on a limb and tell you that Say Anything is the better movie, but that is 100% opinion-based and without any facts (except for the fact that John Cusack rules).

Good day.