Unrequited love means that someone you loved didn't feel the same way about you. Many a tragic movie has started or ended with a depressed, bitter, or resentful person that couldn't take the rejection. Their actions usually drove the plot and they often acted as an antagonist, but the story could also be a sympathetic one. In the case of romantic comedies or teen dramas, the unresolved feelings and their impact are often the whole point of the story.
Sometimes, the drama is about a love triangle or a stubborn former partner who just couldn't let go, a source of both horror and comedy. There's also the tragic story of those caught up in career, location, or social status, which drives a wedge between lovers despite their mutual feelings, and love is left by the wayside. Recent popular movies have explored how revisiting old crushes can either revive unrequited feelings or resolve them, because there's always a chance, right? Except when there isn't.
10 The Notebook - 53%
The audience score for The Notebook is much higher than the critics at 89%, and often movies with this level of sentiment are more about pleasing crowds than critics anyway. This is a story about unrequited love that's not unrequited love after all, but throw some class warfare, actual warfare, and dementia into this emotionally manipulative cocktail and the audience can have it both ways.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams look great together and their chemistry is stellar. It is a hopelessly romantic film that's ideal for any date night.
9 Once Upon A Time In Mexico - 66%
General Marquez loved Carolina, but her heart belonged to El Mariachi, and she joined forces with him and betrayed the General. Thus began a saga of revenge and violence that lasted for three movies, and viewers were so thrilled with the crazy stunts and exciting storyline that they almost forgot it all began with unrequited love.
The movie looks great, filmed in colonial towns in Mexico, and director Roberto Rodriguez doesn't hold back with his signature blueprint of action, music, and dramatic storytelling.
8 Dumb And Dumber - 68%
For Lloyd, it was love at first sight. For Mary, not so much. In fact, he misunderstood completely and thought she wanted that briefcase back when it was really the ransom money for her husband. This is what drives Lloyd and his friend Harry across the country, and when Mary meets Lloyd's friend Harry, she doesn't like him either. Lloyd is so clueless about this that he continues to pursue Mary even after she flat-out tells him she doesn't feel the same way with that now-famous "one in a million" line that goes right over Lloyd's bowl-cut.
The audience score for Dumb and Dumber is much higher, with a rating of 84%, partly because Jeff Daniels does a brilliant job of playing a goofy clown in the same year he played a tough cop partner to Keanu Reeves in Speed.
7 Corpse Bride - 84%
There are few tales more tragic than the one of the bride who dies on her intended wedding night, explaining the title and part of the plot for Corpse Bride. Undeterred even in death, Emily waits for her intended as a corpse and it's the unlucky Victor who accidentally marries her. Emily feels bound to Victor, in part thanks to the curse that holds her to her vows even in death, but Victor doesn't feel the same way.
The plot revolves around the arranged marriage of Victor and Victoria, and how the afterlife can ruin a typical Victorian wedding. It's a fun movie to watch because of the unique design and has an uplifting ending, even though most of it is somber in that endearing Tim Burton-esque way.
6 Always Be My Maybe - 89%
It was unrequited love 15 years ago, but does it have to be that way forever? People can change and so can feelings, which is the premise of Always Be My Maybe. Sasha and Marcus were teenagers together, but after a falling out, they go their separate ways for more than a decade. When they reluctantly connect again, their lives and careers have changed, but their feelings haven't and maybe that youthful love wasn't so unfulfilled after all.
This movie revisits the will-they-won't-they trope with some nice chemistry and deft writing that shows plenty of character development on both sides, which is why it has a Tomatometer score of 89% and a comparable audience score of 80%.
5 La La Land - 91%
It's easier to fall in love when you have more free time on your hands, and when Sebastian and Mia first meet, they're just starting out in Hollywood. Their relationship starts out like a romantic dream, but eventually and ironically, success comes between them.
The singing, dancing, and vintage period setting made it all fun to watch, in spite of the sadness. It wasn't just romantic and gorgeous to watch, La La Land made musicals cool again. It's a highly rated movie in virtually every category, with a Tomatometer score of 91% and an audience score of 81%, along with a few Oscar wins.
4 La Bamba - 91%
La Bamba isn't just about Donna and Ritchie, but it is part of the drama in this mostly-true story about the brief career of Ritchie Valens and how the world lost his talent too soon. This is one of the 1980s music biopics that doesn't get enough attention, and the discrepancy between the Tomatometer score of 91% and an audience rating of 78% reflects this.
The song that first brought Ritchie Valens fame was called Donna, and it was a true story. They had reciprocal feelings, but Donna's parents had issues with their daughter dating someone of another race, so they couldn't be together, and Ritchie's death in a plane crash took that last chance away from them.
3 Princess Mononoke - 93%
"That boy wanted to share his life with you," Moro, the Wolf Goddess, tells her human daughter before they ride into battle. After this stunning adventure through the mythological forests of medieval Japan, the audience might expect the hero and the girl he loves to ride off into the sunset together. Princess Mononoke is a story about the future, however, and despite the subject matter, it's surprisingly unsentimental.
This movie ends in a way that's too realistic for romantic tropes, and the moral of the story is that maybe that's for the best. The ending of the movie isn't a completely closed door, with Ashitaka promising to visit San, but she has issues with humanity that aren't ready to be resolved.
2 To All the Boys I've Loved Before - 96%
Sometimes, if you don't have the courage to tell someone how you feel, you write to them instead. Then you wimp out when it comes time to actually send the letter, or maybe you never intended for anyone to see it in the first place.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before plays with the usual teen drama and romantic comedy tropes, so even though the plot sounds cringeworthy, it's handled well with likable characters and good chemistry between the leading actors. The relatable situation the story is based on is a hit with both viewers and critics, with a Tomatometer score of 96% and an audience rating of 86%.
1 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - 97%
It's not just the high ratings that put this fan-favorite at the top of the list, but the two stories about unrequited love that run through the background of this already epic tale. As soon as the movie starts, we're introduced to Master Li Mu Bai and his friend, Yu Shu Lien. They don't hide their mutual feelings but have sworn to never consummate them out of respect for Li Mu Bai's deceased oath brother, Yu Shu Lien's former fiance.
On the other side of this spectrum are the young lovers: Lo, a bandit from the desert also known as Dark Cloud, and Jen Yu, the highborn young woman who's secretly a martial arts master. Add a magical sword into this mix and you have a tale of adventure, revenge, magic, and lost love.
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