Celebrate your loved one, Valentine's Day with these 10 rom coms

<p><strong>Jacob Musselman, DN Illustration</strong></p>

Jacob Musselman, DN Illustration

How does Rotten Tomatoes’ scoring work? 

Rotten Tomatoes is an online aggregator of movie and TV show reviews from critics. Its scoring, called The Tomatometer, represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or TV show. A Tomatometer score is calculated for a movie or TV show after it receives at least five reviews.

When at least 60% of reviews for a movie are positive, the movie has a “Fresh” status.

When less than 60% of reviews for a movie are positive, the movie has a “Rotten” status.

When a movie has a Tomatometer score of 75% or higher, the movie is considered as “Certified Fresh.” 

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Love triangles, swelling music and kissing in the rain are all aspects of the romantic comedy movie genre. Film companies, such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal and Paramount Pictures, have made between $196 million to nearly $378 million in box office ticket sales from their highest-grossing rom coms, according to The Numbers, a movie industry data and research service. With Valentine’s Day coming up, instead of clicking “next episode” during your usual Netflix binge, consider celebrating the loving holiday with the top 10 highest-grossing romantic comedies.  

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99

Released April 19, 2002

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76 percent

Stars: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett 

Synopsis: Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos is 30 years old, unmarried and still lives with her Greek immigrant parents. When she finally falls in love, she struggles to get the rest of her family to accept her non-Greek boyfriend. 

“There’s Something About Mary”

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $3.99

Released July 15, 1998

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83 percent

Stars: Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon 

Synopsis: Ted’s dream prom date with Mary goes terribly wrong. Years later, Ted is still in love with Mary, and he hires a private detective, Healy, to find Mary, so the two of them can reconnect. When Healy and many others fall in love with Mary as well, Ted tries to be the one to win her heart. 

“Jerry Maguire”

Rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99

Released Dec. 13, 1996

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83 percent 

Stars: Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger 

Synopsis: When sports agent Jerry Maguire is fired from his successful job, he forms an independent agency with only one athlete and his secretary Dorothy Boyd. As they struggle to start their business from scratch, Jerry and Dorothy begin to form their own relationship. 

“What Women Want”

Available with Hulu subscription, or rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99

Released Dec. 15, 2000

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 54 percent

Stars: Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt

Synopsis: After falling into his bath tub holding a hair dryer and shocking himself, Nick Marshall awakes with the ability to hear women’s thoughts. He learns what the women at his workplace truly think about him. 

“As Good As It Gets”

Available with Netflix subscription, or rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99

Released Dec. 24, 1997

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85 percent

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Greg Kinnear, Helen Hunt

Synopsis: Romance novelist Melvin Udall is known for being a misanthropist. His outlook on life starts to change when he has to take care of his neighbor Simon’s dog after Simon is hospitalized. Incidentally, taking care of Simon’s dog draws the attention of the only waitress in town. 

“Runaway Bride”

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99 

Released July 30, 1999

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46 percent

Stars: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere

Synopsis: New York City columnist Homer "Ike" Eisenhower Graham calls Maggie Carpenter “the runaway bride” because she has left three grooms at the altar. Ike gets into trouble for not verifying his source. To save his reputation, he travels to Maggie’s hometown to prove whether what he wrote was true. 

“Hitch”

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $6.99

Released Feb. 11, 2005

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68 percent

Stars: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James

Synopsis: Alex "Hitch" Hitchens is a professional dating consultant for men. While helping his latest client, he discovers his usual tactics don’t work, as he flirts with workaholic and gossip columnist Sara Melas. 

“Notting Hill”

Available with Hulu subscription, or rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99

Released May 18, 1999

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83 percent

Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts 

Synopsis: William Thacker’s life changes when a famous American actress visits his bookstore. When he runs into her again, a romance starts between the two of them as the rest of the world looks on. 

“The Proposal”

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99

Released June 19, 2009

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 44 percent

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds

Synopsis: As she faces her deportation back to Canada, book editor Margaret Tate lies to the government and says she’s engaged to her assistant Andrew Paxton. To keep up their charade, Andrew takes Margaret to his hometown in Alaska where Margaret instantly feels out of place among the rest of his family. 

“Knocked Up” 

Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99

Released June 1, 2007

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90 percent

Stars: Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogan 

Synopsis: Ben Stone’s one-night stand with journalist Alison Scott turns into something more when she finds out she is pregnant with his baby. As Ben returns back into Alison’s life to support her throughout her pregnancy, they also decide to give their relationship another chance. 

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