7 Best Love Triangles In Rom-Coms
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Love is a many splendid thing. It confuses, delights, and has the power to change the way one person lives the rest of their life. For as long as there was romance in movies, there has been romantic rivalry. Over the years, some of the greatest classic authors wrote timeless stories containing romantic elements within its primary plot—Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and Shakespeare just to name a few. Such love stories were later translated to the big screen, faithful to the source material or containing elements of the story from which it came. Thus romantic-comedy films came onto the scene and became a beloved genre for filmgoers whether or not they would call themselves “hopeless romantics”.
Romantic films traditionally have two characters viewers expect to fall in love with each other. These are the characters the audience root for. However, a wrench can be thrown into the mix. This wrench comes in the form of the romantic rival: another crush for the main character or the significant other written to resemble the “other”. The “other” is either written to be a safe, boring choice or the jerk made to be rooted against. More recently, the two romantic options are presented on an even playing field: both actively competing or passive to the rivalry.
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In honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write about some notable love triangles in romance. However, these love triangles are centered around the film’s plot. They do not have to consist of the entire film’s run time, but the love triangle has to present itself organically as the film continues. In addition, the feelings between each character in the love triangle are acknowledged to some degree for the film goer to wonder who is the best choice. Whoever is chosen must be one of the options in the love triangle. Lastly, these films are strictly modern rom-com films as opposed to adaptions of more classic romance works, period pieces, romantic dramas, and television series.
7. 'My Best Friend’s Wedding'
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The first film coming to my mind as a romantic-comedy, My Best Friend’s Wedding was my catalyst of analyzing the validity of the choices a main character makes in the pursuit of “destiny”. At the start of the film, it can be assumed Julianne (Jules) lives a comfortable life as a food critic. She has a certain level of success and work-life balance, though she seems to desire a romantic relationship. Reminiscing with one of her close friends, George, Jules remembers a vow she made with her best friend, Michael (the first part of the love triangle) to marry each other if they were both still single at 28 years old. Problematic connotations aside, this statement and Michael’s announcement of being engaged to 20-year-old Kimmy awakens Jule’s once-dormant “love” for Michael. The awakening turns into a full-blown obsession.
After all, Jules has known Michael for years and should therefore have an advantage over his fiancee. However, her underhanded tactics to make Kimmy appear unworthy/undesirable backfire. Kimmy is graceful, generous, and comes from a well-to-do family. Even in the brief success of Michael and Kimmy calling off the wedding due to a misunderstanding (caused by Julianne forging an email from Michael’s boss to fire him under the guise of working for Kimmy’s dad per Kimmy’s wishes), Kimmy is scared to tell her parents fearing their disappointment and the fallout of the wedding being cancelled on the actual wedding date. An understandable dilemma for someone with not much life experience and few friends. Meanwhile, Jule’s desperation to claim Michael’s love forces the audience to think deeply about what her true motivations were.
Scattered throughout the film, Michael sends mixed signals to both Kimmy and Julianne. Yes, he is engaged to Kimmy, but he shares intimate moments with his best friend—focusing a majority of his attention on Julianne with Kimmy stuck in the middle during a night out, admitting jealousy when seeing Jules with another man only, slow dancing with her while singing “The Way You Look Tonight”, and complimenting her when out of her maid of honor dress—but when push came to shove, Michael chased after Kimmy. He picked her. He didn’t kiss his best friend back once she admits her feelings to him on his wedding day. He created special moments with a different woman. Ending up with Michael sends the message of the ends justifying the means, some of which were borderline illegal.
6. '10 Things I Hate About You'
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A modern re-telling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, romantic tension is bound to be present if not the main plot of the story. While the romantic rivalry between Cameron and Joey for Bianca’s heart begins as one-sided, the love triangle was propelled by the actions of another male lead, Patrick Verona, and the villainous contender for Bianca’s affection, Joey. Patrick could care less about who ends up with Bianca as it’s Joey’s money funding his pursuit Bianca’s temperamental sister Kat so Bianca can date (per the sisters’ dad rules), but he is quick to point out that Cameron shouldn’t allow his low opinion of himself to keep him from trying to be more than Bianca’s tool to make Joey notice her and pass her classes. It’s this affirmation that makes Cameron confront Bianca for being shallow and using her beauty to get what she wants. Forced to face her actions in the mirror, Bianca looks past his social standing in the high school hierarchy and realizes Joey’s beauty is only skin deep.
Joey, only pursuing Bianca in an attempt to bed her, doesn’t feel the need to put up a fight for her attention as he maintained the delusion that because since he and her were popular, Bianca was for all intents and purposes his. No need to try when used to getting everything and anything with minimal effort. He previously slept with Kat back when she was young and popular, so Bianca wasn’t anything or anyone different in his eyes. He didn’t witness Kat confiding to Bianca about her and Joey, her growing affections to Cameron, and her severing her friendship with Chastity after she reveals Joey’s ulterior motives. Had he witnessed it, Joey would not have Bianca give him a broken nose and a black eye.
5. 'Sweet Home Alabama'
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An often forgotten romantic comedy from the early 2000s, viewers are thrust into the nitty gritty of the triangle without realizing it. Viewers are in the dark about Melanie’s intentions, just like her fiancee Andrew and Jake, the man who is still her husband legally. A love triangle formed through Melanie’s actions and inaction. Such a twist. Learning about Melanie’s past and her eagerness to erase it, audience favor is not on her side. Lying to Andrew about her past (and name) and expecting things to go her way when she breezes into her hometown believing she will be granted an easy divorce from Jake, Melanie realizes too late Jake holds the power. Her desire to live a high society life away from her Southern roots is in his hands. She can’t have Andrew find out she’s still legally married, especially with Andrew’s mother already thinking low of her.
Blinded by her pride, Melanie does all she can to persuade Jake to divorce her. Emptying his bank accounts does grant her what she wants, but her belief that she is better than those who stayed in her hometown cause her to insult everyone, even going as far as outing one of them. Though she apologizes, Melanie’s actions do not absolve her actions. She had the power to leave with some audience favor after Jake granted her the divorce. The one blessing gained is that Andrew did not witness Melanie’s behavior. On the other hand, audience favor is granted to Andrew as he chooses not to hold Melanie’s past against her when it’s brought to light. He still wants to marry her despite his mother’s objections. Even at the wedding, Melanie never signed the aforementioned divorce papers. Again, he remains understanding of the fact that Melanie fell back in love with Jake, a man who quietly and humbly made something of himself upon seeing his estranged wife become successful years before. Andrew’s patience and understanding are rewarded with a new fiancée. Melanie and Jake deserve each other in a way. Too many secrets between each other to be a victorious pairing.
4. 'Bridget Jones’s Diary'
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Another film based on a classic story, Bridget Jones’s Diary introduces the titular woman’s love interests off the bat. A loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Bridget acts as the Elizabeth stand-in, torn between Mark Darcy (Mr. Darcy) and Daniel Cleaver (George Wickham). In true Austen-style fashion, Mark’s first impression is not a favorable one—for the audience and for Bridget. Seeing how Mark views her, it’s Bridget’s metaphorical kicking the pants to improve her life. Unfortunately, one of these “improvements” includes her involvement with her womanizing boss, Daniel. Drawn by her newfound confidence and more revealing outfits, the two start a relationship (of sorts). Living out her fantasy of being with the smarmy man isn’t all it's cracked up to be when forced to confront the fact that she was nothing but something for him to use to pass the time.
During this time, Bridget learns more about Mark’s history. This includes his past history with Daniel. Holding onto the belief that Mark and Daniel’s friendship ended due to Mark cheating with Daniel’s then fiancée (in reality, it was the other way around). Knowing this prevents Bridget from fully allowing herself to disconnect from Daniel and look at Mark more favorably. Mark slowly earns himself in her graces by helping her advance in her career, cooking a birthday meal with her (somewhat successfully), and admitting he still likes her faults and all. A true Mr. Darcy fighting to defend her and getting her to see she is worth more than being with someone who is “not quite sure” about her.
3. 'Pretty In Pink'
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A beloved 80s comedy borrowing another classic trope: two characters from opposite ends of the wealth spectrum in love with one another as the rest of their world reminds them how the two don’t belong together. So much to the point where Not Another Teen Movie lampooned it…with Molly Ringwald calling attention to it.
In John Hughes’ classic, Ringwald plays Andie, a “stylish teen from the wrong side of the tracks” who falls for classmate Blaine (played by Andrew McCarthy), a “mostly goodhearted yuppie” who is mutually enamored with her despite the objections of caddish best friend. According to Time magazine, Andie’s “sweet, yet awkward” best friend Duckie is also fighting for her affections. However, his efforts to make Andie notice him don’t include being upfront with her. Too shy to tell her how he feels, Duckie’s feelings come out by insulting Andie and being jealous of her spending time with Blaine given how those in Blaine’s socio-economic class have bullied her and Duckie throughout their high school years. Suddenly, Blaine is ashamed and of Andie and thinks Duckie might be right.
Pretty in Pink took “a tried-and-tested formula and applies some commentary about classism to freshen things up.” Blaine and Duckie are more than just contenders for Andie’s heart, they represent the kind of life Andie will commit herself to. She’s not ashamed of her background when with Duckie considering they grew up together. Meanwhile, she was embarrassed to show Blaine where she lived. Andie desires someone she can be herself with and someone who isn’t ashamed of her. On paper, that makes Duckie a perfect match. However, he doesn’t have much room for growth outside of coming to terms that Andie isn’t going to magically fall in love with him. It is Blaine who learns from his time with Andie how shallow and hypocritical his so-called friends are and Duckie admits he was wrong about Blaine. Everyone finds their person just in time for prom.
2. 'The Wedding Planner'
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With love, comes the planning and event of the wedding day. The white dress, ornate decor, bridesmaids, friends, and family witnessing the (arguably) most important moment of your life. When planning the biggest day in most couples’ lives, it’s common that the one who has seen the end result of their hard work come to life wants that special treatment for themselves. According to Ranker, “The Wedding Planner is one of those rom-coms that’s scientifically geared to please fans of the genre…it's pretty clear which couple is meant to appeal to the audience...” The couple meant for the audience’s favor is the titular wedding planner Mary (played by Jennifer Lopez in her romantic-comedy era) and Steve (played by Matthew McConaughey).
Privy to the genre, Mary career of planning other people’s weddings has left her feeling like “having one of her own seems like a pipe dream”. The one time her hopes get up, it’s over Steve, a “hunk” who rescues her from a near-death experience. Of course, it Steve is the soon-to-be-groom of her biggest client to date. Making matters more complicated, Mary needs to be all business to get the promotion she desperately craves. Things only get worse as Steve has started an emotional affair with Mary while engaged to his heiress fiancee Fran Donolly. We’re supposed to somewhat sympathize as Fran is depicted as being so uninterested in the wedding process to the point where her admitting her reluctance to get wedding doesn’t come across as a surprise. Per the rom-com formula, Mary is forced to decide between what her heart wants and what her head is telling her. In the end, she goes with her heart. While Mary always wanted a wedding of her very own, she also wanted the love and the fairytale included with it.
1. 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'
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Not a love story, but the slow revelation of two people facing the truth of how unbalanced their relationship was. Looking at a relationship with rose-colored glasses is an easy thing to do; remembering the good times and only thinking of the good times when wanting to continue the relationship, when the other has checked out. In the case of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Sarah Marshall is the one checked out of the relationship with boyfriend Peter. The film makes it clear that Peter is living in Sarah’s shadow, yet clings to an idealized version of her and his time spent with her after their relationship ends. Meanwhile, Sarah has quickly moved on with womanizing rockstar Aldous Snow. Trapped in the high of a new relationship, Sarah unknowingly becomes the Peter in her new relationship.
Despite being more famous than Peter, Sarah’s stardom begins fading while Aldous is on the rise. Not to mention, their relationship started as a year-long affair before Sarah broke up with Peter. Rather than just demonizing Sarah for cheating, the film shows moments where Sarah did try to get Peter out of a depressive state, giving him a job by composing the music for her show, and having him attend red carpet events with her to get him out there. Conversely, Peter remembers Sarah almost always using him to hold her purse while the camera focuses on her on those red carpet events. In essence, he was a cardboard cut out in his own relationship.
Until he made it to the island and looked inward, Peter was able to let go and explore his feelings for Rachel. The quintessential “cool girl”, Rachel represents spontaneity and taking risks, the opposite of Sarah. From this, Peter opens up about writing and performing a rock opera. Meanwhile, Peter’s newfound confidence, brought out by Rachel, sparks jealousy in Sarah, later causing Aldous to end their “relationship.” The term “relationship” I use loosely. “Long-term situationship” is a better fit as the film has a love triangle consisting of two people on the rebound of a breakup taking off their rose-colored glasses.
Conclusion
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Love is amazing, confusing, and everything in between. Whoever it befalls has the power to make it last. It’s never guaranteed based on memories shared and common interests. Those listed above may have had love, or the love they were capable of, for the person or persons in question, but it took more than love for them to make their eventual choice. Whether the choice was the right one is up to the viewer. There are plenty more romantic films I haven’t talked about. Had dramas been included, the list would be at least twice as long.
Choosing someone to love sounds easy in theory, but most films end once the choice is made. Nonetheless, we enjoy the cozy, formulaic movies where the "right choice" is made clear, and that's okay. Romance is fun to watch because it's someone's love life with a guaranteed happy ending.
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Sources: Ranker, YouTube, Daily Motion, Lifestyle Asia, Time
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