Entertainment

25 Rom-Coms With Low Rotten Tomatoes Scores For Your Guilty Pleasure Movie Night

by Jasmine Ting
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Lionsgate

Whether you're having a movie night with some friends, getting over a bad breakup, or just looking for a feel-good watch for a Friday night in — romantic comedies are an easy go-to choice. The sometimes cheesy, oftentimes predictable, boy-meets-girl storylines may get a bad rep, but also... they still slap. Some of our favorite rom-coms are more guilty pleasures than others. So if you're in the mood for something beyond — or below — the critically acclaimed part of the canon, you can check out of these 25 rom-coms with low Rotten Tomatoes scores.

This isn't a guide to what not to watch. Some of the items on this list may not have aged as well as others, but many of these films are worth a revisit, either for nostalgia's sake or for some genuine laughs. They may not be remembered as great works of art, but that doesn't mean they don't have any value. Who doesn't want to see Paris Hilton lead a rom-com?

You may find yourself cringing at some of these, and don't go looking for a worthwhile moral at the heart of them. But if you're true rom-com trash, you need to gather some likeminded pals and make a marathon out of these films.

1

'Down To You'

Tomatometer: 3%

Al Connelly (Freddie Prinze Jr.) meets the girl of his dreams, Imogen (Julia Stiles). After his friends successfully persuade him that being single and sleeping around is better than being in a committed relationship, he realizes that he was wrong and does everything to win her back.

2

'Mr. Wrong'

Tomatometer: 3%

Martha Alston (Ellen DeGeneres) is feeling the pressure to couple up after her sister's wedding. Then, she meets Whitman Crawford (Bill Pullman) and is smitten. Soon, she finds herself in a relationship, but the more she gets to know Whitman, the more she realizes that she's made a horrible mistake.

3

'Serving Sara'

Tomatometer: 4%

Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) is a process server who was given the task to serve Sara Moore (Elizabeth Hurley) divorce papers from her Texas business tycoon husband and partner, who is suing her for half her assets to the company. But then Sara presents Joe with an offer that he can't refuse. And so begins their cross-country adventure.

4

'The Hottie & The Nottie'

Tomatometer: 4%

Nate Cooper (Joel David Moore) moves to L.A. and tracks down his first love, Cristabel (Paris Hilton). And while he sees a window of opportunity, Cristabel made a promise not to date anyone until she finds someone for her not-so-hot childhood best friend/roommate June (Christine Lakin), who Nate finds himself developing feelings for.

5

'Good Luck Chuck'

Tomatometer: 5%

Charlie Logan (Dane Cook) has been cursed. Whoever he sleeps with moves on and finds true love with their next partner. And while it's all fun and games for him at the beginning, he finds himself in quite the predicament when he falls completely in love with the clumsy yet charming Cam (Jessica Alba).

6

'Gigli'

Tomatometer: 6%

Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) gets assigned a mission by a crime boss to kidnap and watch over the brother of a prominent district attorney. What he didn't expect was that Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) would be assigned to the same mission. The two are asked to make sure to keep each other in check, and it gets progressively more difficult for both of them to keep things professional.

7

'All About Steve'

Tomatometer: 7%

After one blind date, eccentric crossword puzzle writer Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) is convinced that cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) is her true love. Unfortunately, the feelings aren't mutual. So Mary decides to trail Steve on his work trip across the country to try and convince him that they belong together.

8

'License To Wed'

Tomatometer: 7%

Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) are engaged. But before the two say "I do," Sadie and her family insist on having the couple go through an wildly grueling marriage preparation course with the intrusive Reverend Frank (Robin Williams).

9

'The Bachelor'

Tomatometer: 9%

Jimmie Shannon (Chris O'Donnell) was a commitment-phobic bachelor until he met Anne (Renée Zellwegger). But his lame proposal ends their relationship, which is terrible timing given that the only way he can get his grandfather's inheritance is if he can find a bride within 24 hours. So he sets out on an adventure to find someone who's willing to exchange vows for the family fortune.

10

'Say It Isn't So'

Tomatometer: 9%

Josephine Wingfield (Heather Graham) and Gilbert Noble (Chris Klein) seemed like the perfect match, until Gilly finds out that they might be brother and sister and he becomes a wanted sex offender. But once he finds out the truth, he does everything he can to win Jo back before she gets married to someone else.

11

'Head Over Heels'

Tomatometer: 10%

Amanda Pierce (Monica Potter) moves in with four models after breaking up with a cheating boyfriend. She falls head-over-heels in love with their neighbor Jim Winston (Freddie Prinze Jr.). But when she thinks she sees Jim murder a woman in his apartment, she and roommates try to investigate.

12

'Bride Wars'

Tomatometer: 10%

Childhood best friends Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) have been dreaming about their fantasy weddings since they were little. But when the two get engaged at around the same time, they fight for the coveted spot as The Plaza's June bride. A not-very-feminist battle of sabotage ensues.

13

'The Ugly Truth'

Tomatometer: 14%

Romantically-challenged morning show producer Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is forced to deal with the chauvinistic television host Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) for the sake of show ratings. Mike offends Abby because of his belief that only sex ties relationships together, and that men can't change. When Mike offers to help Abby seduce the hot surgeon next door, she begins to see how his tricks can work to her advantage.

14

'Something Borrowed'

Tomatometer: 15%

In law school, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) had a huge crush on Dex (Colin Egglesfield), but never worked up the courage to tell him. When Dex meets her best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson), they hit it off, and eventually get engaged. But one drunken night on Rachel's birthday, she finds herself alone with Dex, and she finally confesses her feelings for him. They spend the night together, and that gets everyone involved in a whole lot of drama and trouble.

15

'Made Of Honor'

Tomatometer: 15%

Tom (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) have been friends for 10 long years. He's a serial dater with no plans of settling down, while she wants marriage but hasn't found the right guy. Just when Tom begins to think that he and Hannah would make a great couple, Hannah gets engaged and asks Tom to be her maid of honor. He agrees, but hatches a secret plan to win her over.

16

'When In Rome'

Tomatometer: 16%

Beth (Kristen Bell) is a hard-working career woman in New York who hasn't had luck in love. That all changes when she goes to her sister's impromptu wedding in Rome, and falls for the best man Nick (Josh Duhamel). When she spots him seemingly flirtatious with another woman, she gets drunk and takes some coins from the fountain of love. When she gets back to New York, four men start pursuing her. And when Nick finally asks her out, she begins to wonder if he's under Aphrodite's spell, too.

17

'Monster-In-Law'

Tomatometer: 17%

After years of disastrous blind dates, Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini (Jennifer Lopez) finally finds the man of her dreams, Kevin Fields (Michael Vartan). But when they get engaged, Charlie discovers that her soon-to-be mother-in-law Viola (Jane Fonda) is a total nightmare who will do anything to make sure she doesn't lose her only son to his wife-to-be.

18

'On The Line'

Tomatometer: 19%

Kevin Gibbons (Lance Bass) gets struck by love at first sight when he meets Abbey (Emmanuelle Chiriqui) on a train. The only problem is he never got her number. With the help of his friends, Kevin goes all out to search for the mystery girl.

19

'Rumor Has It'

Tomatometer: 20%

Sarah Huttington (Jennifer Aniston), who recently got engaged to Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), hears a rumor that The Graduate is based on her family. She then decides to go off to San Francisco to learn more about her matriarchal past, and meets the man in the middle of the triangle: Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner).

20

'Leap Year'

Tomatometer: 23%

Anna Brady (Amy Adams) makes plans for a surprise trip to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott), who's there for a conference. According to Irish tradition, a man who gets a marriage proposal on Leap Day must accept it. But when Feb. 29 rolls around, bad weather derails her trip and she winds up relying on the help of Irish innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode).

21

'Failure To Launch'

Tomatometer: 24%

At 35, Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) is still living at his parents' house. So his mom and dad decide to take matters into their own hands and hire an "interventionist" named Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to get him out.

22

'Confessions Of A Shopaholic'

Tomatometer: 25%

Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) struggles with a shopping addiction, and ironically lands a job writing for a financial magazine after a drunken mix-up. She winds up impressing her colleagues, especially her boss Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy). But when she gets closer to her actual dream job of writing for renowned fashion magazine Alette, she begins to question what it is that she really needs and wants to do with her life.

23

'The Sweetest Thing' (26%)

Tomatometer: 26%

Christina Walters (Cameron Diaz) was done with men, until she met her perfect match (Thomas Jane), while on a night out with her best friends Courtney (Christina Applegate) and Jane (Selma Blair). When she finds out that he left town, she and Courtney set off on a trip to track him down.

24

'What Happens In Vegas'

Tomatometer: 26%

Feeling down on their luck, Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz) and Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) both end up in Las Vegas to forget their respective troubles. Due to a computer error, they wind up in the same hotel room, and, after a drunken night, they wake up and discover they got married. They both want out — until they hit a major jackpot.

25

'America's Sweethearts'

Tomatometer: 32%

America's favorite on and off-screen couple, Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack), have broken up. But to promote their new film, they still have to go through a press tour together. Publicist Lee Philipps (Billy Crystal) has to keep the junket from falling apart and enlists the help of Gwen's assistant and sister Kiki (Julia Roberts).

None of these movies set the world on fire, but there's no harm in testing out whether these Rotten Tomatoes scores hold up in your book.

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