The Top 10 Best Breakup Movies
Valentine’s Day is upon us again and all those love birds get showered with romantic gestures and cute little gifts they can give to each other. Well, this week’s top 10 list isn’t for them. That’s because I’m tackling the best breakup movies of all time. This one goes out to all of you nursing broken hearts while Hallmark bombards you with messages to show your sweetie you love them with overpriced gifts. Call me cynical, but love stories are a dime a dozen. I’d much rather enjoy the catharsis that comes with watching good breakup movies than be subjected to a romanticized toxic relationship that drags on and on. In order to qualify for a spot on this list, the film has to feature a couple breaking up or be the direct result of a very recent breakup, and deal with the aftermath of that. Some might say this list of breakup movies goes against everything that Valentine’s Day stands for, but I say, every relationship ends with suffering, either because of a breakup or a death. Now that I’ve ruined your day, grab a box of tissues because this list of breakup movies thinks that you two “need to talk.”
10. The Break-Up
Appropriately, this list of breakup movies is kicking things off with the Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston joint, The Break-Up. Quick grammar lesson, breakup is the noun or adjective form, while break-up is the verb. That means that The Break-Up deals with a breakup as it’s happening. We get to watch everything crumble as Vaughn and Aniston come to the straw that breaks the camel’s back and go from being a “happy” couple to wanting to rip each other’s heads off. It’s not an especially pleasant movie to watch, but that’s probably because it will hit home with anyone who’s ever gone through a rough breakup. For you special people who married your high school sweetie and are blissfully ignorant of what a breakup is like, trust me this movie pretty much nails it.
9. Mrs. Doubtfire
Kids complicate everything, especially in breakup movies. The late, great Robin Williams took a light-hearted approach to a heartbreaking topic as he plays a struggling actor divorcing his wife. As a struggling actor (and a man), the courts think that it would be way better for the kids to live with the mom. So, he does the only logical thing. No, he doesn’t get his life together and provide a stable environment for his kids (not at first)! He poses as an old British nanny in order to spend time with them (and get a bit of child support back from his ex-wife). Breakups can make us all a little crazy, especially if you’re the breakupee. As fun as Mrs. Doubtfire is, I definitely don’t recommend anyone try this in real life. I learned the hard way that I couldn’t pass for an old British nanny and you probably can’t either.
8. Silver Linings Playbook
To be honest, Silver Linings Playbook is a bit of a non-traditional choice when it comes to breakup movies, but hear me out. The entire film occurs because Bradley Cooper’ Pat catches his wife cheating and snaps. After a stint in a mental health institution, he’s out and desperate to get her back. So desperate that he’s oblivious to everything else in his life, especially the sparks flying between him and the equally unstable Tiffany played by Jennifer Lawrence. Then again, that’s kind of how breakups go. For a while all you can think about is fixing things and proving that your worthy of their love again. It’s right there in the 5 stages of grief: Bargaining. Fortunately, Pat movies on to acceptance before the credits roll and falls for Tiffany. Their relationship will probably end horribly, but that’s a story for the sequel.
7. High Fidelity
This is another somewhat tricky entry on this list of breakup movies, because (spoiler alert) John Cusack doesn’t actually break-up with the woman he’s dating in it. However, during a rough patch in their relationship, he revisits his top 5 past breakups trying to figure out what keeps going wrong. Self-reflection is a good thing during a breakup but in order to do that, you have to be willing to take responsibility for your own actions. That doesn’t mean taking responsibility for your past partner’s actions though. High Fidelity reminds us that it takes two to tango and most breakups aren’t one-sided. Remember, the one thing that all your breakups have in common is you… And the terrible people you keep choosing to date. Sort it out, buddy.
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
A lot of breakup movies are downers, which is fine because sometimes you just want to feel miserable. Forgetting Sarah Marshall will give you all the heartache of watching poor Jason Segal’s Peter Bretter getting dumped by the titular Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), a world-famous and fictional actress. Fortunately, in movieland breakups never last long. All Peter needed was a change of scenery (say paradise) and a mopey enough disposition to lure in someone with a desperate need to fix people. Viola, love! Of course, his fling with an impossibly beautiful hotel concierge (Mila Kunis) gots rocky when his ex shows up at the same hotel with her new beau. Fortunately, his new gal is petty enough to help him make Sarah jealous and realize just what she threw away.