March 31, 2007
The Perfect Couple
Written by Kimberly Logan in Jaunty PostYesterday, Robyn shared her list of sexy leading men with us, and I’m sure we’d all like to extend to her our hearty thanks, LOL. These guys are definite hero inspiration, and what fun to feast your eyes on such a line-up of droolworthy dreaminess at the end of a long week! 
So, after I wiped the saliva off of my keyboard, I decided I would carry on the idea a bit by sharing a list of my own. My top 5 list of my favorite movie couples. As romance authors, another thing we have to learn to recognize is what makes for the perfect pairing. It takes deep emotion, an interesting balance of personalities, and great chemistry to pull off a truly memorable love match. And these are just a few of the pairings that have touched me, made me root for them, and inspired my own heroes and heroines along the way. No, there’s not as much eye candy to enjoy here, but maybe it will make you remember your own favorite romantic movie duos with a sigh.
1. For some reason, people always seem very surprised whenever I list Rick and Evie from the movies The Mummy and The Mummy Returns as my number one favorite couple ever. I’m not sure why. What isn’t to love about these two? Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have great chemistry and are fun to watch together. And what gal wouldn’t love a guy who adores and protects his lady, but never leaves her sitting around at home, twiddling her thumbs while he goes on his adventures? Heck no! He takes her with him!
2. My number two couple usually surprises people as well. Yes, A Walk to Remember is a saccharine tear-jerker that is quite likely to give you tooth-decay should you watch it too often. But I love it. And I love Landon and Jamie. Why? Because here’s a hero who stands by his gal through thick and thin. Who is determined to make all of her wishes come true. And while there is no happy ending, except in the most roundabout way, I love the way Jamie’s love opens former cynical tough guy Landon up to faith and possibilities.
3. And what list would be complete without Leonardo DeCaprio’s Jack and Kate Winslet’s Rose from Titanic? Yes, it’s another tear-jerker with no real happily-ever-after-ending. But the chemistry between these two just jumps off the screen, and I love how Jack brings Rose out of her shell, giving her the courage to take charge of her life and her own destiny. Isn’t that the sort of encouragement we’d all like to have in our own lives from the people we love?
4. Okay, laugh if you must, but I think the Beast and Belle make a gosh darn cute couple. And their story is the original pattern for every romance novel ever written with a wounded, scarred hero who has fallen in love with the sweet and innocent heroine because she sees through his brooding facade to the good man beneath.
5. Sure, technically Gambit and Rogue aren’t a movie couple. But if the powers that be would ever get their butts in gear and make another X-Men movie–And this time have the intelligence to include Gambit in the cast, darn it!–then we G & R fans would be much happier. Talk about your tortured duos. Gambit is the charming Cajun thief who has no desire to be tied down to one woman until he meets Rogue. Rogue is the flirty Southern belle who can never touch anyone skin to skin for fear of killing them, not even the man she loves. Their tale started out as what was supposed to be only a temporary flirtation, but their pairing majorly took off with X-Men fans, and it turned into a love story that has spanned decades. These two have been through everything. They’ve treated each other terribly and hurt each other beyond belief, yet they still keep ending up back in each other’s arms. It’s classic soap opera, comic book style.
Okay, now it’s your turn to share. Who are some of your favorite couples, and why?
4:10 pm | Share This
Linda Says:
Kim, I love that you included Landon & Jamie from A Walk To Remember. They come in #1 on my fave couples list. I always have a box of tissues handy, I cry everytime I watch.
1. Landon & Jamie “A Walk To Remember”
2. Rhett & Scarlett “Gone With The Wind”
3. Selene & Michael “Underworld”
4. Jean Grey & Cyclops “X-Men”
5. Rose & Jack “Titanic”
Reasons for my choices, I don’t know really. I tend to go for the underdog. And, I think that each couple faces tremendous hardship in one way or another. And, no each story doesn’t have a happy ending, but there is still a beautiful love story told.
Teresa W. Says:
My favorite couple would have to be Ryan Gosling and Rachael Mcadams from The Notebook. There so believable there also a couple in real life.
Shana Says:
I like Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal from WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. I also kind of like Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews from THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
Clarisse Says:
Mulder and Scully (before the X-Files went south after Season 6)
Spike and Buffy - once he fell in love with her he always had her back and he always respected her power. He became a better man for her
Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca. In the end he loves her enough to send her away and she loves him enough to go. But you know they will get together after the war.
Lady and the Tramp - It’s the meatball scene [[sigh]]
Robyn DeHart Says:
I totally agree with couple #1 - Rick and Evie are great.
Forney and NovaLee from Where the Heart Is. The movie, not the book cause I never read the book, but I adore the movie. The final scene is supremely romantic (the one at the college campus, not he wedding scene)
Robin and Quinn from Six Days, Seven Nights which is so charming and funny. The witty banter is priceless in this - I could watch it over and over again.
Kathleen and Joe from You’ve Got Mail. I love when he brings her the bouquet of daisies. And at the end when he says all those wonderful things.
Sydney and Vaughn from Alias. Their chemistry was combustable. And their love was intense and wonderful.
So I guess that’s my top 5 - or at least the 5 I can think of right now.
Shirley Karr Says:
Ditto what Clarisse said about MulderandScully. One without the other made the show just not as interesting, but together, wow.
Mac and Harm from JAG - ten seasons of denying the obvious, until the end. And JAG writers learned the lesson from David and Maddie on Moonlighting — once their ST was resolved, the show should have ended.
Another couple that was fun to watch evolve was Scarecrow and Mrs King, the spy and the housewife.
One of my favorite movie couples is Walter “The Filthy Beast” and Catherine “Goody Two-Shoes” (Cary Grant, Leslie Caron) in Father Goose. Funny movie!
Humphrey Bogart didn’t do much for me, and I don’t like Casablanca, but I loved him paired with Katherine Hepburn in African Queen. (Oh, and Katherine with Spencer Tracy in anything.) Don’t like Gone With the Wind, but I love Clark Gable with Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night.
And just to show I have a fave from this century, Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock were good together in Two Weeks Notice.
Meg Ryan has great chemistry with both Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal. Ooh, and Kurt and Goldie in Overboard, though it’s obvious why they have great chemistry on-screen.
Kimberly Logan Says:
Shana, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal from WHMS didn’t quite make my list, but they are definitely up there. I loved how they started out as friends and the relationship slowly evolved over time. Selene and Michael are a favorite pair as well, Linda. I was a little disappointed at the lack of romance in the first Underworld movie, but they more than made up for it in the second one.
And I liked Hugh and Sandra in TWN, Shirley, but I liked Sandra with Keanu Reeves in Speed even better. I know the movie wasn’t a romance, but I kept wishing they would forget about the darn bus and focus on their blossoming attraction a little more. But I guess that would have been difficult to do with a bomb on board, huh? LOL.
Lois Says:
Heck, I’m watching Rick and Evie now on what seems to be a Mummy Sunday. LOL
And while I wasn’t a shipper, totally agree with the X-Files going south, but my personal opinion was it was after the movie when they packed up shop to LA. It just seemed better when they wrote and filmed in Vancover. Oh well. LOL
And I realized that I don’t seem to have a whole lot of couples as favorites. Hmm. Guess I just always look at the guys. LOL
Oh wait, I did think of Remington Steele and Laura Holt. There I was a shipper.
Lois
Clarisse Says:
How about a tiny sweet love? On Frasier, Niles and Daphne was not only a comically sustainable hopeless adoration story for most of the run, but when they finally fell in love it remained a sweet and complex romantic story of two people who were fundamentally different but who shared a common affection that made their differencees meaningless. Their story never jumped the shark.
Mary Says:
Absolutely, Evie and Rick. We watched the second movie again Sunday. And yes, Belle, and the Beast. I’ll add Lorelei and Luke from Gilmore Girls.