I am a hopeless romantic. It’s true. I could give the explanation that I’m a Cancer and we are emotional beings or maybe it’s that I read too many fairy tales growing up…. Or maybe it’s because I cannot turn down a movie where two people defy all odds and end up together. This is of course the premise for almost every summer romance movie ever made. Here are five of the best summer romance movies ever committed to a reel of film.

Grease

Grease

I would wager a bet that 95% of the people over the age of 15 in the U.S. could sing a few lines from a Grease song – it’s a classic.  When Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) is vacationing in California from Australia she meets and falls head over heels for Danny (John Travolta). They have a classic summer romance – running through the sand and waves and making out under the boardwalk. Then an emotional good-bye – BUT WAIT – Sandy’s parents decide to stay in America and next thing you know Sandy is attending the same school as Danny. But the perfect bubble they lived in during the summer bursts in the halls of Rydell High. Sandy’s goody two-shoes reputation doesn’t mesh with Danny being leader of the T-Birds (a rough and tumble bunch of … singing and dancing kids…..). But they end up making it work in the end with lots of singing and dancing along the way.

The Notebook

The Notebook

I am including The Notebook because that first summer that Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) spend together is nothing short of passionate. That scene where they kiss in the rain – that’s stuck in my brain for all time. Their love is challenged by social differences and the reality of the lives they are both leading – their story spans a lifetime and they truly do defy the odds. I actually found the book (by Nicholas Sparks) to be more emotionally gutting but the movie captures their relationship with great success.

The Graduate

The Graduate

I studied this film in college and would imagine it is still on the syllabus in many film studies classes. It garnered numerous nominations and accolades as well as winning Mike Nichols an Oscar for Best Director in 1968 (IMDB.com).

Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is having an affair with Mrs. Robinson (played by the incomparable Anne Bancroft) and ends up falling in love with her daughter. The affair begins after his college graduation party. Braddock, like most college grads (this is apparently a timeless dilemma), isn’t sure what to do with the rest of his life. In an attempt to delay facing reality he lounges in the pool and copulates with Mrs. Robinson.  All of this is complicated by his love for Elaine (Katharine Ross), the threats from Mrs. Robinson and pressure from his father.  But after dramatically showing up at the church to stop Elaine’s wedding, they ride off into their future together, albeit an uncertain one.

Say Anything

Say Anything

Llyod Dobler (John Cusack) holding that boombox over his head under Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) window, serenading her with Peter Gabriel’s “In your eyes,” is a classic image from 80′s films (one that has been copied many times over). The film, directed by the acclaimed Cameron Crowe, tells the story of Lloyd trying to win Diane’s affections amidst objections from her father, her plans to go to school in England and a pesky IRS investigation of her father. The movie ends with him easing her nerves as they fly off to England together.

And drum roll please….. My favorite summer romance movie, the one that draws me in every time I see it on T.V., the one that I can’t wait for my kids to be old enough to watch (so like, when they’re 40) …..

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing

An iconic film in and of itself, but hands down my favorite summer romance movie of all time. Not only was it the first movie that I felt really uncomfortable watching with my parents in the room but a friend and I won first prize in our high school’s lip sync competition by doing the last dance scene from the movie – including the lift. Every vacation my family took failed to live up to my expectations because I never met Johnny (Patrick Swayze) and I never danced on a tree log balanced precariously over a creek.

I don’t really have to give a synopsis of the plot do I? Tell me there isn’t a person left out there who hasn’t seen this movie?! (I’ll come over and watch it with you if you want). Baby (Jennifer Grey) is a doctor’s daughter who falls in love with Johnny, a dance instructor at the resort. Their social differences get in the way (as they often do in real life and romantic films) but they reunite in the end for the last dance of the summer and live happily ever after (the film never actually tells us they live happily ever after but damn it if that is not how it will play out in my head).

The Notebook

The Graduate