Romance @ the Movies

A selectionof the "greatest romantic movies" of all time that are based on books. This list was prepared by New Line Cinema to celebrate the release of The Notebook based on the book The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. See the corresponding booklist Sweeping Romances.

	The Accidental Tourist The narrow, orderly life of a travel guidebooks author (Hurt) is hilariously disrupted by his estranged wife (Turner) and an eccentric dog trainer (Davis). Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.  Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, & Geena Davis.  Based on the book The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler. PG
	Beaches A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent but strong friendship over the years. Directed by Garry Marshall.  Starring Bette Midler & Barbara Hershey. Based on the book Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart. PG-13
	A Beautiful Mind Dramatic biography of John Nash, a mathematical genius, who made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his schizophrenia, and finally, late in life, received the Nobel Prize.  Directed by Ron Howard.  Starring Russell Crowe & Ed Harris. Based on the book A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. PG-13
	Beloved After Paul D. finds his old slave friend Sethe in Ohio and moves in with her and her daughter Denver, a strange girl comes along by the name of " Beloved ". Sethe & Denver take her in and then strange things start to happen. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Danny Glover & Oprah Winfrey. Based on the book Beloved by Toni Morrison. R
	Bridget Jone's Diary An uncomfortably unmarried thirty-something "singleton," Bridget decides to take charge of her life and chronicles her Year of Change in the comedic homage to "Pride and prejudice." Directed by Sharon Maguire. Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, & Hugh Grant.  Based on the book Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. R
	Chocolat When a single mother and her young daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop - with Sunday hours - across the street from the local church, they are met with some resistance from the rigidly moral community. But as soon as the townspeople discover their delicious products, their attitudes begin to change. Directed by Lasse Hallström. Starring Alfred Molina & Carrie-Anne Moss. Based on the book Chocolat by Joanne Harris. PG-13
	Cold Mountain Inman, a young Confederate soldier, who is injured during the explosive 1864 battle of Petersburg, Virginia, is struggling to make his way home to Cold Mountain , NC, where his beloved Ada awaits him. In Inman's absence, Ada befriends Ruby, who helps her keep up her late father's farm. Meanwhile, in his travels, Inman encounters a menagerie of interesting and colorful characters. Directed by Anthony Minghella. Starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, & Renée Zellweger. Based on the book Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. R
	Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano is a brilliant but hideously ugly poet, trying to get his true love, Roxanne. Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Starring Gérard Depardieu & Anne Brochet. Based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. See also: Roxanne & Cyrano de Bergerac starring José Ferrer. PG
	Dances with Wolves Rewarded for his heroism in the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar wants to see the American frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort, where a Sioux tribe is his only neighbor. Directed by Kevin Costner.  Starring Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, & Graham Greene. Based on the book Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake. PG-13
	Doctor Zhivago A film about the Russian Revolution as seen through the eyes of a doctor /poet. Doctor Zhivago sees his life torn apart by the Revolution and the alterations also affect the lives of many around him, including the gentle woman he marries and the fascinating other woman he cannot forget.  Directed by David Lean.  Starring Omar Sharif & Julie Christie. Based on the book Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. NR
	East of Eden Cal Trask vies for his father's affection with Aron, the favored son. But Cal's desperate need for love is exceeded by his even more desperate attempts to obtain it. Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring James Dean. Based on the book East of Eden by John Steinbeck. NR
	Emma Emma Woodhouse is a young woman who, having engineered the marriage of her companion, turns her attention toward making a match for the local vicar and her new protegee, Harriet Smith. Her one voice of reason and restraint is Mr. Knightly, who has known her since she was a child and who watches her behaviour with wry amusement and sometimes with real anger. Emma presides over the small provincial world of Highbury with enthusiasm, but she will find it is all too easy to confuse good intentions with self-gratification. Directed by Douglas McGrath. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Based on the book Emma by Jane Austen. See also: Clueless. PG
	The End of the Affair The setting is war-torn England, 1939. Sarah Miles is married to Henry, a man she loves but with whom she shares no intimacy. When she meets Maurice Bendrix, the two have an immediate attraction for each other and embark on a torid affair. Their passion is as earth-shattering as the bombs that explode around them, until the day Sarah mysteriously and abruptly walks out of Maurice's life. Directed by Neil Jordan. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stephen Rea, & Julianne Moore. Based on the book The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. R
	Endless Love A high school student's love for a 15-year-old girl is thwarted by circumstance and accident. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Starring Brooke Shields & Martin Hewitt.  Based on the book Endless Love by Scott Spencer. R
	The English Patient During World War II, a mysterious stranger is rescued from a fiery plane crash. The American allies care for him and the dangerous secrets from his past come to light.  Directed by Anthony Minghella.  Starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, & Kristin Scott Thomas. Based on the book The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. R
	A Farewell to Arms A wounded American soldier falls in love with his beautiful English nurse during World War I. Directed by Frank Borzage. Starring Gary Cooper & Helen Hayes. Based on the book A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway. See also: In Love and War. NR
	The French Lieutenant's Woman A woman , ostracized by Victorian society and abandoned by her French lieutenant lover, fascinates a man who resolves to unravel the mystery of her clandestine past. Directed by Karel Reisz. Starring Meryl Streep & Jeremy Irons. Based on the book The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles. R
	Fried Green Tomatoes A chance encounter in a nursing home leads to friendship between a dowdy housewife and a spry octogenarian, who captivates the younger woman with tales of two women friends and their escapades and tribulations in the 20s and 30s. Directed by Jon Avnet. Starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, & Mary-Louise Parker. Based on the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. PG-13
	From Here to Eternity A powerful portrait of a peacetime military camp stationed in Hawaii just before the attack on Pearl Harbor.   Directed by Fred Zinnemann.  Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, & Donna Reed. Based on the book From Here to Eternity by James Jones. NR
	Girl with a Pearl Earring Seventeen-year-old Griet must work to support her family and becomes a maid in the house of Johannes Vermeer, where she attracts the master painter's attention. He is commissioned to paint Griet, and the result is one of the greatest paintings ever created. Directed by Peter Webber. Starring Colin Firth & Scarlett Johansson. Based on the book Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. PG-13
	Gone with the Wind Set during the American Civil War, this story focuses on the lives and loves of Southerners during this period and the hardships they endured. Directed by Victor Fleming.  Starring Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh. Based on the book Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. G
	The Graduate A recent college graduate from an affluent family comes of age and finds himself by being led into an affair with the wife and the daughter of his father's business partner. Directed by Mike Nichols.  Starring Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft. Based on the book The Graduate by Charles Webb. PG
	The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby once loved beautiful, spoiled Daisy Buchanan, then lost her to a rich boy. But now Gatsby is mysteriously wealthy - and ready to risk everything to woo Daisy back. Directed by Jack Clayton. Starring Robert Redford & Mia Farrow. Based on the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. PG
	The Hours In 1929, Virginia Woolf is starting to write her novel, Mrs. Dalloway, under the care of doctors and family. In 1951, Laura Brown is planning for her husband's birthday, but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarrisa Vaughn is planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are interconnected with the novel: one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it. Directed by Stephen Daldry. Starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, & Meryl Streep. Based on the book The Hours by Michael Cunningham. PG-13
	House of Sand and Fog Kathy gets evicted from her home for failing to pay a tax she never should have been made to pay in the first place. The house is swiftly put up for auction and bought by a former military officer from Iran named Behrani. When legal efforts fail her, Kathy turns to a sympathetic cop who wants out of a loveless marriage and who is willing to step over legal boundaries if it might give him the fresh start he is so badly craving. Directed by Vadim Perelman. Starring Jennifer Connelly & Ben Kingsley. Based on the book House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. R
	How Stella Got Her Groove Back Through good times and bad, Stella and Delilah have always looked out for each other and now that Stella 's spending too much time at work, Delilah feels it's time for a change. But a quick trip to Jamaica turns into an exhilarating voyage of self-discovery as Stella learns to open her heart and find love-even if it's with a man twenty years younger! Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan.  Starring Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, & Whoppi Goldberg. Based on the book How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan. R
	Howards End Encounter of three social classes of the England at the beginning of the century. Directed by James Ivory. Starring Emma Thomspon, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, & Helena Bonham Carter. Based on the book Howard's End by E.M. Forster. PG
	Jane Eyre Based on Charlotte Bronte's novel of the orphaned Jane who becomes a governess in the mysterious household and falls in love with its equally mysterious master, Mr. Rochester. Directed by Franco Zeffirilli. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg & William Hurt. Based on the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. PG
	Lady Chatterley When her paralyzed husband urges the repressed Lady Chatterley to find fulfillment and an heir for his fortune in the arms of another man, she embarks on a journey that changes her forever. Directed by Ken Russell. Starring Joely Richardson & Sean Bean. Based on the book Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. NR
	The Last of the Mohicans The love of Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans , and Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a British colonel, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies in colonial America. Directed by Michael Mann. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeleine Stowe. Based on the book The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. R
	Like Water for Chocolate Romantic fantasy set in Mexico during the early 20th century. A young couple is blocked from marrying by the demands of the young woman's cold and selfish mother. To be near his love, the young man marries her sister, and she expresses her passion for him through her cooking. Directed by Alfonso Arau. Starring Marco Leonardi & Lumi Cavazos. Based on the book Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. R
	Lolita The story of the passion of a middle-aged man for a young teenager. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring James Mason, Shelley Winters, & Sue Lyon. Based on the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. NR
	Love Story A young Ivy League couple cross social barriers to marry, then must ultimately face the greatest crisis of all. Directed by Arthur Hiller. Starring Ryan O'Neal & Ali MacGraw. Based on the book Love Story by Erich Segal. NR
	Out of Africa The fascinating true story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who, with her philandering husband, runs a coffee plantation in Kenya, circa 1914. To her astonishment, she soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and a mysterious white hunter. This is a masterfully crafted, breathtakingly produced story of love and loss. Directed by Sydney Pollack.  Starring Meryl Streep & Robert Redford. Based on, in part, the book Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. PG
	Possession Roland is an academic researcher who discovers some important letters written by a famous Victorian poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Ash was presumed to have been totally devoted to his wife, but Roland finds letters written to another unnamed woman, and soon determines that the intended recipient was another, less well-known poet, Christabel LaMotte. Roland contacts Maud, an expert on LaMotte's life and work. Despite her skepticism, the two begin to investigate, and uncover a wealth of information about the affair between the two poets. Directed by Neil LaBute. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow & Aaron Eckhart. Based on the book Possession by A.S. Byatt. PG-13
	The Remains of the Day Stevens is the perfect English butler - an ideal carried by him to fanatical lengths, as he serves his master Lord Darlington. Darlington, like many other members of the British establishment in the 1930s, is duped by the Nazis into trying to establish a rapport between themselves and the British government. Miss Kenton, the estate's housekeeper, watches the goings-on upstairs with horror. Directed by James Ivory. Starring Anthony Hopkins & Emma Thompson. Based on the book The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. PG
	Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare's tragedy of young lovers caught in the middle of their feuding families. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Starring Leonard Whiting & Olivia Hussey. Based on the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. See also: Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo & Juliet starring Rudolf Nureyev, and West Side Story. PG
	A Room with a View The story of the coming of age of Lucy Honeychurch. Longing to burst free from the repression of British upper class manners and mores, she must wrestle with her inner romantic longings to choose between the passionate George and the priggish but socially suitable Cecil. Directed by James Ivory. Starring Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis, & Julian Sands. Based on the book A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. NR
	Sense and Sensibility Tells of the Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, & Hugh Grant. Based on the book Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. PG
	Sophie's Choice A drama set in post-World War II Brooklyn revolves around Sophie, a Polish Catholic beauty who survived Auschwitz, her lover, Nathan, and Stingo, a would-be writer. As the three grow closer, Stingo discovers the captivating and moving truths that each harbor. Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Klein, & Peter MacNicol. Based on the book Sophie's Choice by William Styron. R
	Terms of Endearment A comedy-drama about the evolving 30+ year relationship between a mother and daughter. Directed by James L. Brooks.  Starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, & Jack Nicholson. Based on the book Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry. PG
	A Walk to Remember Love brings together what peer pressure and lifestyles seek to keep apart. Jamie is a straight-laced preacher's daughter and Landon is an unmotivated delinquent. When events thrust him into her world, he begins an unexpected journey he'll never forget. Directed by Adam Shankman. Starring Shane West & Mandy Moore. Based on the book A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. PG
	The Wings of the Dove A young society woman's love for a common journalist presents her with an impossible decision: leave him or marry and face a life of poverty. Events take an unexpected twist when she befriends a lonely young heiress whose own tragic secret offers an irresistible but dangerous solution. Directed by Iain Softley. Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, & Charlotte Rampling. Based on the book The Wings of the Dove by Henry James. R
	Wuthering Heights A tortured love affair ends between Heathcliff and Cathy when Cathy marries the wealthy Edgar. Heathcliff's savage retaliation upon the woman he loves explodes in a stunning climax. Directed by William Wyler.  Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, & David Niven. Based on the book Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. See also: Wuthering Heights starring Ralph Fiennes. NR