We live in the age of Tinder and OK Cupid, which has replaced our sense of romance with a certain hit-it-and-quit-it cynicism. These days, quick-and-dirty gratification often supersedes getting to know someone, and it can seem as though romance is dead. But one thing still has the power to make us forget how jaded we’ve become, if only momentarily: A well executed movie kiss can reduce even the most hardened romantic cynic into a mess of swooning, ooey-gooey feelings, as fictional characters put themselves on the line in a way we might never dare. Here are our 14 favorite big-screen kisses.
14. Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden) + Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley)
There have been many adaptations of the popular Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice, but this one stands out in particular because of the exceptional chemistry between actors Matthew Macfayden and Keira Knightley, which plays out in the romance between their characters. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett don’t kiss until the very end of the film, which is rife with sexual tension until the last few minutes. However, when they do kiss, it’s worth the nearly two-hour wait. The kiss, which left Jane Austen purists upset (the characters never kiss in the novel), is sweet and chaste and comes right after Mr. Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth Bennett — leaving teen girls everywhere squealing in their seats. However, the characters never actually press their lips together. We can only assume that is what comes next after Mr. Darcy grabs Elizabeth by the cheeks and presses his forehead to hers.
13. The Princess Bride (1987)
Westley (Cary Elwes) + Buttercup (Robin Wright)
“Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” Who knew that we’d all want Peter Falk narrating life’s most passionate moments? At the beginning of the story, the young boy played by Fred Savage wants to skip the kissing parts, but by the end, even he wants to hear about this king of all kisses. It’s the perfect ending to a movie that continues to endure.—Josh Jackson
12. Cruel Intentions (1999)
Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) + Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon)
This was the movie that sparked an off-screen romance between its two leads, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon. And if the palpable sexual tension between the characters they play is any indication of their actual relationship, we know why. Cruel Intentions is slightly campy and subtly dark in the tradition of the self-aware ‘90s. Phillippe’s Sebastian is a philandering, wealthy bad boy whose issues with his family make him nothing but trouble. Witherspoon’s Annette is a moderately self-righteous good girl whose decision to save herself until marriage makes Sebastian all the more determined to get her into bed. Despite rooting against their relationship for most of the movie, we can’t help but reel at how passionate (and steamy) their first kiss is.
11. Never Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Baker (Drew Barrymore) + Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan)
Drew Barrymore plays the ultimate underdog in this rom-com classic as Josie Geller, a 30-year-old woman whose first kiss is long overdue. On assignment from the newspaper where she works, Geller masquerades as a teenager and lives one of most people’s worst nightmares: heading back to high school. Predictably, Geller finds a love interest in her off-limits English teacher Sam (played by Michael Vartan) , and even more predictably, she messes up her chances with him. She goes to extreme (public lengths) to atone and at the end of the movie, you can breathe a sigh of relief as she receives both her first kiss and his forgiveness. The kiss is cheesy (as is the rest of the film), and we know it was coming all along, but it is nonetheless heart-meltingly adorable to watch Geller get the guy.
Watch the trailer below.
10. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
George Bailey had plans—big ones—and none of them involved falling in love and getting tied down to someone in sleepy, old Bedford Falls. So when he starts to realize he’s fallen for Mary, he fights it, treating her like crap and storming out of her house before being called to the phone. It’s his friend Sam with a foolproof investment opportunity, and he wants Mary on the line to hear about it too. Forced to lean in close to share the phone, George and Mary exchange a lot of intense gazes before finally the sexual tension becomes too much to bear. George puts up one last fight, shaking Mary and screaming “Now, you listen to me! I don’t want any plastics, and I don’t want any ground floors, and I don’t want to get married—ever—to anyone! You understand that?” (in a scene that unfortunately was chopped out of the YouTube clip below) before finally giving in to his feelings and making out with a weepy Mary for as long as the puritanical 1940s censors would allow.—Bonnie Stiernberg
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