In honour of Mother's Day this Sunday, we'd like to share some of our favourite mom-centred romantic comedies! From Juno, to Freaky Friday, to Bad Moms, these movies are as varied as the parental relationships they portray. We even threw Dirty Dancing in there, because: (a) it's a classic film with disapproving parents, and (b) nobody puts Baby in a corner!
Mother's Day
Criterion on Demand
If this movie gave you deja vu and reminded you of Valentine’s Day (2010) and New Year’s Eve (2011), you aren’t seeing things: Mother’s Day (2016) is the third movie in Garry Marshall’s Razzie-nominated holiday trilogy. Marshall also directed The Princess Diaries and Pretty Woman, and the latter is even referenced in this movie with a salad fork and Julia Roberts herself. Mother’s Day is an almost so-bad-it's-good look at the intersecting lives of a bunch of people having issues with their relationships, motherhood, and mothers. This movie is pretty out of touch… but at least the ensemble cast saves the audience from lingering too long on any one of the many storylines.
- Kate
Juno
Criterion on Demand
Although it’s set in Minnesota, Juno has a kind of Canadian vibe that’s constructed by the snowy Vancouver film set as well as it’s excellent leads, Elliot Page and Michael Cera. The two actors play Juno MacGuff and Paulie Bleeker, sixteen-year-old high school students and long-time friends who have sex an infamous livingroom chair - which leads to Juno’s pregnancy. Juno is almost unfailingly calm, cool, and collected as she tells Paulie, her best friend Leah, and her eccentric dad and step-mom about her plans to give the baby to the picture-perfect couple she found in a PennySaver ad. It is her - as well as the movie’s - sardonic humour and wit that makes the emotional scenes feel all the more realistic and impactful. With an amazing soundtrack and characters that feel fully formed after just a few minutes into their screen time, I can’t recommend this movie highly enough. Grab the orange tic tacs and get into some shenanigans with Juno!
- Kate
The Backup Plan
Amazon Prime Video
When Zoe (always beautiful and ageless J.Lo) decides to undergo IVF, of course, she finds Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), the perfect farmer, in his classically random romcom job glory. He comes armed with cheese - a true dreamboat - and he is along for the ride of Zoe’s pregnancy. The film illustrates an adorable exercise in learning to trust and believe in one another, even when there is next to no reason to. Comedic, dramatic, implausible (somehow Stan is able to open a store?) but undeniably fun, The Backup Plan reminds us of the best and worst message of most romantic comedies: have a little faith, and maybe it will all work out.
- Alexa
Life As We Know It
Netflix, Criterion on Demand
A personal favourite, Life As We Know It is a quintessential Katherine Heigl romantic comedy, which stars the dashing Josh Duhamel. This movie has the usual tropes of the perpetual bachelor and infallible Type A wonder woman falling in love and finding balance within one another. Navigating love and parenthood is not intended to be simultaneous, but the audience watches Eric and Holly grow into their new unexpected roles and lean on each other through grief. Punctuated with hilarious moments with a cute baby, Life as We Know It is an underrated romantic comedy that plays well with the enemies-to-lovers and opposites attracting tropes.
- Alexa
Bad Moms
Netflix, Criterion on Demand
As the name suggests, three moms decide that the pressures of modern parenting are too much and decide to break the rules. Amy (Mila Kunis), an overworked and tired mom, stands up at a PTA meeting to declare that she quits, and decides to say no to more in her life. She befriends two other moms who are fed up with the status quo, Carla (Kathryn Hahn) and Kiki (Kristen Bell). Together, they take on the PTA. Because, of course, the villain in this movie is Gwnedloyn, the head of the PTA. And, Amy’s love interest is the Hot Widower. I was not the target audience for this movie - but it’s definitely made for all the moms out there who are looking for a goofy, mom-centred rom com.
- Emma
Mom's Night Out
Netflix
Sarah Drew, who is probably best known for playing April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy, stars as a very stressed mother of three named Allyson who is married to former hobbit Sean Astin, and has just started writing a blog about motherhood. As a (long time, avid) fan of Grey’s Anatomy, I can say that Sarah Drew is channelling a lot of chaotic April energy in this movie. After a frustrating Mother’s Day in which she had no time to herself, she plans a “Mom’s Night Out” with two of her friends that goes wrong in every possible way, while their husbands have a similarly hectic time with their kids. This movie is so-bad-it’s-good in a way that I found a lot more fun than Mother’s Day, but also a bit more anxiety-inducing.
- Kate
Knocked Up
Amazon Prime Video
After a drunken one-night stand with a carefree stranger named Ben (Seth Rogen), Alison (Katherine Heigl), a Los Angeles reporter, discovers she’s pregnant. Alison decides that she wants to raise the baby and starts spending more time with Ben and his roommates, as he also wants to be involved in their child’s life. However, the budding relationship is strained by Ben’s lack of employment and responsibility, as well as Alison’s uptight sister and her family, with whom Allison lives. Throughout the movie, a lot of familiar faces show up briefly, like BJ Novak, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Steve Carell (as himself on the red carpet), Ken Jeong, and Adam Scott - with some very 2007 hair. Knocked Up is Judd Apatow’s directorial follow-up to The 40-Year Old Virgin, and it has a lot of the same crass humour; it’s also a pretty hilarious, honest, and sweet look at romantic relationships, family, and raising kids.
- Kate
What To Expect When You're Expecting
Netflix
Kind of like the motherhood/fatherhood version of Valentine’s Day, this movie follows several couples who are (for better or for worse) expecting! This movie is uplifting, funny and will have you rooting for the characters to embrace everything life throws at them. If you are looking for babies - like me - though… you’ll have to wait until the VERY END. It’s a star studded flick starring Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz and Anna Kendrick, so you know it’s a goodie.
- Janelle
This is 40
Netflix
I wasn’t expecting much of this movie, except that it would be crude and that brass sort of funny that only someone of a specific demographic would enjoy. However I did like how unfiltered it is and that it pokes fun at a suburban American couple with the ups-downs and ruts their relationship goes through. The performances by Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, and Maude Apatow were all great. Paul and Leslie were perfect, but the younger cast members were also convincing and did a good job.
- Ruiying
The Switch
Netflix
The single Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) decides it’s time to be a mother and recruits a sperm donor. Her best friend Wally (Jason Bateman), who is, of course, secretly in love with her, gets drunk and accidentally switches his sperm with the donor’s sperm. Six years later they reunite, and Wally realizes that he is accidentally the father of an adorable, intelligent, and worrying six year old Sebastian who steals every scene. Funny and sweet, this movie is the one you need on a sad day and when you’re suffering from baby fever.
- Janelle
Freaky Friday
Disney +
An classic film from childhood, Freaky Friday stars the iconic mother-daughter duo, Tess and Anna, played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. This film puts a lovely spin on walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. Even better, it features Chad Michael Murray as Jake, Anna’s love interest, who begins stereotypically disapproved of by Anna’s mother. I doubt they could have chosen a better pair for this hilarious comedy who must navigate returning to their true bodies, while learning about what the other side lives through. Hilarious and charming, it’s not entirely a romantic comedy, but it’s definitely a staple for Mother’s Day.
- Alexa
Because I Said So
Amazon Prime Video
With two of her daughters married, Daphne (Diane Keaton) is determined to sort out her youngest daughter, Milly’s (Mandy Moore), love life. She loves meddling and knows no boundaries when it comes to her daughters, so she tries to secretly set her up (because of course, she knows best). The meddling backfires, creating a rift in their relationship and hurting Milly’s burgeoning romance. Diane Keaton won a Razzie for her performance, and the comedy fell flat sometimes in this movie, but overall, it was a cute and cheesy rom com with parallel romance plotlines for both mother and daughter.
- Emma
Honourable Mention
Dirty Dancing
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video
Nobody puts Baby in a corner, especially on holiday in a glamorous summer resort! Filtered through 80’s haze and 60s musical nostalgia, Dirty Dancing (1987) is a sizzling, sensual romantic dance film that follows Frances “Baby” Houseman’s (Jennifer Grey) discovery of he her own autonomy, femininity and sensuality through the likes of “dirty dancing,” a type of dance that is based on freeform, sultry, and sensual dance moves that allow one to feel free and uninhibited. Charmingly innocent and childlike, (as her nickname suggests) Baby discovers an elicit “dirty dancing” party for the staff one night at the resort. From then on out, she becomes smitten with Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a suave, rebellious dance instructor who not only helps Baby come of age, but also helps her spice up her dance moves in preparation for a dance contest! Psych yourself up for Dirty Dancing, because it is full of ridiculous hip thrusts, sizzling romance, fabulous music, steamy choreography, and an overall compelling story that will make you feel like you are having the time of your life! The prequel or re-imagining of Dirty Dancing, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), despite its poor reception, is still smoking and equally as engaging (I think so at least!). It’s set in Havana, Cuba in the 1950s, and includes political intrigue and revolution, an array of sensual Latin dancing, and of course, Diego Luna. You may not like Havana Nights, but certainly check out the classic Dirty Dancing!
- Monica
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