Who does your mind go to whenever you consider the very best rom-com characters of the Nineties?
Is it Vivian Ward going from Hollywood Boulevard to the Regency Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Pretty Woman? Is it Cher Horowitz “totally buggin’” on the Los Angeles freeway in Clueless?
Possibly it’s Phil Connors, stuck reliving Groundhog Day time and again?
Here at Watch With Us, we love the classic ’90s rom-coms and the memorable characters in them who’ve gone on to turn into popular culture icons. Listed here are our five favorite rom-com characters from the Nineties.
5. Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) — ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle follows widower Sam (Tom Hanks), who moves to Seattle along with his young son Jonah (Ross Malinger) within the wake of his wife’s death. When Jonah calls right into a talk radio program in an attempt to search out a brand new wife for his dad, Sam reluctantly agrees, and little does he know that an engaged reporter named Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), who lives in Baltimore, has suddenly fallen for him.
Sleepless in Seattle is among the finest American rom-coms — written by the good Nora Ephron — and a part of what makes it so classic is that Annie’s character is sort of deranged. She becomes so obsessive about this guy on the opposite side of the country that she flies across the country to spy on him and his son (after having a non-public detective gather information on him, too). Ultimately, they find yourself together, and naturally, Annie is charming by virtue of Ephron’s writing and Ryan’s performance.
4. Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) — ‘The Wedding Singer’ (1998)
After he’s abandoned on the altar by his fiancée, wedding singer Robbie Hart loses all hope that he’ll ever find someone to like him, and he sinks right into a deep depression. Nonetheless, that every one changes when he meets a bride-to-be named Julia (Drew Barrymore), who enlists Robbie’s assist in planning her wedding. Because the two get to know one another in preparation for Julia’s big day, Robbie starts to fall in love together with her — and has to race to win her over before his nuptials.
The Wedding Singer marks the primary of three fruitful collaborations between Adam Sandler and Barrymore, who’ve an undeniable rom-com chemistry. But The Wedding Singer was also notable for the palpable charm of the down-on-his-luck Robbie, a job that avoids the standard Sandler abrasiveness seen in then-contemporaneous comedies like The Waterboy and as a substitute shows a surprisingly mature vulnerability. Robbie finally ends up embodying characteristics that will come to define a lot of Sandler’s lauded roles in his later profession, in an earnest and sweet performance that also has that Sandler humorousness.
3. Phil Connors (Bill Murray) — ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)
On February 2, cynical meteorologist Phil Connors and his weather team travel to Punxsutawney, PA, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities that happen within the town. But Phil finds that when he wakes up in his hotel the subsequent day, it’s Groundhog Day all once more. Stuck in a purgatorial time loop, Phil goes through the five stages of grief in accepting his fate, while finding himself falling for his colleague Rita (Andie MacDowell), who can never remember their time together.
Phil Connors is handily considered one of Bill Murray‘s best roles of his profession, along with being a legendary rom-com character. The trajectory of Phil’s character development is a rollercoaster experience, as Groundhog Day oscillates between sharp humor and existential drama. Ultimately, the screenplay delivers plenty of guffaws while chronicling Phil’s emotional journey from selfish narcissism to self-actualization.
2. Vivan Ward (Julia Roberts) — ‘Pretty Woman’ (1990)
After hiring a sex employee on a whim, businessman Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) finds that the free-spirited Vivian Ward has grown on him, so he decides to rent her to accompany him at a series of social events for the remainder of the week. As Vivian struggles to regulate to Edward’s mega-rich lifestyle (just how does one behave at a polo match, exactly?), they find themselves developing an increasingly strong bond that’s threatened largely by their dissimilar tax brackets. Can the pair bridge the gap between their worlds?
Pretty Woman is the role that catapulted Julia Roberts into A-list stardom for good reason. The Oscar-winning actress has an irresistible presence throughout the movie, and her Vivian Ward is iconic due to the charm and intelligence she brings to it. The role helped make Roberts an America’s Sweetheart for the ’90s, and Vivian Ward right into a rom-com heroine for the ages.
1. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) — ‘Clueless’ (1995)
This ’90s favorite is a modernized retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma that is ready in highschool in Los Angeles and centered on spoiled teen beauty queen Cher Horowitz. A self-professed matchmaker, Cher decides to place her romance skills to the test by finding a beau for awkward latest student Tai (Brittany Murphy). Nonetheless, her plan backfires when Tai becomes more popular than her — proving her disapproving stepbrother (Paul Rudd) right about her misguided intentions.
Thirty years later, Clueless still has Us totally buggin’. The teenager comedy classic — loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma (but, like, far more fun) — starred Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, the Beverly Hills queen bee who excelled at matchmaking, fashion, inner monologues and falling for her ex-stepbrother (don’t judge!). Released July 19, 1995, […]
Clueless is maybe the ultimate rom-com of the Nineties, with Cher Horowitz the most iconic ’90s rom-com character. Alicia Silverstone’s performance turned a line so simple as “Ugh! As if!” right into a Hollywood classic, and her portrayal of Cher is filled with memorable line readings like “it doesn’t say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty.” Cher’s ’90s-era outfits are iconic, her unabashed confidence is continuously hilarious, and, more importantly, she goes through a genuinely affecting character journey, proving that even legends are human.