The Ten Most Polarizing Romance Films of All Time
Love, as it turns out, is a battlefield... at least at the movies! These are the ten romance films where the Criticker community has begrudgingly agreed to disagree. The ones which inspired strong emotions on both sides: trembling odes to true love and furious, walk-out-of-the-theater rage. For every viewer swept away by a rain-soaked kiss, there's another plotting revenge on whoever made them sit through it.
How was this calculated?
For every film with at a certain number of ratings, we calculate the percentage of people who loved it (percentle greater than 75%) and hated it (less than 25%). The "contentiousness" score is the lower of those two percentiles.
Consider the most contentious possible scenario -- an equal number love and hate it, with nobody in between. That would be 50% - 0% - 50%, for a score of "50". Let's say another film has a "love/ambivalence/hate" ratio of "38/30/32". That gets a score of 32: still extremely polarizing!
But a movie that almost everyone hates? Let's say a breakdown of 4/35/61. That's a score of just 4, which means it's not very contentious at all.
#10.
Funny Ha Ha
23.53% High
"My favorite "mumblecore" movie. The aimless Marnie is one of my favorite low-concept movie protagonists ever, and when this movie gets awkward, it gets really fucking awkward. You squirm, you avert your eyes from the screen, and you eventually shoot yourself. Kudos to Andrew Bujalski for having the balls to cast himself as Mitchell, the most awkward character in the history of cinema." - Ytadel
21.72% Low
"I came upon this movie after being surprised by Results. And unfortunately, nothing interesting to see here. The awful audio quality had me immediately questioning what I got myself in to. But I tried to keep an open mind. After all, I have seen good things from this filmmaker before. And then... nothing happened ever to insufferable characters. The end. I like an independent spirit in movies, and i have even liked some "mumblecore" movies before, but this is a bore with nothing to say." - matthagen
#9.
Titanic
22.17% High
"One of the most touching, exciting and realistic movies I have ever seen. James Cameron really went all out to make this story believable. I don't know if this is because I was already fascinated with the real Titanic story, but I was completely spellbound by Ballard's discovery of the doomed liner and had the copy of the National Geographic magazine back in the 80's. This movie put me on an emotional roller coaster ride that I cannot forget." - thoughtknot
27.05% Low
"surely one of the most egregious wastes of celluloid ever. so many powerful stories on that fabled ship, any one of which could have made a movie for the ages, and we get... this? this trite and whiny 'love' story (really just an excuse for leonard to hump some nubile child without a trace of intellect or character) THAT NEVER EVEN HAPPENED? is it an example of the death of culture? or just another example of no one ever going broke underestimating the taste of the american public? a: yes." - mtackabery
#8.
The Souvenir
22.18% High
"Wonderfully candid, concise and precise. One of the best-devised relationship dramas I've seen in years." - Moribunny
23.82% Low
"hope she graduates film school in the sequel" - AFlickering
#7.
Love Actually
24.97% High
"Love Actually is a drama about Love in all its various forms. The love of old friends, a school girl crush, a burned out radio-star's need to be loved by his fans again, unrequited love, forbidden love, lust, all woven together into the most epic and yet charming drama about love. Just thinking about Love Actually gives me the feeling of standing by a warm hearth in the winter or looking at the orange glow of the light from your windows after being out in the cold for so long. Watch the film!" - TV+Film-Hub
22.2% Low
"And a 52 is generous for this trite, borderline misogynistic pile of Christmas cow pie. The only worthwhile part is Bill Nighy's performance (as the ONLY realistic story line in the movie). Firth flits off to France and falls in love with the woman who cleans up (and speaks no English); Prime Minister Grant falls for the woman who fetches his tea and then, naturally, knocks door to door to find her; Neeson's wife dies and he magically upgrades to CLAUDIA SCHIFFER. More like "Puke Definitely"." - Grillington
22.34% High
"Visceral, elemental and often very beautiful, this is a really impressionistic take on what it must have been really like to love in this time and place. Superb." - tinysausage
22.6% Low
"What a self indulgent piece of crap. It looks like a art students first venture into film making. If you like no dialogue and constant close up shots of hair go for it." - spaceace
#5.
The Fountainhead
22.69% High
"This movie has smoldering sexual themes. Both Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper give the best performances of their careers. Uses beautiful architecture as a theme and as part of the message. Heavy on a controversial philosophical point of view. I find a movie from that era so firmly focused on philosophy unusual and very enjoyable." - Kusandra
24.48% Low
"I'm not a Rand expert by any means, but I know that I'm not a fan of her philosophy at all. That would be fine if this film was any good, but alas. Most of this is just poorly performed speeches in which Rand's views are almost directly stated to us. There's no subtlety and barely any entertainment to be found. I guess it's interesting to see an "ideas" film made in the studio system but in the end the ideas and the filmmaking are both crap." - chadisdanger
#4.
Les Misérables
22.95% High
"Superb, staggeringly emotional and well-wrought adaptation, masterfully brought to the screen by Hooper, successfully dodging most of the problems translating this very stagey show to the cinematic medium. Entire cast excels (though Crowe seems occasionally ill-at-ease and can't quite bring the required gravitas to his character), but Jackman, Cohen, Barks and especially Hathaway bring the knockout punches required to maximise the formiddable impact of the tunes and story. Viva Les Miserables!" - glumpy_99
23.99% Low
"Oh my God I hated this film. I kept waiting for it to get better, for some small glimmer of hope amongst the unrelenting suffering. I gave up after an hour and walked out. Even Anne Hathaway's song was anguishing. I usually like musicals but this was godawful. I really dislike films which try to manipulate your feelings. That's what this does." - Esmerodo
#3.
The Notebook
24.04% High
"It doesn't get more romantic than this. Wonderful story, very human and down to earth. May I never get so jaded that I don't cry like a fool at the end. The kiss in the rain deserves every accolade it's been given." - cncht37
25.36% Low
"Made me, literally, furious. Manipulative and dangerous. A potential relationship killer. Fellas...if you are coerced into watching this like I was, take a tip from me and fight every urge you have to rip it to shreds on the spot. Instead, simply smile and nod and say it was a beauitful and lovely story...and wasn't that scene in the rain romantic? Seriously, do not engage." - hellsditch
#2.
Moulin Rouge!
27.21% High
"This movie is my favorite of favorites. Some will hate it but those that can be open to the technicolor superphonic artistry are in for a treat. It is like nothing else. It is visionary, bold, touching, and funny. To weave the voice of modern music within the cloth of the most legendary den of pleasure in Europe is genius. This movie explodes with emotion from the opening moment to the last note. It is a treasure." - mkmoore
24.54% Low
"I can't think of any reason this films existence can be justified other than as some sort of torture device. Put it on repeat and leave your prisoner in front of it for half a day and you'll have your information." - VinegarBob
#1.
India Song
32.91% High
"through meticulous framing and endless cycling this is perhaps the closest a film has ever come to a bach variation: the abstract architecture of its precisely calculated modulations creates a detached baroque beauty. remarkable." - lisa-
25.64% Low
"Boring and utterly dreadful. I think we're meant to learn something about romance, but it's as if it was written by a 15 year-old girl who knows nothing about romance. There's more to being in love that just talking about being in love and how much it tortures your soul. Points for a somewhat original narrative (although it's blatantly influenced by Resnais) and some painterly images (which you will have a LONG time to study), but otherwise a real drag." - MartinTeller