Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 13 Movies Where Best Friends Fall In Love
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Vote up the most satisfying stories of friends becoming lovers.
True best friends are hard to find. However, these movie best friends who fall in love dare to push past their safe places in order to leave the friend zone for a chance at romance.
In many ways, it makes perfect sense for best friends to fall in love. After all, they already know what to expect from their would-be partner in nearly every situation. Of course, it’s a gamble to leave the comfort of the friend zone. If the relationship doesn’t work out, chances are the friendship is over as well. Yet the characters in these rom-coms about best friends are willing to go all in for a chance at love. In Hollywood, at least, a happily ever after is almost always guaranteed.
Thirteen-year-old Jenna (Christa B. Allen and Jennifer Garner) makes a wish to be a 30-year-old. When she wakes up as a rich, successful New York City editor with her dream job at a fashion magazine and a posh lifestyle, Jenna thinks she has it all.
Then, she runs into her former neighbor/best friend Matt (Sean Marquette and Mark Ruffalo), who informs her what a terrible person she has become. Despite that, the two begin their friendship again as adults.
Matt helps Jenna learn a difficult lesson about loyalty and kindness, and it seems like the two of them are destined to be apart forever. However, the same magic that turned Jenna into a 30-year-old turns her back into her teenage self, and she has the chance to live her life differently. Jenna and Matt end up together in adulthood, rewarded with the dream life of being married to their bestie.
Actors: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, Kathy Baker
When Harry (Billy Crystal) first meets Sally (Meg Ryan), they start out hating each other. They share a drive from Chicago to New York City, during which they disagree about nearly every topic they discuss. They meet again years later and begin the most unlikely of friendships. Harry and Sally share all the juicy intimate details about their lives, beginning to disprove Harry's original notion that men and women can't be friends.
However, a moment of weakness threatens their friendship. Harry and Sally sleep together, and for a time it seems like that will ruin everything, But once Harry loses his bestie, he finally realizes that Sally can be both his friend and lover. They share a kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve, after Harry declares that “when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
Actors: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford
Grade school best friends turned adult roommates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are having trouble paying their bills. After a chance run-in with an adult film star (played with gravelly gusto by Justin Long in an unforgettable cameo alongside erstwhile Superman actor Brandon Routh) at their high school reunion, the pair comes up with a genius idea: make racy movies together to earn extra money.
However, even when sex is performed for cash, it doesn't mean that romantic feelings won't emerge. Perhaps sensing that, Zack and Miri put off filming their own sequence. When it does happen, their encounter is far more romantic than raunchy. That leads to a slew of misunderstandings and hurt feelings between the pair, but after filming wraps, they end up together for real.
Actors: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Traci Lords, Jason Mewes, Ricky Mabe
Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson) is Keith's (Eric Stoltz) teen dream girl. The only problem is that she is the most popular girl in school, and Keith is an outsider. While Keith plots to win Amanda's love, his best friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) secretly pines for him. But Keith sees the tomboy as just a pal.
Even after Keith and Watts share a kiss – for “practice,” of course – Keith is oblivious. He and Amanda go on a few dates, though they hardly seem like an ideal match. It's Amanda, of all people, who finally clues Keith in to how his best friend really feels. Keith decides to go after Watts instead, and the pair finally locks lips for real.
Actors: Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thompson, Craig Sheffer, John Ashton
Overweight Chris (Ryan Reynolds) has always secretly been in love with his childhood best friend Jamie (Amy Smart). He finally confesses his love for her at their high school graduation, but Jamie tells him that she's not interested in him that way.
The friends drift apart, but meet each other again by chance ten years later. Chris is 100 pounds lighter and has become a successful music manager and playboy in Los Angeles. Jamie still lives in their hometown and works as a bartender.
They both battle with getting over the “friend zone” thing. However, one sweet kiss finally seals the deal.
Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein, Chris Marquette
In 2011, Hollywood gave us two romantic comedies where friends think that they can have sex with each other without commitment. It didn't work in No Strings Attached. And it doesn't work for Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) in Friends with Benefits either.
The relationship this time has a somewhat unusual twist: Jamie is a headhunter, attempting to recruit Dylan to a new job in New York City. Their friendship begins naturally from there, and soon evolves to include sex – though feelings get in the way before too long. In a charming touch that's very 2011, Dylan eventually wins Jamie over by staging a flash mob for her in Grand Central Station.
