Marriage is definitely a vow to cherish. So, when I have date night with my husband, a time I dedicate to strengthen our marriage, I would rather watch a romance movie that reflects the honoring of marriage vows than some silly rom com when boy meets girl, loses girl, boy makes up with girl, but then in the end, I am left hanging. Do they get married or not? Even though it’s fictional, I want to know if they get married! If they don’t get married, I don’t really want to watch it. I do have a place for escapist silly rom coms that don’t involve marriage but that’s only about 5 percent of the time. Usually, I either want to watch a romance movie leading up to marriage, or better yet, a movie that shows romance in marriage, and married people overcoming trials together with each person’s character improving to be more selfless. I also don’t want to watch any movie that mocks marriage, glorifies extramarital affairs, or treats marriage as a prison sentence.
So, I have been searching for and watching romantic movies for great married date nights for years. Therefore, I present to you…Tree of Life Mama’s Top 12+ romantic movies to watch for your married date nights this year! Most, if not all show characters who are already married or get married in the end. I deliberately left off all the Jane Austen movies because all of us already know about those and that they are worth watching, even if they don’t show marriage. These movies are lesser-known. You can watch one of these a month and have some left for next year. Some of these I have already reviewed on the blog. If that’s the case I will link you to the review. If I haven’t already reviewed it here on the blog I give a quick summary below. I will be adding to this list as I learn more so check back often. OK, here we go…
- A Vow to Cherish. This movie shows what true married love is all about. It shows a business executive responding nobly when his wife gets a debilitating disease. Ken Howard plays the husband so that’s a plus, because he reminds me of my early 80s tweenhood, as he was the star of a TV series about basketball back then. White Shadow anyone?
2. Expecting a Miracle. This one I review here. It reminds me of my trip to Mexico over 20 years ago with my husband.
3. Marriage Made In Heaven. This is one of Robert Krantz’s movies. He’s a guy devoted to making clean funny family movies. It seems he does it just so he can show off his dancing. So far every movie I’ve watched of his has him as the star, and they always have a dancing scene. It’s clean and funny with an It’s a Wonderful Life angel/mentor.
4. About Hope. This one shows a man who has to choose between wealth, fame, and true love after he finds the Ms. Right he’s always dreamed of. I love that it shows family life, with having dinner together and playing Charades.
5. Faith Hope and Love. Another Robert Kranz movie. It’s about a single father who gets paired up with his daughters’ dance teacher for a dance competition. I’m sure you can guess what happens. She’s a bit scantily clad in the big dance scene which surprised me with the purported wholesome theme.
6. Christmas with the Karountzes. Another Robert Kranz movie with more dancing. It’s hilarious! I review it here.
7. A Match Made in Heaven. I can’t find a trailer for this one so you get the full movie above. It features Olympia Dukakis as a matchmaking mother getting a true love for her son played by John Stamos. For some reason, my husband thought this one was so romantic.
8. Falling to Heaven/Midway to Heaven. It is called by either name. I review it here. The full movie is below. A sweet movie about a widower finding love again. it’s based on a novel by Dean Hughes.
9. A Song of Love. This is one is based on the true story of the marriage of composers Robert and Clara Schuman. It’s lovely but sad so watch if you are in the mood for sad. It stars the award-winning actress Katherine Hepburn. Definitely a classic!
10. Fireproof. Has anyone not seen this? It’s a good one, about how pornography threatens a marriage, even though the male lead, Kirk Cameron, a teen TV star from my day, reminds me of all the immature males I knew in jr high and high school.
13. Loving Leah. I absolutely love this! It’s so tender! It involves the faith tradition of Orthodox Judaism. Here’s my review.
14. Though None Go With Me. This one features Cheryl Ladd! If you don’t know who that is, well, never mind. That just means you are young. Here’s my review. I love the 1940s fashions!
15. American Underdog. Based on a true story about a guy determined to play NFL football.
16. When We Last Spoke. This is the only movie I’ve found so far about a married couple in grandparent mode. Let’s see more of those! Melissa Gilbert of Little House on the Prairie TV show fame (LOL, I started typing “Laura Ingalls Wilder” for her name) plays the grandmother. It has an interesting plot twist at the end and totally shows the deep married love possible between husband and wife who have been married for decades, and how that deep love helps them face trials together.
17. Lost Holiday. This is based on the true story of the Jim and Suzanne Shemwell family. In the movie, Jim and Suzanne, a married couple who were separated, get stuck in the snowy mountains right before Christmas when a snowmobile trip goes wrong.
Then there are the more commonly known ones like Yours Mine and Ours with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, and Cheaper By the Dozen, and the modern remakes of those. They are fun but not quite as meaningful as the ones I just listed. I’d love to hear if any of you know of any. Please comment below.
Tree of Life Mothering 