#RelationshipGoals: The 10 Best Boyfriends In Movie History
©MCA/Courtesy Everett Collection1/11If your real life options are limited, you can always switch to spending time obsessing over the best movie boyfriends in the universe, instead of giving up hope (or dropping your standards).
Whether you’re a baby of the 80s who loves a good “Brat Pack” moment, or Nicholas Sparks and his slew of mega-romantic southern gentlemen are more your style, the options are endless. Over the years, plenty of movies have featured stellar boyfriends, but none are as perfect as these. These guys might not exist in the real world, but they do on Netflix, which is far superior. After all, Netflix is always available, unlike your ex.
What makes the perfect movie boyfriend? Is it the subtle acts of rebellion that scream bad boy, without letting him ever truly join the dark side, a la Darth Vader? Or is it the mix of a well-coiffed hairdo with said bad boy drama? The truth is, the power lies both in their hair and in their ability to be rebellious with a side of sweet — reformed bad boys that turn miraculously good when they meet the right girl.
Sure, it might be a little bit unrealistic, but that’s what a romantic comedy needs. After all, a rom-com wouldn’t exactly be adorable if it involved Tinder swiping and “u up” texting. It’s far more aspirational when a rom-com is all about former bad boys, good hair, and girls who are equal parts effortlessly stylish and fabulously feminist. Here are the 10 best movie boyfriends, with the best hair, the most elaborate romantic gestures, and the ability to make you hit rewind over and over again.
Alamy Stock Photo2/11Noah Calhoun in The Notebook
There is no more desirable human being on the planet than Ryan Gosling. It’s science. Add a slight twang, loads of love letters, and a mansion worthy of the front cover of Southern Living and you have the best movie boyfriend of all time, ever. In retrospect, it seems absolutely unfair. You can barely get a guy to text you back, and those missives certainly aren’t the romantic sort.
Like all of Nicholas Sparks’s heroes, Noah is just snarky enough to make the story YA-level angsty, but lacks the bite of a more devious rebel without a cause (if you’re looking for true rebellion try Shane West in A Walk to Remember, where he participates in shocking activities like climbing water towers and falling for a girl in a sweater set).
It’s completely understandable if The Notebook made you start hoping for a rainy day, just so you could go for a quick canoe ride. After all, all of their dates are epic, whether it’s him watching her in bumper cars or lying in the middle of the street (because nothing screams romance like almost getting run over). It’s okay to be just as smitten with Noah as he was with Allie, which is a Taylor Swift Red level of obsession. With his endless love for her, if you don’t cry at the end every time you watch it, you’re obviously not feels city.
©MCA/Courtesy Everett Collection3/11Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles
Jake Ryan is the ultimate high school heartthrob. If you’re into the Vineyard Vines, seersucker look, it probably stems from a lifelong affection for the O.G. prep. Sixteen Candles is the perfect movie to watch every year on your birthday, because no matter how much you hype up your party it can’t be as awful as Samantha Baker’s big day. It’s also a helpful reminder that Facebook is actually useful, because how else would you remember when everyone’s birthday is?
Movie boyfriends might come and go, but none will ever be as devastatingly handsome as Jake Ryan. Like Justin Bobby he has two names, but unlike Justin Bobby, he’s gorgeous and put together… albeit a little bit dull, which makes him the perfect blank slate to place all of your preconceived notions about the perfect partner on. If you’re in unrequited love, re-watch Sixteen Candles for the millionth time. It’s more useful than writing someone’s` name over and over again in your notebook, and it will give you hope that inevitably you’ll fall in requited love.
Alamy Stock Photo4/11Josh Lucas in Clueless
This was indubitably Paul Rudd’s finest hour. Sure, he hasn’t visibly aged much since then (sidenote: is he Benjamin Buttoning? Unclear), but there was something about that utterly charming baby face that just screamed “Rewind me!” whenever he and Alicia Silverstone/Cher Horowitz made out/were on screen together.
Of course, it’s a little bit creepy in retrospect that they were, at one point, step-siblings, but with the recent popularity of Game of Thrones it seems almost kosher. He was pre-law smart (even if he held it over her head sometimes), a college student (so grown up!), and once he saw Cher in that little white dress he was dunzo, even though she was pretty particular.
Alamy Stock Photo5/11Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls
Admit it — his hair looks sexy pushed back. Few men are more handsome and well-coiffed than Aaron Samuels. He might’ve been a little bit bland and Regina George’s sloppy seconds, but that wouldn’t stop any red blooded American woman from daydreaming about those luscious locks. Unfortunately, he’s missing the bad boy gene, but he’s so good at math that he makes up for it. Your kids would be destined for the Mathletes and shampoo commercial fame, and there’s no better combination.
Alamy Stock Photo6/11Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You
Even if you’re a little bit afraid of getting dirty and always heard paint balls hurt, after seeing Patrick Verona and Kat Stratford get romantic post-war, it probably led to you hoping that your next date would involve guns and sparks (only not the dangerous kind).
Heath Ledger serenading Julia Stiles is all sorts of romantic and gives even High Fidelity a run for its money when it comes to grand gestures and boom boxes. That Australian accent, that bad boy hair flip, and that penchant for wearing white tees like nobody’s business created the ideal movie bad boy boyfriend.
Alamy Stock Photo7/11Cliff Pantone in Bring It On
If you were more alternative than preppy princess, you were probably swooning over Cliff even more than Torrance. He was so punk rock, but in a nice, approachable way that meant you could still bring him home to mom and dad. He was approachably grungy, just like all those alternative seniors you crush on. It’s more than likely that this movie made you try out for cheerleading immediately and start Googling all the band shirt(s) he wears throughout the movie.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection8/11Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
While Ferris doesn’t often make perfect boyfriend lists because he was a handful of trouble and then some, he would be the ultimate prom date and an even better partner for any and all sorority date parties. He’d be just wild enough to keep things exciting, but still lovable enough to get away with it with those puppy dog eyes. If rebellious prep isn’t your style, there’s always Cameron…you just have to look exactly like Sloan, so start practicing your perfect 80s hair and off-the shoulder looks immediately. The 70s might be in this spring, but you can usher in an 80s revival single handedly with a Ferris of your very own by your side.
Alamy Stock Photo9/11“Woodchuck” Todd in Easy A
If you couldn’t get enough of Dan Humphrey’s big hair and penchant for being a manipulative jerk, you’ll love him in Easy A. The movie is a goldmine not only because Emma Stone/Olive Penderghast wears lingerie and wedges to school while re-enacting The Scarlet Letter so you can skip out on that required reading, but because Penn Badgley plays the kind of guy you might actually meet IRL. He might be a little more attractive than your run-of-the-mill high schooler who’s still rocking backwards baseball caps and making bad decisions, but his laid back demeanor and abs make him the perfect mix of relatable and swoon-worthy.
Alamy Stock Photo10/11Chase Hammond in Drive Me Crazy
Adrian Grenier plays yet another bad boy with a heart of gold (it was just hidden under his many, many layers of hair). Before he struck gold with his Entourage, he was just trying to stay under the radar at his high school, where the popular kids all loved basketball and hated protests of any kind.
If you’re into the next door neighbors/sworn enemies falling in love trope, this is as good as it gets. Plus, if you don’t have time to watch the entire movie you can catch Britney Spears and Sabrina the Teenage Witch wearing neon latex perfect for your next rave in the '90s gem of a music video by the same name.
©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection11/11Zack Siler in She’s All That
Freddie Prize Jr. naked with a soccer ball may or may not have jump started puberty for an entire generation of millennials, and it most definitely made everyone incredibly envious of Sarah Michelle Gellar. He might have started out the movie as kind of rude, but he proves himself to Rachel Leigh Cook and the audience. He also proves that all it takes to become a hard 10 smoke show is removing your scrunchie and glasses, just in time to don a little red dress that’s the stuff of legends. If you have a thing for the high school jock who refuses to look your way, all you need is to ditch the paint covered overalls and replace them with Rachel Leigh Cook’s face. This modern-day look at My Fair Lady introduced the world to Zack Siler’s spiky hair and angst-ridden popularity problem.
