THE 10+ BEST UNDERRATED MOVIE AND TV ROMANCE SCENES THAT DON’T GET LOVE
When it comes to romance, we all have those “big” cinematic moments that we love. There are scenes that stay with us. But what about those scenes that are romantic, maybe even more so, but don’t stay with us for some odd reason. This is why today the goal is to accomplish looking at some of those underrated movie and TV romance scenes that are indeed terribly underrated.
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THE 10+ BEST UNDERRATED MOVIE AND TV ROMANCE SCENES THAT DON’T GET LOVE. #RomanceScenes #RomanceStories #Romance #MissScarlet #SweetMagnolias Share on XSome of these scenes may already be on your favorites list. But they feel like, at least to me, scenes that I don’t see often talked of in the way we do say the sunset scene in Pride and Prejudice or the ship’s bow moment from Titanic. As a result, I wanted to share some of these stunner moments and hopefully introduce you to one or two they maybe you don’t recognize. Let’s discover which underrated scenes sweep us away.
UNDERRATED ROMANCE SCENES from FILM and TV
Beware, this entire list will contain spoilers!
CONFIDENCE from SWEET MAGNOLIAS
THE SCENE: Season Three, Episode 9
I adore the end of dinner scene between Maddie and Cal from Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias. The show has the two share a dinner with Cal’s ex, which is cliché and a “normal” tool used to annoyingly break up a couple. However, the end of this dinner is wonderful. It allows Maddie to show how confident she is in their relationship and for us to also feel that confidence. By night’s end, they also assure each other of this and facing one another share some flirty banter. Cal dips her and gives her a kiss, reassuring each other, and the audience, that this hasn’t weakened them one bit.
Stream, at publication, exclusively on Netflix
THE DANCE from ACCORDING TO JIM
THE SCENE: Season Four, Episode 18
Pretty sure most people probably don’t like this show (generationally / today’s viewer), but I’ve watched the series twice (I never finished it the first time so I restarted it) and do enjoy it. Do I like everything? Heck no. But this applies to anything I watch. The episode that is quite sweet, and surprisingly romantic is one in which Jim, while trying to keep his skill hidden, shows off his dancing skills in order to show his wife how much he loves her. The scene, for a sitcom, is surprisingly charming and just really simple but sweet as he twirls his wife around an empty dance studio; the moment manages to be both uplifting (Cheryl is down remembering how she used to dance with her dad) and romantic, too.
Stream, at publication, on Prime Video; digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE DECLARATION from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
The declaration scene in the final moments of this film is darling and so lovely. I’ve gushed over it quite a lot at this point so perhaps doing so more is unnecessary.
Digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE DANCE and PROPOSAL from MRS. WINTERBOURNE
“Did you just ask me to marry you?”
– MRS. WINTERBOURNE
The dance from Mrs. Winterbourne is charming. It’s perhaps not “different” than any other first dance from film or TV, but it’s spontaneous and wonderful and I love it. That fact that it happens in a kitchen only adds to it standing out. The proposal that happens later on is also sweetly spontaneous. What both scenes share in common is being understated.
Stream, at publication, on The Roku Channel; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE END from THE FOUR FEATHERS
This film is more about the hero coming to terms with his belief he’s inadequate in comparison to the men whose regimen he’s in. The opening however sets up the committed relationship (that ends) between Harry and Ethne, and after a harrowing war experience and the journey he goes on, he returns to England very much a changed man. Ethne, also not the same, asks him where this leaves them and as he gently caresses her hand, we understand that they’re going to give them a second chance.
Stream, at publication, on Pluto TV; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE HANDS from THE MAKING of a LADY
This film is described as a “forgotten” story from Frances Hodgson Burnett and it puts it heroine through quite a lot. First when she accepts a marriage of convenience proposal. In fact, the first time I saw this I was so dang certain this would end tragically. The script mercifully gifts not just its heroine with the ending she desperately deserves but us too. The sweet gesture of lovers entwining their hands in such a way as she reaches down to touch his hand is beautiful and indicative of all they’ve gone through, and yet they remain resolute and did find happiness.
Stream, at publication, on Masterpiece
A KISS SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING from FOOTLOOSE (2011)
As the pair talks on an abandoned train car, Arielle, continuing her pursuit of trying to feel something again, asks Ren if he wants to kiss her. He holds her gaze and tells her “someday.” He makes it clear that when they do, it will mean something. He’s not for playing games or being a part of a thrill for her because that doesn’t last and serves only to make someone feel like “shit.” No… when he kisses Arielle it will be because it matters… and there’s something more to their kiss.
Of course there is a kiss that follows (and it’s lovely) but it’s later on and at a more perfect moment.
Steam, at publication, on Paramount+; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE LETTER from MISS SCARLET and the DUKE
I have serious issues with Eliza in regards to her handling of her friendship (and possibly more) with her teenage crush William Wellington. I think he’s (so far) the better character of the two, when it comes down to them as will-they-or-won’t-they. I know, if the actor ever returns to the show, there will be fallout and Eliza will BLAME him, but his leaving her is good. Unconventional though this scenes is as romance, it is and I love that he makes this choice; and that he writes her a letter explaining. It’s not only sweet, but also necessary given Eliza wouldn’t make time for him to explain how he feels…
Stream, at publication, the show on Masterpiece PBS
THE PROPOSAL from FOLLOW THE STARS HOME
The proposal scene from Follow the Stars Home, a drama from the Hallmark Hall of Fame collection is lovely. It’s unexpected, but fits with who these characters are well. It’s swoony but also feels more real and genuine (again, because I think it’s true to its characters) than some proposal scenes which can be heavy on the fairy tale.
Stream, at publication, on Hallmark+, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel or Tubi
THE RESCUE from CONFESSIONS of a SHOPAHOLIC
This entire film is delightful, but this entire sequence is charming. While some will be offended by the term “rescue” this is all done in cute and fun way. The moment comes when, while trying to impress some executives, our heroine Becky, winds up being mistaken as waitstaff at the fancy dinner. Trying to balance a tray of food, Becky loses balance and bumps into someone. Smoothly, and using his former skills as college waitstaff, Luke gets Becky a seat and takes the tray from her, saving her further challenges. Later, the pair share a cute rooftop moment where she thanks him and after clearing up a mistaken dating assumption, the pair share a sweet first kiss.
Stream, at publication, on Disney+ or Hulu; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Apple TV+ or Prime Video
THE 10+ BEST UNDERRATED MOVIE AND TV ROMANCE SCENES THAT DON’T GET LOVE. #RomanceScenes #RomanceMovies #RomanceTV #Hallmark #MrDarcy #JaneAusten Share on XTHE RESCUE from VILLA AMORE
Usually, I don’t feature TV films because I feature them so much through other avenues of writing. But one moment in the Hallmark film Villa Amore really struck me as special and sweet. The story is about Liara, a woman who impulsively (after heartbreak) travels to Italy, and then further impulsive, she buys the villa where her mum and dad met. While working on the villa, she takes a bit of a spill and instead of the guy being there to catch her, he finds her afterwards. Feeling like nothing is going right, he finds her emotional and in tears. Frustrated, she tells him she wants to be able to condition her hair (girls will relate) and she misses her dad.
Scooping her up, he takes her to his truck and gently setting her inside the cab, he tells her to name things she sees… it helps when he’s struggling or anxious, he says. He then takes her to his place where he leaves her to shower and get some rest. The scene, for a Hallmark, is a bit deeper and still allows Kevin McGarry’s hero to be gallant without being fairytale perfect gallant. It was just a nice common trope scene that I don’t think I’ve seen done this well in a while.
Stream, at publication, with Hallmark+
THE REUNION from OCEAN’S ELEVEN
I think the reunion scene where Tess and Danny (played by frequent screen partners Julia Roberts and George Clooney) meet again in the final moments of Ocean’s Eleven is all charm. It’s not some big “grand” moment, but the actors play the scene very well, and it just fits with who they are as characters. The scene is oddly sexy and is a kind of cherry on top ending for this film.
Digitally rent / purchase on places like Apple TV+ or Prime Video
ROLLER SKATING from REMEMBER SUNDAY
The scene when Gus (Zachary Levi) takes Molly (Alexis Bledel) roller skating is cute. The pair have lots of rough edges because of Gus’ condition, but I love that she cares, and that through his notes and letters, he comes to understand how much he cares. In the scene, the pair are enjoying some food when a new song comes on and standing up, he leans in, offering his hand with an invitation that she skate with him.
Stream, at publication, on Hallmark+, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel or Tubi
THE SPONTANEOUS KISS from NORTH of NORTH
In the unknown Netflix show North of North, the spontaneous kiss Siaja plants on her crush is cute and sweet, and perfectly her. This said, the aftermath falls into cliches with the interruption and lack of development.
Stream, at publication, exclusively on Netflix
THE WEDDING DANCE from BLEAK HOUSE
This isn’t “romantic” in some grand gesture way nor would anyone be impressed with the scene if someone were to cut it and share it on social media as a “big” romantic moment. However, if you watch the entire series, the scene is just so sweet in a kind of finally happily-ever-after way. The scene is Esther seeing a guest she finds egregious because of the way he treated a friend. Letting her temper flair, she pulls away from her dance with her husband to head over to give him a piece of her mind only for her husband to gently pull her back to him as if to say, we’ve waited far too long for this… The smile on Esther’s face that comes from her understanding the gesture is a lovely way to see this end.
Stream, at publication, on BritBox or Peacock; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
THE WEDDING SCENE from C.B STRIKE
THE SCENE: Season Two, Episode 1 (this episode is based on how the show is marketed in the U.S)
Perhaps it’s weird to include this scene, but the moment in episode one of the second season is fantastically romantic, but not in a grand gesture or big kind of way because it happens at Robin’s wedding to another guy. By romantic, I mean that the moment has depth and it’s about so much more than an unspoken “hey, I like you” situation.
The way that this episode cuts in the past with the future is prime storytelling. We get to see how Robin and Cormoran repair their business partnership. It all starts when Cormoran shows up to her wedding, invited, and as she engages in wedding pleasantries, including the first dance, she breaks away from her groom to find the disappeared Cormoran. When they face each other, which comes after a pre wedding fight they have, she asks him, with tears, are you sure? This refers to whether or not he wants her back as a partner and unequivocally he tells her yes. The pair then embrace in a way that feels as if they are holding on with their whole hearts.
Stream, at publication, on Max; or digitally rent / purchase on places like Prime Video
Photos: Alamy | Hallmark Media
How many of these have you seen? Which ones do you like? Which ones do you think don’t count? Which ones should have gotten a feature? Share all of your underrated movie and TV romance scenes! Comment all your thoughts.
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