What were the best movies that Hollywood has ever produced?
Here is my concrete, undebatable answer: romantic comedies predating the year 2010. You may think the year 2010 is arbitrary, but that’s the year that marked the steady decline in the genre. Here, we’re living our lives as if those movies were simply never made.
Let’s start out with a scientifically proven fact: Pretty Woman (1990) is the best romantic comedy to have ever been made. If you’ve never watched it, the movie follows Vivian Ward’s (Julia Roberts) journey from rags to riches. That’s a big dramatic, but, long story short, she is a prostitute who happens to meet a well-off businessman, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere). There’s a little tussle between the two to not show any sort of emotional intimacy. She gets to live a fake life that is far from her own, and, as you guessed it, they end up falling in love.
Why do I love this movie so much? Here are three reasons: Julia Roberts, “Big mistake. Huge,” and my personal sentiment to it.
They could not have casted a better lead actress for the movie if they tried. Obviously, I didn’t watch this movie when it came out. I watched it in 2021. I grew up watching Julia Roberts in these “good-girl”, almost matriarchal roles. She literally plays the opposite of that in Pretty Woman. What’s better than playing a mom in a movie? That’s right. Playing a prostitute that meets a rich man while unapologetically being herself. I know the directors couldn’t have guessed that that would happen, but the evident range in her acting made it even better for me.
You should ask my best friend how often I would quote the line, “Big mistake. Huge,” prior to even watching the movie. It’s literally one of the most quotable lines of all time. Now, people how who haven’t seen the movie don’t really “get it,” but the seeming exclusivity of the line makes it even better. 
As I mentioned, I quoted the movie for months before I actually watched it. I saw clips of the movie. I knew all the actors. It’s like I was waiting for the movie to be release. In reality, I was just waiting for the perfect sleepover so that I could watch it with my best friend. The memory of watching it in my room late at night, eating Little Cesars, and finally seeing Julia say the iconic line gave it a special place in my heart forever.
This will forever be my favorite romantic comedy. My ironic love for it shifted into this unironic appreciation. Now, my only wish is to be able to watch it for the first time again.
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