that love-hate thing
GREAT CINEMA AND TELLY ABOUT ENEMIES WHO FALL IN LOVE.
PILLOW TALK (1959) There’s a lot about this bubbly ’50s comedy that wouldn’t fly today, like a telephone shortage that forces its two protagonists to share a ‘party line’ – a joint phone system that allows them to listen in on each other’s calls (OK, maybe that would be fun). Doris Day plays Jan Morrow, a career-focused interior designer who’s angry that playboy Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) hogs up their shared line chatting to so many women. Brad and Jan fight/ flirt all the time on the phone, often from their respective beds, but don’t meet in person until Brad spots Jan on the town. Knowing that Jan would hate him if she knew the truth, Brad pretends to be a Texas rancher rather unimaginatively named Rex Stetson. Though not groundbreaking by today’s standards, it’s fun to see wholesome types like Day and Hudson trade spicy quips that allude so casually to sex, all while wearing the world’s most glamorous pyjamas.
FIRE ISLAND (2022) Though I tried my darndest to stuff this list with Pride and Prejudice adaptations, my wise editorial overlords asked me to stick with one. But it’s a humdinger: a funny, thoughtful look at how race, class and queerness intersect with love and community. Screenwriter and star Joel Kim Booster read Jane Austen’s most famous novel during a real-life trip to The Pines on Fire Island (think grown-up schoolies for gay New Yorkers), when he was struck by how much it resonated with his experience of hierarchies within gay culture. Booster plays the fun-loving Noah, who embarks on an epic summer holiday with his chosen family of queer BFFS, including Margaret Cho and SNL’S Bowen Yang. Noah has several heated misunderstandings with a surly, smouldering lawyer (Conrad Ricamora), including one extremely tension-filled rain scene (directly inspired by 2005’s Pride and Prejudice). The way two guarded people push and pull at one another’s vulnerabilities is so damn electric to watch – especially when they’re shirtless and drenched in rain!
THE PROPOSAL (2009) If you’re the type to criticise a movie for being ‘predictable’ or ‘unrealistic’, stay far away from this totally absurd rom-com about… deep breaths… a highly strung New York book editor, Margaret (Sandra Bullock), who gets fake-engaged to her assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), so she doesn’t get deported back to Canada. Oh, and she has to spend the weekend before her immigration interview at his grandma’s 90th birthday in Alaska. But never mind the flagrant misunderstanding of US immigration law; we’re here to watch Bullock and other greats, like Betty White and Mary Steenburgen, be comedic geniuses. A scene where buck-naked Reynolds and Bullock accidentally slam into
each other is slapstick heaven. And how can you not love watching Andrew and Margaret see through one another’s grouchy exteriors to their soft, gooey, emotional centres. It’s hate-to-love heaven. 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (1999) I swear I hit puberty the day I first saw Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) slide down a pole and sing Smokey Robinson – one of the sexiest, most transformative moments in film history (fight me). Bad boy Patrick is paid to woo a “tempestuous” outcast, Kat (Julia Stiles), so her sister (Larisa Oleynick) will be allowed to date, according to their strict dad’s weird rule. Maybe it’s a little problematic that a public serenade is all Patrick has to do to thaw Kat’s icy exterior, but who am I to deny Ledger’s undeniable charisma? Or Stiles’ vulnerable, relatable portrayal of a spiky teen feminist who’s rightfully pissed off with the tiresome sexual politics of high-school bros. She nails the essence of the enemies-to-lovers trope in a single poem: “I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close. Not even a little bit. Not even at all.” Based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, this legendary teen movie is about how goddamn refreshing it is to find someone who isn’t scared of how angry you are.
CRASH LANDING ON YOU (2019) Being attracted to your enemy is a pain in the arse when all they have is a bad attitude, but it’s way worse when they’re a geopolitical enemy, separated from you by decades of sectarian tension and a seemingly impenetrable border. Just ask Seoul heiress and skincare CEO Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), who accidentally paraglides (stay with me) into North Korea, where she LITERALLY crash-lands into the muscly arms of a stoic-butsexy North Korean soldier, Captain Ri (Hyun Bin). They bicker, of course, but he helps her evade capture, and they eventually fall in love (so did the actors in real life; now they’re married!). There’s a loveable cast of side characters, a makeover scene, a fascinating (if slightly rosy) depiction of North Korean life and one of the most heart-wrenchingly romantic conclusions I’ve ever seen on screen. This swoony, heartfelt K-drama (available on Netflix) is 16 episodes long, so grab a bunch of tissues, prepare to ignore numerous plot holes and enjoy the wild, star-crossed ride.
NORTH AND SOUTH (2004) It’s Pride and Prejudice – with labour relations! Based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel, this dreamy BBC miniseries follows Margaret (Daniela Denby-ashe), a sheltered minister’s daughter, who moves to a manufacturing town in northern England. She’s rightfully appalled, if a bit snooty, about the consequences of rapid industrialisation (smog, child labour, etc), and clashes with local cotton-mill owner Mr Thornton (Richard Armitage). He sees her as a self-righteous snob (fair), while she sees him as a dour, money-hungry capitalist (also fair!). Thornton is grumpy – in that sexy, misunderstood way, obviously – and he hates how much he fancies the feisty, outspoken heroine (he and Mr Darcy would have lots to discuss). But unlike Pride and Prejudice, North and South is deeply invested in the struggles of the working class, including a gruff union leader who’s raising support for a citywide strike against poor mill conditions. In classic enemies-to-lovers fashion, though, Margaret and Thornton discover how much they can learn from the person who challenges them the most.