Thankful For Rom-Coms: A review of Thanksgiving romantic comedies

After an endless amount of scrolling through Christmas movies on Netflix, I can’t help but think to myself: where’s the Thanksgiving appreciation?

Thankfully, I found two Thanksgiving rom coms perfect to fill your time during break.

The first movie that caught my attention was “Dan In Real Life”. Dan — played by Steve Carrell — is a single dad of three. After the death of his wife four years ago, his family wonders if he’ll find love again.

Each year he and his daughters take a trip to his parents house for a Thanksgiving family reunion. The connection between the three sisters is one thing I absolutely love — between one who speaks for all of them, one in her teen angst stage and another who wants nothing more than to make her dad happy. It’s a classic rom com setup done well enough to make me watch the whole movie compared to more cheesy films like “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” which has never compared to me crying over “Dan In Real Life” for its emotion.

On the first day of the trip, Dan meets a stranger in a bookstore, Marie. They share a muffin the size of a “small planet” and chat for over an hour before parting. She will soon be one of the most important additions to Dan’s life. The mystery of their love story — over the fact that in the beginning they weren’t sure they would ever see eachother again is what makes this movie suspenseful and all that more exciting.

Through game nights, a bed in the laundry room and burnt pancakes in the morning, Dan navigates a life of falling in love in three days. This film is comfort, humor and heartbreak all in one.

Next on my list holds a more recognizable title — “You’ve Got Mail.”

Tom Hanks, who plays Joe Fox, owns an accomplished bookstore. The friend to rival to lover connection is incredible in this film, with new feelings developing towards each other every 20 minutes. Joe is in a committed relationship and after his girlfriend leaves the apartment he listens for one thing.

“You’ve got mail.”

On my screen and around the corner from Fox’s Books is Kathleen Kelly’s bookstore — locally owned and less accomplished from Fox’s Books. During the film, Thanksgiving is celebrated on an early morning in the shop.

Each day after her boyfriend leaves, Kathleen sits at her two-inch-thick laptop and waits for her mailbox to light up from a secret admirer — who happens to be Joe, something unknown to both of them. Their ability to hold a strong connection over a screen is one of the sweetest aspects of this movie. 

Both Joe and Kathleen wait in anticipation for who could be typing on the other end. The viewer watches a lighthearted online relationship wash up to be a confusing and rivaling situationship. 

A late night coffee date brings suspicion to who her mystery man could be, setting up a playful hint of dramatic irony, as he’s sitting right in front of her — she just can’t seem to see it.

“You’ve Got Mail” kept me angrily on the edge of my couch saying “just make a move,” but in the end it’s worth the wait. It’s a heartwarming, go-get-the-girl sort of movie. To me — it’s the ideal rom com and is worth every minute of watching.

So wherever you land on Thanksgiving, take a few hours to solve a problem with Dan and contemplate your whole life with Joe. Happy holidays.