Ten Movies About Long Distance Relationships
by Rakhi Abraham
Long distance relationships have their own bitter and sweet experiences. These have been portrayed in many Hollywood movies of the romantic genre. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. Some of the most memorable long distance relationships on screen are as follows:
- Casablanca (1942)
This is a story set against World War-2 and often ranked as one of the best movies of all time. Rick, played by the brooding, handsome Humphrey Bogart, waits at the Paris railway station to rescue his love, llsa played by the gorgeous Ingrid Bergman. But he waits in vain as she never turns up. Years later, Bogart is running his own night club in Casablanca (Morocco) when Bergman reaches there with her husband, a Czech resistance activist. Casablanca is then the conduit for all Europeans wishing to move westward. Ilsa’s return rekindles the old wounds and reveals how the passing years have been steeped in remorse and regret. The breathtaking part of seeing this movie is to sense how this romance survived for so long and in such intensity. Rick is torn between his love for llsa and his nobility in saving her husband and that forms the climax of the film.
- Ghost (1990)
A romantic story that will touch your heart. It is tale of love that transcends the tragedy of death. The hero, Sam is murdered but his spirit refuses to leave his wife played by Demi Moore. Sam’ spirit wants to protect his wife from the murderer and then enters a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg. Moore establishes contact with her dead husband Sam through the psychic. Sam gets redemption when he is able to punish his murderer who was his colleague and best friend and who had designs on his wife. The chemistry between Moore and Swayze is tender and heart wrenching.
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal portray love crossed cowboys in a heart rending story. They play two cowboys who find solace in each other across decades of their otherwise separate lives leading to a tragic end. Although separated by thousands of miles, their romance is threatened by convention and intolerance. The tragic story of two men in love in rural Wyoming in the early 1960’s captures our hearts. The story traces how they spend a torrid summer together and after wards, maintain a long distance romance between them.
- Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
An unlikely romance between two people Sam and Annie who have not met. It is the story of Tom Hanks who is coming to terms with the early demise of his wife. His only child, Jonah concerned over his dad’s long bereavement and isolated life style airs his dad’s problem over the radio. Millions of women fall in love with Hanks and among them is Baltimore reporter, played by Meg Ryan. Ryan and Hanks kindle an unlikely long distance romance through snail mail. The movie has a perfect ending in the Empire State Building based in New York which borrows its inspiration from the classic ‘An Affair to Remember’. This sweet and witty romantic comedy was penned by the able hands of the late Nora Ephron .
- The Lake House (2006)
This movie has sparkling romance between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock who re-unite for the first time after SPEED. It has slightly silly, inane plot. But for the hard core romantic, it is a very good movie experience as the love story transcends the barriers of time and space. If you can put up with this strange twist of the plot, you can enjoy a bitter sweet romantic tale.
- Time Travellers Wife (2009)
When it was released it went unnoticed and unloved. Many loved the book but were tired of the cinematic time traveler romance. Henry (Eric Bana) time travels against his will, disappearing for years on end while remaining the same age, connecting with Clare (Rachel McAdams) at different points in her life. His continuous time travel makes things difficult for Clare. Sci-fi fans dismiss the movie as a chick-flick but it is enjoyable for a romantic niche audience.
- 300 (2007)
King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) is a warrior. He is at the frontlines of war. He yearns to be with his beloved queen. Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) fights hard with the Spartan Council to send additional forces to his aid. There are some touching dialogues between Leonidas and Gorgo. She lives with the knowledge that her beloved is destined to perish. Their love surpasses time and space and manages to stay above bloodshed and violence in this tempestuous war tale.
- Message in a Bottle (1999)
Based on a bestselling book by Nicholas Sparks, the movie is about a gut wrenching romantic tale that is sparked off in an unusual way. Kevin Costner is a guy who has lost his wife and opens his heart out to her in a letter which he romantically seals into a bottle and casts it into the sea. Cut to New York and Robin Wright Penn who is on a jogging trip, comes across the bottle. She falls in love with the letter and undertakes a trip to North Carolina to get to know Costner intimately. This is the story of their romance which has a tragic, heart stopping ending. Be prepared with some chocolate and tissue while watching this one.
- Going the Distance (2010)
As the title goes, Going the Distance is the most correctly named long distance love story. The digital age with its smart phones and laptops helps spark a romance between Justin Long and Drew Barrymore from San Francisco to New York. It also helped that the pair was romantically entangled in real life but some critics felt that the chemistry just did not sparkle on screen. Basically an East coast-West coast romance sustained by Skype and Blackberry.
- Dear John (2010)
A romantic drama in which a soldier falls in love with a conservative college student. Based on a bestselling novel by the inimitable Nicholas Sparks, the movies is easy on the eye due to the delectable pair of Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfreid. There is the novelty of a handwritten love letter in the age of e-mails and texts.
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