Anyone having gone through a break up knows how much it sucks.  We have all pretty much been there whether we were the heart breaker or got our hearts broken, breaking up simply isn’t fun.  Unfortunately, I know this first hand having gone through a break up of a two year relationship this weekend.  This means many things including not being able to get my fill of Starcraft II and Hard Rain, but it does mean a post about the top movies you should watch after a break up.

Here’s the deal, you break up with who you think is the love of your life.  You want to say something amazing just like in the movies, but then nothing comes out.  You go home, heart broken, shut off your cell phone, crawl under the covers, sleep for days, getting up to eat Spaghetti-O’s out of the can, letting your crusty dishes pile up and forgetting to shower.  The last thing you want to do is go out, see friends and potentially run into your now ex since you pretty much live and work within the same one mile radius as him now because you decided it would be a really good idea to be closer to your boyfriend!

However, you should get out of bed or at least get far enough to get on the couch and toss in some DVD’s or stream Netflix.  This list of films may get you through the hard times and will be what I’ll be watching as soon as I get home from work.

1) 500 Days of Summer

The best break up and not get back together movie quite possibly of all time.  The film reminds us all that there is indeed someone for everyone, but sometimes the someone isn’t who you hope it will be.  The direction by one time video music director Marc Webb (now about to helm the new Spiderman franchise) is impeccable and incorporates some fabulous animation and visual effects to tell the heart breaking story of a young man (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) who will do anything to get back the love of his life, Summer (played by the quirky and charming Zooey Deschanel). If you want to laugh as hard as you will cry and want a movie where like in life there are not always happy endings, this is one to watch!

2) When Harry Met Sally

The moment when Meg Ryan is crying at New Years and tells Billy Crystal how much she hates him after he tells her that he loves her gets me every single time.  In my opinion, Rob Reiner’s best movie ever.   I never would have thought that America’s sweetheart at the time would have been paired with a short comic, but somehow the chemistry works.  The idea that you could fall in love with your best friend has always resonated with me and the Harry Conick Jr. score is to die for.  A movie I’ll always come back to when I want a little bit of hope that things always work out in the end.  A true Hollywood ending to be sure.

3) It Happened One Night

The romantic comedy that in my opinion truly started it all.  The classic Frank Capra movie that launched Clark Gable into leading man status and his leading lady French born actress Claudette Colbert into the hearts of America.  The screwball comedy follows protagonist Ellie, a spoiled heiress who runs away from her father to  marry a man against her father’s wishes.  On a bus to New York City Ellie bumps into Peter Warne, an out of work newspaper reporter fishing for his next story.  Warne recognizes Ellie and makes a deal that he will help her be reunited with the man she loves if she gives him an exclusive story. Hijinks ensue and you can probably guess who Ellie ends up with!

4) Some Kind of Wonderful

Legend is that apparently John Hughes wrote this movie as a dig at executives who didn’t want Molly Ringwald to end up with nerd Anthony Michael Hall in the movie 16 Candles. My favorite line in this film is actually not given by the two leads it is given by the supporting role Amanda Jones (played by Lea Thompson) who the protagonist played by Eric Stoltz is pining for.  She says, “Remember how I said I would rather be with someone for the wrong reasons than alone for the right.  I’d rather be right.”  Talk about female empowerment at its finest! That line makes me happy to be single, albeit momentarily.

5) Sleepless in Seattle

Meg Ryan, yet again, chooses to take a leap of faith and meet Tom Hanks at the top of the empire state building shortly after breaking up with Bill Pullman and deciding to ultimately follow her heart.  The best part, Tom Hanks’ young son in the film is the one to bring them together.  This was the first of many films that paired Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and by far my favorite, which is odd considering they only appear together in the movie one time, at the end.

6) Four Weddings and a Funeral

This is one of my favorite films of all time.  It speaks of love, loss of love, death and finding love once again.  Hugh Grant is brilliant as Charlie who always seems to put his foot in his mouth at the wrong time and whose timing is pretty much crap through the entire movie, but that is the brilliance of this film directed by Mike Newell and wonderfully written by Richard Curtis (who is now oddly writing episodes of Dr. Who).

7) Say Anything

The first film both written and directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) is still one of his best.  John Cusak plays Lloyd Dobler, an average high school graduate who will do anything for his love for Ione Skye, who plays  Diane Cort, the Valedvictorian of the school.  Who can ever forget the moment when John Cusak holds his boom box high above his head playing Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes. Crowe has always incorporated a killer soundtrack in all of his films and this film is no exception.

8) Forgetting Sarah Marshall

This movie has it all, a tropical location, a musical with vampire puppets, Jason Segel naked, the list goes on and on.  One of my favorite moments in the movie is when Kristen Bell’s character tells Segel, who is sitting completely naked on the couch, that they are leading different lives and then takes a moment and says, “Do you WANT to put some clothes ON?!”  Segel retorts, “Would you like to pick out the outfit that you break up with me in?”  I laugh every single time.  Each moment of the film captures what it is like to break up with someone, try to move on and then can’t because every where you turn that person is there right in front of you.  Check out the brilliant musical number called Dracula’s Lament above!

9) Goonies

Ok ok I know it isn’t a romantic comedy.  Goonies never say die and though Sean Astin doesn’t get the girl, his brother played by Josh Brolin does.  Astin does catch the bad guy and saves his home from foreclosure.  Fun for the whole family plus after going through three boxes of Kleenex Goonies probably won’t have you sheding many tears, unless of course you cry at Mouth doing the truffle shuffle.

So Zoic community I ask you, if you have gone through a bad break up or even a tough time, what are movies that you watch that keep you entertained and keep you from going utterly insane? I would love to hear from you.  I need all the help I can get!