Top 10 Movie Couples We Want To Double-date
Double-dating is at least as hard as plain old dating. First of all, there’s two of them and two of you, which means there are four potential relationships to negotiate — you’re trying to find a couple with whom you have four-way chemistry. That’s Nobel-level stuff happening there. And then there’s the lack of sex — unless you’re swingers, of course. You might forgive your date’s annoying dining habits (chewing with their mouth open, gesticulating with a fork) because you’re going to get some hot monkey lovin’ later on. But your double date? The best you can hope for is a double kiss on the cheek, European style. So they’d better be good company. Here are the top ten movie couples we wouldn’t mind double-dating with. (Though we can’t promise that our other halves would necessarily agree.)
Double-dating is at least as hard as plain old dating. First of all, there's two of them and two of you, which means there are four potential relationships to negotiate -- you're trying to find a couple with whom you have four-way chemistry. That's Nobel-level stuff happening there. And then there's the lack of sex -- unless you're swingers, of course. You might forgive your date's annoying dining habits (chewing with their mouth open, gesticulating with a fork) because you're going to get some hot monkey lovin' later on. But your double date? The best you can hope for is a double kiss on the cheek, European style. So they'd better be good company. Here are the top ten movie couples we wouldn't mind double-dating with. (Though we can't promise that our other halves would necessarily agree.)
10. Captain Von Trapp and the Baroness (SOUND OF MUSIC, 1965)
Sure, if we were seven years old and liked to skip a lot, we'd love to go to dinner with the Captain (Christopher Plummer) and Maria (Julie Andrews). Hey, maybe we could even put on a puppet show! But if it's witty banter, heavy drinking, and good old-fashioned innuendo you're looking for, then the Baroness (Eleanor Parker) wins hands down.
Author: Em & Lo9. Loretta and Ronny (MOONSTRUCK, 1987)
Cher and Nicholas Cage -- how could they do so right in this movie, and later go so wrong? It's our fantasy to be on a double-date with this couple and have Cher slap someone in the face to wake them up to their life. Actually, maybe she could slap everyone at the table, each for whatever they needed to snap out of. And while we mostly prefer to avoid double-dating couples who fight in public, we'd kind of like to see these two go at it. We think we could learn a thing or two about how to lay it all out on the table... and, later, screw and make up. Also, Cage is eighteen years younger than Cher! We just want to be around that kind of magic.
Author: Em & Lo8. Ennis Del Mar & Jack Twist (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, 2005)
Normally, excessive P.D.A. is kind of a deal-breaker on a double date. First of all -- ew, we're eating! And second, who wants to double-date a couple who makes them feel like their own sex life is drab and monotonous? But with these guys (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal): bring it on! We could even stand to see a little tongue. In the end, though, we just want to double-date these guys so we can reach across the table, squeeze their hands, and tell them it'll all be okay if they'd just move to the West Village or San Francisco.
Author: Em & Lo7. Harry Burns & Sally Albright (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, 1989)
Since opposites usually attract, chances are one if you is high maintenance and the other isn't. This would balance out a double date with Harry and Sally nicely. There would be lively debate, some fun rounds of Pictionary, maybe even some drunken dancing involving the White Man's Overbite. One would just hope Sally would know NOT to pull out her female orgasm impression at the dinner table when guests are over.
Author: Em & Lo6. David Norris and Elise Sellas (THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, 2011)
This film was pretty unremarkable except for one, kind of amazing element: proper, grown-up, palpable chemistry between two characters (played by Matt Damon and Emily Blunt) that was equal parts brain and booty. It shouldn't be that rare to see two smart, funny, beautiful people fall for each other's intellect on screen, but it feels like it is. We just wanted that scene on the bus to keep going -- which is why we want a double date. Because they seem like the kind of couple who could turn that buzzy charm on their dinner guests, too -- rather than just sticking their tongues down each other's throats. Oh, and if the waiter turns out to be an evil undercover agent from an alternate universe, then they'd probably come in pretty handy, too.
Author: Em & Lo5. Westley & Buttercup (THE PRINCESS BRIDE, 1987)
Imagine the possibilities: Westley, will you get the eggplant parmesan so I can taste it?... As you wish. ... And If I change my mind about my entree and prefer yours, will you trade? ... As you wish. ... Let's get Death by Chocolate and four spoons... As you wish. Okay, so maybe what we actually want to do is go on a double date with the actors Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn and see how many lines from the movie we can work into the conversation. Unlimited refills on salad and bread? Inconceivable! No more Princess Bride references, now I mean it! Anybody want a peanut? In fact, we think pretty much any double date could be improved by asking your dinner companions, "Have you heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?" and when they say they have, you reply, "Morons."
Author: Em & Lo4. Jack T. Colton and Joan Wilder (ROMANCING THE STONE, 1984)
We're complete suckers for their love-hate chemistry (this is the first time Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner paired up on the screen) and they're funny as hell, too, especially when they make fun of the romance novels she writes by making out passionately after simply saying "hi" to each other. Because sometimes on a double date you just want to sit back and make the other couple do all the work to entertain you. This qualifies as the double date most likely to end in a food fight -- and shouldn't everyone have at least one of those in their double-dating rotation?
Author: Em & Lo3. Katie and Hubbell (THE WAY WE WERE, 1973)
Man, it still kills us that these two characters (played by Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford) couldn't make it work. If this movie were made today, they probably would have ended up together, which pretty much encapsulates everything that we love and hate about Hollywood movies. We guess we should specify that we'd like to double date them as they are in the first half of the movie, when they're still enamored of each other and of the idea that the popular jock and the nerdy political activist fell in love. Maybe we'd like to stage an intervention to keep them that way.
Author: Em & Lo2. Jules and Nic (THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, 2010)
These two (played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening) love each other and their two children deeply and imperfectly. Despite all the fuck-ups, they make us want to be better couples, and isn't that why we double-date, in the end? (Okay, sure, sometimes we do it out of obligation or boredom, too.) But the very best kind of double-date can be like free group couples therapy. Imagine hanging out with someone who shared shit like this:
Author: Em & Lo1. Alvy Singer & Annie Hall (ANNIE HALL, 1977)
One of the best things about double-dating is that someone whom you wouldn't date if he was the last person on earth is actually an awesome dinner companion. Double-dating means that you get all the charm and the witty one-liners and the entertaining stories, while someone else has to deal with the babbling neuroses/mother-in-law/morning breath. Woody Allen (on screen or off -- is there a difference?) is your classic example, and Alvy Singer is one of our favorites. Plus, Diane Keaton's Annie Hall is smart and kooky and you know her breasts will never be spilling out of a cleavage-bearing top, threatening to put you off your caprese salad. Put it this way: When's the last time someone you double-dated with said anything like, "Hey, don't knock masturbation! It's sex with someone I love."
Author: Em & Lo
