Top 10 Rom-Com Guys We've Fallen Out of Love With

The charms of Will Smith made us see past the red flags of Alex Hitchens for way too long. In the film, Alex, or “Hitch,” as he’s known, coaches men on how to properly woo women, mostly by teaching them not to be themselves – a “fake it til you make it” mentality if we’ve ever seen one. To Hitch’s credit, he’s not terrible and he does genuinely try to help his clients make long-lasting relationships. But, he’s pretty smug about how much he thinks he knows about romance, which makes him more than a bit insufferable. Hitch learns some important lessons along the way, but not before we’re already pretty sick of his shenanigans.

“To me, you are perfect.” We’ve seen this so-called romantic gesture memed into eternity, but maybe it’s time we talk about how much it actually sucks. In “Love Actually,” Mark is in love with his best friend Peter’s wife, Juliet. He shows that love by constantly avoiding her, being sort of rude to her, and ruining her wedding video by only filming close up shots of her face instead of – you know, the wedding. The famous scene with the cue cards has been billed to us as something to aspire to. But, in reality, it’s a pretty selfish thing to do and more than a little awkward if the feelings aren’t reciprocated. Poor Peter!

While we’re not too high and mighty to succumb to the charms of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, you have to admit – Joe Fox is sort of the worst. In “You’ve Got Mail,” Joe Fox is part of a family who owns a huge chain of bookstores, while Kathleen Kelly runs an independent bookstore. The two begin instant messaging anonymously, and those interactions are very sweet. But, in real life, Joe and Kathleen get off on the wrong foot, and his family business is the primary reason her bookstore fails. They say you can’t help who you fall for, but the class conflict in this relationship definitely seems like it would pose a bit of a problem.

Hilary Duff said it best: “Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing.” That’s exactly how we feel about the next rom-com boy on this list: Austin from “A Cinderella Story.” Austin is a far cry from prince charming in this scenario – for one, he starts an online relationship with someone while he has a girlfriend in real life. Anyone else’s alarm bells ringing yet? What’s more, the fact that he would even date someone like Shelby in the first place is a pretty big red flag, even if he does break up with her eventually.

“Wedding Crashers” isn’t your typical rom-com. It’s a bit raunchier than we’re used to as it follows two bachelors who – you guessed it – crash weddings, in order to pick up unsuspecting women and have sex with them. Of course, one of the bachelors, John – played by Owen Wilson – starts to develop real feelings for the woman he sets his sights on, Claire. Owen Wilson definitely has a certain amount of charm, but there’s no getting around the fact that this relationship is built on a complete lie. In fact, the only reason we’re tempted to root for John even a little bit is that Claire’s boyfriend Sack Lodge – played by a deliciously douchey Bradley Cooper – is so awful, anyone looks good in comparison.

This one hurts. We’re not telling you NOT to love Dr. Steve Edison from “The Wedding Planner” – AKA the best Matthew McConaughey has ever looked in a movie. But, sometimes, you just have to be honest with yourself. At the beginning of the film, Steve meets Mary, played by Jennifer Lopez, when he rescues her from being hit by a rolling dumpster. The two end up on a date together – they dance, they almost kiss, and things are going great…until Mary finds out that Steve is engaged to her new client, Fran. Things eventually sort themselves out, but this is one heck of an obstacle to overcome.

Even some of the catchiest songs in history can’t save this leading man. When Danny meets Sandy over the summer, they fall in love instantly. But, when the sheen of summer romance has faded and Danny’s friends are around, he seems…different – a jerk, to be exact. What follows is a series of events where Danny tries to make things up to Sandy, but somehow manages to make them worse. Every. Single. Time. These moments culminate in an incident at a drive-in where Danny tries to come on to an unwilling Sandy, upsetting her and driving her away. And, somehow, this guy still gets the girl! And, she changes for him! We’ll never understand.

While it was hard to get over our love for some of the rom-com guys on this list, this one doesn’t require a whole lot of effort. “Never Been Kissed” follows Josie Geller – played by Drew Barrymore – a 25-year old copy editor who goes undercover as a high school student for a story. She develops a crush on her teacher, Mr. Coulson, who also seems to develop feelings for her…despite the fact that he believes her to be a student! Sure, when it’s all said and done the two are around the same age, but that doesn’t change the fact that, for the majority of their interactions, Mr. Coulson has no idea that’s the case.

Despite how much we love Ryan Gosling, or how absolutely magnetic his and Rachel McAdams’ chemistry is in this movie, Noah Calhoun is probably not the best example of a great boyfriend. Let’s start with how he and Allie first meet. He introduces himself to her at the fair, and she asks him to leave her alone. Instead of heeding her wishes, he proceeds to climb up a moving ferris wheel and guilt-trip her into going on a date with him by threatening physical harm to himself. Yeah, not a great look! Noah grows up (slightly) throughout the film, but watching it today, we can’t help but feel just a little more attracted to James Marsden’s Lon Hammond Jr. Now, that’s a man!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Aaron Samuels, “Mean Girls” (2004)
Stop Trying to Make Aaron Samuels Happen

Kevin Doyle, “27 Dresses” (2008)
Writing a Secret Article About Someone Is a Strong ‘No’ From Us

Harry Sanborn, “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003)
We’re Team Keanu On This One

Nate Cooper, “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)
Not Sure Anyone Ever Liked Him TBH

Jake Perry, “Sweet Home Alabama” (2002)
Maybe Melanie Should Have Signed the Divorce Papers…

This is a great example of a rom-com guy being popular with the ladies simply because he’s good looking. Jake Ryan may be cute, but his actions throughout “Sixteen Candles” don’t exactly scream boyfriend material. He asks around about Sam and lightly pursues her, despite being in a relationship with a girl named Caroline. But, by far his worst offense comes when he leaves a passed-out Caroline alone with a strange freshman, asks said freshman to take her home, and tells him to “have fun.” Big yikes! There’s just really nothing redeeming about him after that…