The Hairspray movies have already been mentioned. On top of that, I’d also include Shallow Hal.
Sorry. I take back what I said about Shallow Hal, since this guy wasn’t exactly the man of her dreams.
How about Secretary? Maggie Gyllenhaal looks quite plain throughout that movie, although in the ending she is much prettier. That’s pretty much my favorite romantic movie.
It was “Cookie” or “Babycakes,” I think.
Sorry this may be considered a hijack, but I thought it needed to be said:
As a generalisation, attraction works a bit differently between men and women, and I think on the point of the OP, Hollywood is fairly accurately reflecting an asymmetry that actually exists out there in society.
(We could talk about the reasons why the asymmetry exists, but that will defo kick off a separate debate. So I’ll leave it there for now.)
Good point. We could also ask why the “man of her dreams” in movies is usually a rich guy.
Love Potion #9 is about two dorky scientists (one woman, one man) who use the titular potion to attract gorgeous members of the opposite sex. The woman even winds up being proposed to by a prince.
Of course, as the story progresses, both scientists transform into very attractive people themselves (they are played by Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan).
There’s Sugarbaby, a 1985 German film where Marianne Sägebrecht (dorky and quite overweight) lures Eisi Gulp (a slim blond gymnast who looks a bit like a young Sting) away from his beautiful, high-maintenance wife. She doesn’t get to keep him and the ending is both ambiguous and sad.
Elisabeth Shue in The Saint. At least they let her keep the bad hair and absorption in her work at the end of the movie. She’s obviously Hollywood unattractive, but it’s also obvious that The Saint is attracted to her intelligence and personality.
I want to see the actress equivalent of Jonah Hill (to be fair, he doesn’t quite ‘get’ the girl in Superbad, though the seeds are planted).
Mostly anything with Debra Winger in the 80’s/90’s - Officer and A Gentleman, Legal Eagles (cute movie), and the one with John Travolta - I can’t even remember the name of it.
FTR, I think she was really cute, but that’s how the movies were written.
Twilight doesn’t really count. Bella merely thinks of herself as unattractive. Pretty much every guy she ever meets wants to date her.
Well, thats how it works in the books. For somebody who hasn’t read the books, I’ve read a lot of reviews.
The American Pie films. Dorky band camper Alyson Hannigan gets an equally dorky Jason Biggs.
Would you describe Jason Biggs as the man of her dreams though?
In and Out: Joan Cusack gets the attractive Hollywood star.
babycakes, with Ricki Lake and Craig Sheffer, or the original german movie this was a remake of, Zuckerbaby.
Technically as I recall he got her, he’d had a thing for her since he was a pupil in her class and then he went on to become a star but always thought about her.
Originally posted by miss elizabeth
Whaaah? Ok, for starters all my friends and I have discussed this and we all agree Maggie G. is so completely non-special we can’t understand what Hollywood sees in her. I think she fits the thread very well in practically everything she’s ever been in.
However … you think “Secretary” is a romantic film? One of us has the wrong idea about what “romance” is, but I can’t actually decide which I find more appealing.
OK, then how about Dark Knight wherein she has two Prince Charmings competing for her?