Any recommendations for light-hearted, undemanding films that yet are not too saccharine? Prefer witty and well-acted, no graphic violence or sex. Quirky is good.
Examples: Enchanted April. Waking Ned Devine. Strictly Ballroom. Moonstruck. The Dish. Local Hero. My Father’s Glory.
“A Room With a View” has (IIRC) a very brief moment of nudity, a brief scene of violence but isn’t graphic. I find it charming.
If you are okay with old b/w films, “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” and “Philadelphia Story” are all fantastic.
Lots of Austen adaptations would maybe fit.
The fantastic “The Importance of Being Earnest” from the fifties is perfect. I haven’t seen any of the newer adaptations.
So many others might fit, but I don’t remember them well enough to know if they really do fit, like “Calendar Girls.” I think it might have been fairly heavy at times, though I might be confusing it with something else.
I think I’ve seen ALL the Austen adaptations. I just saw The Importance of Being Earnest, so fun! It was a later one, with Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth. Haven’t rewatched Room w/View for awhile. Might revisit His Girl Friday.
Haven’t heard of Calendar Girls. Will look it up.
Keep them coming please!
Beetlejuice fills the bill, I think. Tim Burton’s first big screen success, before he went all creepy. Lght-hearted, undemanding, quirky, no graphic sex or violence … yep.
“The King’s Speech” is very good.
“The Secret Garden” from 1993 has some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve ever seen. It may go too far in the saccharine direction for you, though I thought it was an okay amount of sweet.
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the one with Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery.
“Amelie” is charming.
“Ball of Fire” with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck is a lot of fun.
“Before Sunrise” is really good, and there are sequels if you want to follow up.
*The American President * - basically Cinderella with the President as the Prince, and a lot of snappy Aaron Sorkin dialogue
*American Dreamer * - a very well-acted hysterical spy romance/farce that is one of my favorites
Big Eden - a wonderful quirky story with a very gentle gay theme
An Ideal Husband - Another great Oscar Wilde play, with a stellar cast
Of course Much Ado About Nothing is really the gold standard for this kind of thing. If you can handle Shakespeare, you can’t go wrong with either the Kenneth Branagh or the Joss Whedon version.
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was first. Going by box office to budget it’s a big success, and critically of course. But I guess I could see how Beetlejuice would qualify.
My nominations are old Mel Brooks, Airplane!, Kentucky Fried Movie, Top Secret, Animal House, Meatballs…
Summer School with Mark Harmon is a lightweight but entertaining comedy.
Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Moonrise Kingdom are wonderfully quirky. Since you like Local Hero, try Bill Gregory’s Comfort and Joy and Gregory’s Girl too. The Secret of Roan Inish is very good, as are Duma, Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro. (Fairly) recent movies Her, Nebraska, 20 Feet From Stardom, Searching For Sugar Man, Museum Hours, The Way, Way Back, In A World, Francis Ha, Tim’s Vermeer, No, and Deceptive Practices are all pretty good.
If Royal Tenembaums is on in the background it might qualify as ‘light fare’, but if you’re sitting down and watching it there are a couple of ball breaking, sob-city moments.
Reminds me of how the wife tried to get me to watch “Up”. I didn’t get past the first five minutes and I accused her of trying to trick me.
Amelie is required viewing, if you ask me.
Romantics Anonymous is light, undemanding fare except for the subtitles.
In threads like this I always feel compelled to plug a little-known movie that I’ve always loved, called “The Boy Who Could Fly”. Light fantasy, first-love. Pure romance, from the days of black and white, Portrait of Jenny.
*Stardust *is a fun, mostly light-hearted fairy tale. There is some mild violence, but it is relatively tame.
The Thomas Crown Affair - the remake with Brosnan and Russo.
*Clueless *- based on Jane Austen’s Emma
The Big Year - Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson are competitive bird watchers. Despite that cast–it’s not too over-the-top zany.
The World’s Fastest Indian - starring Anthony Hopkins, based on a real guy from New Zealand who came to the salt flats in Utah in the 50s to set land speed records on his motorcycle. Wonderful job by Hopkins.
Truly, Madly, Deeply - if you haven’t seen this, please, please do!! It’s just lovely!
Harold and Maude
Sense and Sensibility
Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown
Also,
Muriel’s Wedding
Duma
The Dish
Just realized you’ve already mentioned The Dish and Equipoise already suggested Duma, Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro - all of which I second!
Muriel’s Wedding???
About as light as “The Other Side of the Mountain”
Gah! :smack: Of course, I meant Bill Forsyth!
Ok, maybe not Tenenbaums, but definitely Moonrise Kingdom.
I saw that in the theater! It is very sweet, in a good way.
Going back quite a few years, To Have and Have Not. Why Bogart and Bacall were A Thing. Directed by Howard Hawks, so the dialogue…crackles.