You’ve got to be an awfully devoted husband or boyfriend to be willing to sit through a chick flick. For a guy, sitting through 2 hours of sap-filled, tear-jerking melodrama is tantamount to torture. As often as possible we try and pass this duty off on our significant other’s girlfriends, even offering to look after the kids in order to make our escape. However, such escape is not always possible, and these chick flicks are forced upon us. When I compiled this list of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s, I came up with their order by gauging her reaction to the following movies. These are the movies she likes. I will deny until my dying day that I enjoyed one second of these films, both to her and to the world. I’m a guy. My reputation is at stake here. So, without further introduction, here are my wife’s list of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s:
10 – Bull Durham
Yes, Kevin Costner in another baseball movie. KC is one of the all time favorites of the ladies, and my wife is even willing to watch a movie about sports in order to see him in action. Even the sports angle couldn’t save the movie for me though. How about some Major League instead…
9 – Flashdance
This improbable tale about a welder/stripper who goes to ballet school is pure 80s. A feel good story, with the typical sappy romance angle thrown in. Nowadays this movie is more famous for its memorable 80s soundtrack than for the film itself, but my wife likes to throw it in every once in a while to revisit the glory.
8 – When Harry Met Sally
You knew Meg Ryan had to make an appearance somewhere on the list of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s. Though she and Tom Hanks dominated the 90s when it came to producing chick flick sap, she and Billy Crystal steamed up the screen in this 1989 story about a couple that finally figure out, after years of living in denial, that they love each other.
7 – Nine to Five
Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin make up this unlikely cast in a story about 3 women who manage to turn the tables on their sexist boss. It is meant to be a comedy, and the girls seem to find it funny…
6 – Beaches
Bette Midler is one of the queens of the chick flick so there was little doubt she would appear somewhere on this list of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s. This sappy drama hits all the right notes with the women, following the enduring friendship between two very different women, and how they deal with their love for the same man.
5 – Say Anything
This chick flick actually wasn’t too bad, but then again I’m a big fan of John Cusack’s work. This romantic comedy has the directionless Lloyd Dobbler trying to figure out how to win the affection of a beautiful genius with an overprotective father. As always, the ol’ ghettoblaster over the head while standing outside the bedroom window proves to be the key to a woman’s heart.
4 – Pretty in Pink
80s teen heavyweights Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy and John Cryer used their (at the time) considerable star power to vault this movie into the number 4 position of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s. Ringwald, who played the rich, spoiled brat in The Breakfast Club now has the shoe firmly on the other foot, playing a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who is in the middle of a love triangle with a childhood friend and one of the richest, most popular guys in school.
3 – An Officer and a Gentleman
Women went nuts over Richard Gere in the 80s, and this legendary chick flick from 1982 was probably his greatest work. The film garnered critical acclaim, including an Oscar win by Louis Gossett Jr. for best supporting actor, and an Oscar nomination for Debra Winger for her work as the film’s female lead as Gere’s love interest in the film.
2 – Terms of Endearment
Never have so many tears been shed by so many. Only a woman with a heart of stone could make it through this sob-fest without opening up the waterworks. This 1983 drama was a lock for a high spot on the list of the top 10 chick flicks of the 80s. With a star-studded cast that included Jack Nicholson, Shirley Maclaine, Danny Devito, and Debra Winger, this film took home 5 Oscars, including best picture. It runs the emotional gamut from comedy to tragedy, and is certainly one of the biggest chick flicks of all time.
1 – Dirty Dancing
I can’t even imagine how many times my wife has watched this movie. Whether she pops it in the DVD player on a rainy day, or she is flicking channels and happens to catch it on TV and must watch the entire thing, she never seems to get tired of this chick flick. It may not make the top of anyone’s list of the best chick flicks of the 80s, but I’m guided by my wife in making this decision, and really nothing else on the list comes close.
