Romantic comedy moviesare productions that tend to attract a large number of viewers, despite being a genre whose plots are usually not very complex, repetitive, and oftenemploys overused clichés. Their storyline is usually straightforward: two people meet, fall in love, and for any reason, they break up or have a conflict. In other cases, they are couples that seem not destined to be: a friend who secretly loves another friend, or two people who hate each other. Regardless of how the protagonists meet, in most cases, everything ends with a happy ending: the characters meet again and unleash their love, moving past the problems that drove them apart. While focusing on romantic relationships, these rom-coms also explore friendships, personal growth, and often family relationships. Their plots are generally centered on a low-risk, everyday life, yet the audience still expects the happy ending.
Even though the leading couple is the main component of a rom-com, one other element is usually featured in almost every movie of this genre: the rom-com sidekick. Generally a loyal friend of the main character, the sidekick is responsible for joining the protagonist in every adventure, often pointing out his or her mistakes if necessary, and usually provides some comedy passes or ironies that amuse the audience. Many times, however, the sidekick stands out as a brilliant character that the audience wishes to know more about, and that could easily have a movie of its own. Therefore, in this article, we will take a look at eight of the best rom-com sidekicks, ranked.
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8Jeannie — How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Andie’s two friends, Jeannie and Michelle, were named after the authors of the graphic novel that inspiredHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days(afun factabout the film). Jeannie was portrayed by Annie Parisse, and is the best friend and co-worker who accompanies Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson), a journalist tasked with writing a personal, documented report on everything a woman can do to ruin a love story. Andie has ten days to win a man and then add up all the possible screw-ups that can lead to the end of a relationship. Jeannie follows her through this journey, and even advises her when Andie ends up falling in love with her case study, Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey).
7George — My Best Friend’s Wedding
George’s character was successful not just because of the charm and brilliance of Rupert Everett, the actor who played him. The interesting thing about this sidekick is that he starts out as a friend and becomes, partially, a love interest for a chunk of the film. InMy Best Friend’s Wedding, George is an editor and friend of Julianne (Julia Roberts), the main character of this story who is in love with her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulrooney) and wants to stop his wedding. The young man plays a very important role in persuading Julianne to face her feelings and talk to Michael, but to help her friend, he ends up posing as her fiancé. He has a great time playing this new role as Julianne’s partner, much to the expense of the protagonist who constantly fears that George may end up revealing their lie by mistake. Eventually, Julianne ends up stating that the engagement was dissolved and George returns home, but comes back to be with her again on Michael’s wedding day, proving that he is truly the main character’s best friend.
6Lilly Moscovitz — The Princess Diaries
Being a shy, withdrawn teenager and receiving the unexpected news that you are heiress to the throne of a small country called Genovia must not be easy. That’s what happened to Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway in her breakthrough movie), and fortunately she was able to get through it with grace and the help of her childhood friend, Lilly Moscovitz. This character, portrayed by Heather Matarazzo, is an extremely intelligent, determined and confident young woman. Lilly supports Mia in this new adventure of learning to be a princess, although on more than one occasion she is a bit harsh and unsympathetic to Mia, who finds it hard to digest everything that is happening. However, despite some fights between these friends, they continue to be there for each other in all the important moments of their lives.
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5Mandella — 10 Things I Hate About You
Mandella is best friends with Kat (Julia Stiles), the main character of the story. She is a Shakespeare fan and is slightly more into school than Kat, being interested in attending school events such as their prom. Although she doesn’t have much impact on the film in general, the character played by Susan May Pratt is interesting not only for the moments that show her extravagant friendship with Kat, a surly young woman with a strong personality, but also for her amusing romantic history with Michael, with whom she ends up starring in a memorable scene attending prom in Shakespeare-inspired costumes.
4Dionne (Clueless)
Cher and Dionne are so iconic inCluelessthat, to this day, they still inspire fashionable Halloween costumes. Dionne is Cher’s (Alicia Silverstone) best friend and confidante. She is a fashion-loving young woman who, just like her friend, possesses a high social status. The character portrayed by Stacey Dash is classy, elegant, and kind to others. She is a very confident person known for her straightforward attitude, but a great friend to have around. She never hesitated to be there every time her friend needed help, setting aside a whole day to help her get ready for a date and accepting Cher’s new friends almost from the get-go. Plus, her fashion and relationship advice was truly what any teenage girl wanted to hear. Dionne was a dream sidekick, a character that audiences immediately embraced and love to this day.
3Damian (Mean Girls)
InMean Girls, Damian is one of the first people Cady (Lindsay Lohan) meets upon arriving at North Shore High School along with Janis. The two were close friends and did not hesitate to include the new student in their group, while warning her about the rest of the school’s social circles, particularly about the Plastics. Damian quickly became a loyal friend to Cady and, along with Janis, supported her in almost all of her decisions, as well as pointing out those decisions that he considered wrong with his particular sense of humor. And even after these wrong decisions, he was able to see Cady’s good side and forgive her. This character was portrayed by Daniel Franzese and was very well received by both critics and fans around the world. In fact, his brilliant lines and comments are still popular to this day.
Related:Here’s Where the Cast of Mean Girls is Today
2Fat Amy (Pitch Perfect)
All threePitch Perfectmovies were not enough to prove all the things Fat Amy has to give: the audience keeps wanting to know more about her! This character stands out for her confident and cheerful personality as well as her cool sense of humor. She is part of the Barden Bellas, an acapella singing group at Barden University. While the entire group of girls has a very good relationship, it becomes evident that Beca, the main character, and Fat Amy, maintain a deeper friendship. Fat Amy is always there for Beca’s difficult moments, and is the one who helps and supports her in moments of indecision with totally memorable phrases. The character is portrayed by Rebel Wilson, and it was largely the role that made her popular.
1Casey (27 Dresses)
Judy Greer is known for her sidekick roles in numerous rom-coms over the past few decades. So much so that,according to Buzzfeed, she became the most requested best friend in Hollywood. In27 Dresses, Greer plays Casey, the loyal friend of Jane (Katherine Heigl), the young woman who dreams of both the man of her life and her perfect wedding, but in the meantime is more concerned about other people’s happiness rather than her own, organizing and being a bridesmaid for 27 weddings. Throughout the film, Casey is Jane’s voice of reason, encouraging her to be honest with her boss George about her feelings and sticking with her through every situation in her life, even when Jane’s own sister Tess begins a relationship with George, and they decide to get married. Prior to her role in27 Dresses, Greer appeared in a great number of films. One of her most important parts was as Lucy Wyman in13 Going on 30, in which she co-starred alongside Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo.
