ISO movies depicting happily married couples
July 21, 2024 4:44 AM Subscribe
I need to watch some movies about people, fictional or not, who fell in love, got married, and had genuinely happy, healthy marriages for as long as they were together. I'm especially eager to see scenes of married couples having supportive conversations and moments of sweet, non-sexual affection. Examples inside.
Couples who qualify:
• Morticia and Gomez Addams
• Ellie and Carl from UP
• Albert and Armand from The Birdcage
• The Penderghasts from Easy A
Couples who do not qualify:
• Joel and Clementine from Eternal Sunshine
• Noah and Allie from The Notebook
• Harry and Sally from When Harry Met Sally*
• Bob and Helen Parr from the Incredibles
All movie genres, cultures, and sexualities welcome. Bonus points if you have something featuring older couples. Additional bonus points if the plot isn't sad.
*I just don't like this movie.
Couples who qualify:
• Morticia and Gomez Addams
• Ellie and Carl from UP
• Albert and Armand from The Birdcage
• The Penderghasts from Easy A
Couples who do not qualify:
• Joel and Clementine from Eternal Sunshine
• Noah and Allie from The Notebook
• Harry and Sally from When Harry Met Sally*
• Bob and Helen Parr from the Incredibles
All movie genres, cultures, and sexualities welcome. Bonus points if you have something featuring older couples. Additional bonus points if the plot isn't sad.
*I just don't like this movie.
You may be interested in this question from a few months ago.
And as I did in that thread, I heartily recommend the Thin Man movies.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:57 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
And as I did in that thread, I heartily recommend the Thin Man movies.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:57 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
Marge and Norm from Fargo is the evergreen answer to this question.
posted by phunniemee at 5:26 AM on July 21 [14 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:26 AM on July 21 [14 favorites]
Undercover Blues with Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 5:40 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 5:40 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
My Love Don’t Cross That River - Korean film, very powerful, non-fiction, about a couple married for decades entering the last stages of their lives.
posted by slide at 5:57 AM on July 21
posted by slide at 5:57 AM on July 21
Gru and Lucy from Despicable Me 2, 3 and 4
posted by ellerhodes at 6:22 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
posted by ellerhodes at 6:22 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
Everyone in that other AskMe who's talking about The Thin Man movies is right. They are also VERY, VERY fun, and one of the things I really appreciated about the first film is just how flirty the couple is with each other. (One small CW about their alcohol consumption, though, although they themselves never get sloppy-drunk.)
There's also a whole youtube channel devoted to reviewing movies from a mental health perspective; they have two videos pointing out movies that depict healthy marriages. Some surprising choices from those videos:
* Paul and Julia Child in "Julie and Julia".
* Evelyn and Lee Abbot from "A Quiet Place"
* Rick and Evelyn from "The Mummy 2"
Their "Couples Therapy" series sometimes also points out depictions of healthy but failed relationships - a month ago they pointed out that La La Land was actually a really good depiction of a healthy breakup. They may have other perspectives on relationships in general that may be worth checking out, even if they're not marriages (and they also deconstruct why some depictions are unhealthy).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:31 AM on July 21 [7 favorites]
There's also a whole youtube channel devoted to reviewing movies from a mental health perspective; they have two videos pointing out movies that depict healthy marriages. Some surprising choices from those videos:
* Paul and Julia Child in "Julie and Julia".
* Evelyn and Lee Abbot from "A Quiet Place"
* Rick and Evelyn from "The Mummy 2"
Their "Couples Therapy" series sometimes also points out depictions of healthy but failed relationships - a month ago they pointed out that La La Land was actually a really good depiction of a healthy breakup. They may have other perspectives on relationships in general that may be worth checking out, even if they're not marriages (and they also deconstruct why some depictions are unhealthy).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:31 AM on July 21 [7 favorites]
My favorite on screen couple ever are the leads from the TV show, Friday Night Lights. Do they have disagreements? Absolutely. But their love and respect for one another and determination to make things work is next level.
posted by dobbs at 6:41 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 6:41 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
Whoops, didn’t read your examples and got excited- the easy a parents are a delight!
posted by zara at 7:34 AM on July 21
posted by zara at 7:34 AM on July 21
Johnny and Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek -- Moira has some crises but John is her rock.
posted by k3ninho at 7:39 AM on July 21 [10 favorites]
posted by k3ninho at 7:39 AM on July 21 [10 favorites]
Scott and Stefan as played by John Michael Higgins and Michael McKean in Best in Show (I guess they're probably not actually married since the movie is from 2000, but they seem very married). (All the other couples in the movie are various degrees of disastrous, though!)
posted by mskyle at 8:25 AM on July 21 [3 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 8:25 AM on July 21 [3 favorites]
Not a movie, but Peter and Elizabeth on White Collar are mutually supportive and stay happily together throughout five seasons. The show also has pretty good vibes overall.
posted by eraserbones at 9:22 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by eraserbones at 9:22 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
Nick & Nora of The Thin Man movies. Possibly the best married couple in film history.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 10:32 AM on July 21
posted by forbiddencabinet at 10:32 AM on July 21
You can't get more over-the-top in love than Cuba Gooding Jr and Regina King in Jerry Maguire
posted by BadgerDoctor at 10:51 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
posted by BadgerDoctor at 10:51 AM on July 21 [2 favorites]
A series, not a movie, but even though I haven’t thought about it in a while the TV show The Fosters immediately came to mind when I read the question. Many, many moments of supportive and/or sweet and/or non-sexual marital affection in pretty much every episode, if I correctly recall. Plot has lots of drama, sometimes approaching (but imo not crossing the line to) soap opera levels, but I would describe it as sweet and ultimately uplifting rather than sad even when dealing with heavy issues. The drama, such as it is, ups the opportunities for supportive and loving conversations, as far as I remember.
posted by exutima at 11:30 AM on July 21
posted by exutima at 11:30 AM on July 21
Agree that Harry and Sally (When Harry Met Sally) absolutely do not qualify, however my first thought on reading the question was that Marie and Jess (Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby) do. Still, that well is pretty poisoned already...
posted by Pedantzilla at 11:38 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Pedantzilla at 11:38 AM on July 21 [1 favorite]
The cheesy early 80s TV series "Hart to Hart" They were married and always all over each other. Hetero, middle-aged, no kids. Wealthy and glamorous! And they solved mysteries!
"...because when they met... it was MURDER!"
posted by SoberHighland at 12:22 PM on July 21 [5 favorites]
"...because when they met... it was MURDER!"
posted by SoberHighland at 12:22 PM on July 21 [5 favorites]
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge. Paul Neumann and Joanne Woodward.
posted by SemiSalt at 3:42 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by SemiSalt at 3:42 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
Not couple centric, but Breaking Away (1979) was unique for depicting a supportive family dynamic dealing with things in a reasonable manner.
posted by ovvl at 5:04 PM on July 21
posted by ovvl at 5:04 PM on July 21
I don't know which one I'm thinking of specifically, but Mike Leigh's fantastic movies typically depict real families (in working class England), some of which may actually be happy:
- High Hopes
- Life Is Sweet
- Secrets and Lies
- All Or Nothing
- Another Year
S&L is one of my most favorite movies ever, perhaps because of the memorable (and particularly unhappy) titular scene. But Another Year is probably the one I'm thinking of that has the happy couple in it, played by Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent. Anyway, watch them all :)
posted by intermod at 6:33 PM on July 21
- High Hopes
- Life Is Sweet
- Secrets and Lies
- All Or Nothing
- Another Year
S&L is one of my most favorite movies ever, perhaps because of the memorable (and particularly unhappy) titular scene. But Another Year is probably the one I'm thinking of that has the happy couple in it, played by Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent. Anyway, watch them all :)
posted by intermod at 6:33 PM on July 21
If you'll accept tv shows, Madame Secretary. They're my role model for healthy relationships.
posted by Nickel at 7:46 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Nickel at 7:46 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
The Thin Man movies are great for acting and interaction between Nick and Nora, but the underlying plots become weaker and weaker.
posted by Billiken at 11:41 AM on July 23
posted by Billiken at 11:41 AM on July 23
The Big Year has Steve Martin and Jobeth Williams as a wonderfully functional couple. Unfortunately, there’s also Owen Wilson’s disastrous marriage, so you might not be able to juggle those, but if it helps, Jack Black and Rashida Jones have a charming developing romance and his parents are also in a good marriage, which has some lovely impacts at the end.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:26 PM on July 27
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:26 PM on July 27
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I also think that the Thin Man series might qualify.
If you're up for TV then Last Tango in Halifax and As Time Goes By are worth a watch. The first is on Netflix, not sure about the second, but it was on PBS all the time.
posted by brookeb at 4:52 AM on July 21 [5 favorites]