There’s something about this schmaltzy 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds that hooks me. Perhaps it’s that Sandra Bullock's character is an emotionally cold book editor in New York who doesn't have time for love.

Crucially, though, the 'com' element is remembered, and the plot is solid too. A fiercely successful Canadian facing deportation marries her male assistant to stay in the US. He agrees only if she publishes his manuscript. A deportation officer gets suspicious, risking it all for both of them. Then they genuinely fall in love and – shock horror – the scam becomes real. It's classic rom-com stuff, and it doesn't hurt that the leads are both stunning.

Follow @HarvJam

I’ve always thought Love & Other Drugs doesn’t get enough credit. On the surface it’s slick and fun – fast talk, confidence, banging suits – however it ends up being pretty grown up. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character starts off charming, obsessed with his career (like me) and emotionally avoidant (which feels very familiar), but the film does a great job of slowing him down and forcing him to deal with real vulnerability.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is another film I can rewatch and it hits every single time. Ryan Gosling’s character is the obvious standout – confidence, great style, saying very little and somehow saying a lot – but what I really love is how much heart the film has. Steve Carell’s character is awkward, bruised and properly figuring things out (again, a bit like me I reckon), and that’s what grounds the film. It’s funny, but also says a lot about confidence, reinvention and not confusing looking good with having it all sorted. 

Follow @TundeOgun

I don’t even know if Lost in Translation really is a rom-com, but that’s probably why I like it so much. I love it mainly for the feeling. The setting, the music and the quiet moments. It never tries to force a big love story or explain everything to you. It’s just two people in the same place at the same time, both slightly lost, figuring things out alongside each other.

Bill Murray is brilliant in it – really understated, almost drifting through the film. Scarlett Johansson feels very real too. Not polished or overdone, just honest. You believe in her boredom, her curiosity and her loneliness. There’s a softness to the whole thing that makes it feel human rather than cinematic.

Nothing massive really happens, and that’s kind of the point. It feels more like real life than a storyline. Conversations trail off, moments pass without resolution, and you’re left sitting with the feeling rather than the outcome. I think that’s why I keep coming back to it.

It also captures a very specific moment in time. Tokyo feels alive but distant, loud but isolating. The city becomes part of the film's emotion rather than just a backdrop. You feel how disorientating it is to be somewhere unfamiliar while trying to understand yourself.

Follow @FreddieLong__

I absolutely adore romantic comedies. There are so many wonderful classics but, without a doubt, the finest to come out of Hollywood recently is Eternity. It checks all my boxes and resonated with me on a deep level. It follows Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) in the afterlife, where she must choose between her first love, Luke (Callum Turner), who died young, and her husband of 65 years, Larry (Miles Teller), who died shortly before her – with both men waiting for her in different idealised afterlife realities.

She experiences a trial period in worlds created from their happiest memories, exploring the contrast between her lifelong, ordinary love with Larry and the passionate, youthful love with Luke, ultimately deciding which relationship truly defines her eternity. It's an easy watch, perfect for a date night (or solo viewing).

Follow @WilfredCisse

I think every bloke has a secret love for rom-coms. Some of us are less secretive about it than others, and that’s probably where I fit in. I love a proper British rom-com like Four Weddings and a Funeral or Notting Hill. Packed full of nostalgia, dodgy haircuts and an ever-present question on the mind: ‘How do they afford that house?’. Equally, I’ve got a real soft spot for a Meg Ryan classic. 1990s East Coast style and lots of cheesy lines.

Asking me to pick my favourite rom-com, I’m split between two. I think About Time ticks every box for me. It’s perfectly set between Cornwall and London – a sort of aspirational combination of town and country. It’s such an understated film in the best possible way. The main character has a superpower that lets him travel in time, and yet at no point do you feel like you’re in a sci-fi. There’s no dramatic mission to save the world. The characters all feel like someone you know. It’s sort of homely. Also, I think we’d all love a stylish Bill Nighy character in our lives.

The other film is one that slips under the radar. A Good Year shows us Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard romping around an idyllic French vineyard. Blackberries, earpieces and city boys making loads of cash. It’s very noughties, pre-crash. It’s got a lot of laughs, and it’s a film I’ve watched with the boys on a hangover too many times to recount. One of my mates admitted to me that, once a month, he and his flatmate would sit and rewatch this film with a bottle of decent Bordeaux as an end-of-the-month treat. 

Follow @James__Holdsworth