Best Hollywood romantic movies with memory loss twist
The trope of memory loss is one of the most heart-wrenching when it comes to tragic love stories. While mostly it's painful, it sometimes serves as a blank canvas for new love to bloom. These Hollywood movies capture the pain and impact of memory loss or the impact of diseases like dementia on lovers and how their love shines bright amid the difficulties.
'The Vow' (2012)
Inspired by true events, the 2012 romantic drama film The Vow stars Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum as Paige and Leo Collins respectively. Paige and Collins get into a car accident and five years of memories of their love and married life disappear from Paige's memories. After she recovers from a coma with severe memory loss, Collins works hard to win her heart back.
'Lovely, Still' (2008)
Directed by Nick Fackler, the 2008 romantic drama film Lovely, Still stars Oscar-winning actors Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn in the lead along with Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks. The film follows the romance between a lonely, elderly man Robert who finds love at the most unexpected time of his life, and his neighbor. It's later revealed that Robert has Alzheimer's.
'Away From Her' (2006)
Based on the short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain written by Alice Munro, Away From Her stars Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. It's a painful story of a couple whose marriage is affected when the wife starts developing Alzheimer's. It follows the man when his wife gets affectionate toward another wheelchair-bound mute patient in the same hospital as hers.
'50 First Dates' (2004)
The 2004 rom-com film 50 First Dates stars Adam Sandler as Henry Roth and Drew Barrymore as Lucy. Roth, a commitment-phobic womanizer, falls in love with Lucy and thinks she is the one only to find out that she suffers from short-term memory loss. Every time she sleeps, she forgets him the following day and he tries to woo her again the next day.
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)
Michel Gondry's 2004 sci-fi romantic drama film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in the lead along with Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Wilkinson in pivotal roles. It's a cult classic film that follows a couple who choose to erase each other's memories through a medical procedure after their breakup.
