Random Romantic Comedies In Which Leads Are Gaslighting Their Love Interests (15 items)

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  (#3) Mrs. Doubtfire

  • Robin Williams, Pierce Brosnan, Sally Field, Mara Wilson, Harvey Fierstein, Matthew Lawrence, Lisa Jakub, Martin Mull, Robert Prosky, Polly Holliday, Anne Haney, Sydney Walker

  Some film historians believe that Taxi Driver is the ultimate film in the genre of social deviance. And sure, Travis Bickle stalks the streets of New York trying to clean the scum from the city with vigilante violence, but does he begin wearing a horrifying old woman costume in order to surreptitiously spy on his children and ex-wife while scheming to kill her new boyfriend? No way. Mrs. Doubtfire is a collection of scenes in the life of a human nightmare of a man who sinks to unheard of lows in order to drive a wedge between his ex-wife and her new boyfriend so that he can win her back. By the time his scheme falls apart after an attempted murder, he's ingratiated himself enough that he's actually rewarded for his time spent inflicting mental anguish on everyone around him. 
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  (#12) Failure to Launch

  • Zooey Deschanel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates, Patton Oswalt, Katheryn Winnick, Justin Bartha, Rob Corddry, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mageina Tovah, Aubrey Dollar, Peter Jacobson, Elton LeBlanc, Cynthia LeBlanc, /m/026q0k_, Tyrel Jackson Williams, Geoffrey Gould, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Adam Alexi-Malle, Johnny Rock, Michael Ahl, Codie Scott, Kristi Chalaire, Stephen Rue, Larry Gamell Jr., Anne Ewen, Melissa Caudle, Stewart Skelton, Greg Cool, Jon Purvis, Michele Harrington, Sarah Lilly, Kristin Michelle Duncil, Jessica Stone, Debby Gaudet, Lawrence Broughton, Tyler Gatton, Don Lincoln, Jerrod Paige, Raymond Parker, Gretchen Cleevely, Carter Mitchell, Brian Jesiolowski, Summer Lee, Phoebe Dey, Pepper Morgan, Miladin Mutavdzic, Tim Stoltenberg, E.L. James, Tremelda D. Cobb, Jody Nolan, Charles Dey

  At the beginning of this film, the viewer is introduced to a veritable gallery of terrible people, and no one in Failure to Launch makes it out of the film without committing heinous sins against their friends, lovers, and parents. Sitting on top of the pile of rubble that is this film is Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays Paula, a woman who is paid to construct elaborate backstories for herself in order to convince men to fall in love with her so they'll move out of their parents' houses. She then leaves them high, dry, and alone in a one-bedroom apartment. 
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  (#1) Love Actually

  • Keira Knightley, Elisha Cuthbert, Liam Neeson, January Jones, Denise Richards, Emma Thompson, Shannon Elizabeth, Hugh Grant, Claudia Schiffer, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson, Laura Linney, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Bill Nighy, Sienna Guillory, Rodrigo Santoro, Martine McCutcheon, Ivana Miličević, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Richard Curtis, Frances de la Tour, Joanna Page, Declan Donnelly, Nancy Sorrell, Meredith Ostrom, Anthony McPartlin, Heike Makatsch, Gregor Fisher, Michael Parkinson, Julia Davis, Kris Marshall, Anne Reid, Edward Hardwicke, Marcus Brigstocke, Lúcia Moniz, Ruby Turner, Jo Whiley, Adam Godley, Margery Mason, Nina Sosanya, Brian Bovell, Olivia Olson, John Sharian, Meg Wynn Owen, Caroline John, Sheila Allen, Abdul Salis, Jamie Edgell, Peter Marinker, Shaughan Seymour, Gillian Barge, Rebecca Frayn, Sarah Holland, Arturo Venegas, Wes Butters, David Lynden Hall, Laura Rees, Rory MacGregor, Elisabeth Margoni, Jont, Lulu Popplewell, Glenn Conroy, Tuuli, Carla Vasconcelos, Bill Moody, Nat Udom, Emma Buckley, Dan Fredenburgh, Patrick Delaney, Stewart Howson, Paul Heasman, Richard Wills-Cotton, Adrian Preater, Kate Bowes Renna, Richard Hawley, June Flewett, Tony Lucken, Ciaran O'Driscoll, William Wadham, Georgia Flint, Joanna Thaw, Frank Moorey, Michael Fitzgerald, Keir Charles, Matt Harvey, Junior Simpson, Dave Fisher, Ines Boughanmi, Katharine Bailey, Catia Duarte, Yuk Sim Yau, Tiffany Boysell, Carol Carey, Terry Reece, Doraly Rosen, Nicola McRoy, Raul Atalaia, Helen Murton, Sarah McDougall, Clare Bennett, Hélder Costa, Katherine Poulton, Billy Campbell, Paul Slack, Tim Hatwell, Kate Glover, Wyllie Longmore, Vicki Murdoch, Amanda Garwood, Gemma Aston, Alan Barnes, Joanna Bacon, Igor Urdenko, Sarah Atkinson, Colin Coull

  Love Actually, the king daddy of ensemble films about sad attractive people becoming happy attractive people, is full of disappointing and unsettling storylines, but the worst of them all involves Andrew Lincoln falling in love with his best friend’s new wife Juliet (played by Keira Knightley). Lincoln's character, Mark, goes out of his way to be distant from Juliet - which seems oxymoronic - but it's all a part of his plan to make her realize that her affable, handsome husband is boring and not the guy for her. When she finds out that he ruined her wedding video by completely focusing on her (and constantly zooming in on her face with a disregard for the audience not seen since The Blair Witch Project), she's intrigued. But it isn't until Lincoln shows up on her door with a collection of threatening cue cards that she knows that the truest love actually (sorry) exists between the two of them. 
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  (#15) Annie Hall

  • Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Walken, Paul Simon, Jeff Goldblum, Truman Capote, Beverly DAngelo, Carol Kane, Shelley Duvall, Shelley Hack, Dick Cavett, Marshall McLuhan, John Glover, Colleen Dewhurst, Tracey Walter, Tony Roberts, Mark Lenard, Janet Margolin, Walter Bernstein, John Dennis Johnston, Lucy Lee Flippin, William Callaway, Charles Levin, Shaun Casey, Roger Newman, Johnny Haymer, Alan Landers, Hy Anzell, Bob Maroff, Jim McKrell, Paula Trueman, Albert M. Ottenheimer, Chris Gampel, Christine Jones, Laurie Bird, Gary Mule Deer, Loretta Clemens Tupper, John Doumanian, Rick Petrucelli, Helen Ludlam, James Burge, Vince O'Brien, Bernie Styles, Rashel Novikoff, Michael J. Aronin, Joan Newman, Wayne Carson, Michael Karm, Gary Allen, Ved Bandhu, Martin Rosenblatt, Wendy Girard, Mary Boylan, Humphrey Davis, Scott Crawford, Russell Horton, Sybil Bowan, Jean Sarah Frost, Petronia Johnson, Jonathan Munk, Margaretta Warwick, Dan Ruskin, Amy Levitan, Keith Dentice, Gregory Doucette, Susan Mellinger, Lou Picetti, James Balter, Veronica Radburn, Lee Callahan, David Wier, Frank Vohs, Eric Gould, Robin Mary Paris, Hamit Perezic, Ruth Volner, Riccardo Bertoni

  So this probably isn't a big shock to you if you've seen more than one Woody Allen film, but his greatest bit of gaslighting comes from the romantic comedy classic Annie Hall. Allen displays a full range of controlling behavior with the women he dates in the film, but two instances stick out as being considerably terrible. When he and Annie begin to get serious, she suggests that they move in together, and Allen, being a mentally balanced adult, begins to perform verbal gymnastics in order to convince her that if they move in together he should be able to keep his apartment in case he needs his space. While that might seem to be the last gasp of a man seeing himself slip into monogamy, the way he treats his next paramour is straight up creepy. 

  After breaking things off with Annie, Allen goes through a string of women and tries to replay the best moments of his most meaningful relationship with these new women. In one instance, he tries to relive a mirthful dinner of lobster with a young woman, and the entire thing seems like an awkward and desperate bit of theater. 
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  (#7) Little Black Book

  • Rashida Jones, Brittany Murphy, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, Josie Maran, Carly Simon, Gavin Rossdale, Ron Livingston, Sharon Lawrence, Stephen Tobolowsky, Yvette Nicole Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Dave Annable, Marshall Allman, Tracy Dali, Natalie Denise Sperl, Cress Williams, Kevin Sussman, Johnny Pacar, Greg Brown, Nick Vallelonga, Keram Malicki-Sánchez, Dan Benson, Sara Chase, Gary Dubin, Jason Antoon, Lucy Lee Flippin, Vivian Bang, Mathew Botuchis, Americus Abesamis, Greg Baker, Ben Ziff, James Wlcek, Ron Pearson, Matthew Frauman, Alex E. Burns, Cameron Lee, Mary Firestone, Noah Harpster, Jon Simanton, Trent Gill, Stephanie Langhoff, Emma Thaler, Paul Jacobson, Chris Farah, Guy Wilson, Mercedes Mercado, Rachel Norris, Joey Capone, Brendan Bonner, Scott Summitt, Benjamin Caya, Steve Teamkin, Gary Hoffman, Louis Bernstein, Jeremy Gilbreath, Betsy McIntyre, Noah Smith, Lee Cherry, Zac Cole, Chris Dotson, Robin Hunter, Marjorie Loomis, Katie Murphy, Alex Alexander, Kory Alden, Shawnacy Patrick Todd, Mahta Sharif, Ross Gottstein, Chad Holland, Jason Cowles, Irene Goldstein, Norma Lee Resnick

  Little Black Book may seem like it lacks the depths of even the shallowest of rain puddles, but this film features manipulation upon manipulation. Not only does Brittany Murphy spend most of the film's run time lying to each of her boyfriend's exes in order to get dirt on him, but Murphy's character is actually being manipulated by Holly Hunter in order to produce a Jerry Springer-esque live event where everyone is shattered on film. To top it all off, the film attempts to make the audience run out and by a Palm Pilot to less than stellar results. It was a good try, though.
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  (#13) High Fidelity

  • Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Jack Black, John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Lisa Bonet, Joan Cusack, Harold Ramis, Penny Marshall, Sara Gilbert, Drake Bell, Lili Taylor, Joelle Carter, Chris Bauer, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Dick Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Alex Désert, Margaret Travolta, Aaron Himelstein, David Darlow, Scott A. Martin, Reese Foster, K. K. Dodds, Ian Williams, Marilyn Dodds Frank, James Azrael, Laura Whyte, Jennifré DuMont, Philip Rayburn Smith, Polly Noonan, Ben Carr, Lisa Harrison, Susan Hegarty, Tristan Layne Tapscott, Susie Cusack, Damian Rogers, Timothy W. Tiedje, Susan Yoo, Rich Talarico, Brian Powell, Liam Hayes, Ian Michaels, Jill Peterson, Matthew O'Neill, Mark Finney, Ian Belknap, Duke Doyle, Robert A. Villanueva, Shannon Stillo, Al Johnson, Julie DiJohn, Leah Gale, Michele Graff, Joe Spaulding, Heather Norris, Erik Gundersen, Chris Rehmann, Daniel Lee Smith, Jonathan Herrington, Andrew Micheli

  John Cusack's sad-sack lead character spends much of High Fidelity moping around and trying to keep his life from falling apart by compiling things into pointless lists. But in the middle of the film, the audience learns that he unabashedly cheated on the love of his life, Laura, before forcing her to get an abortion. Woah. Not only that, but he openly admits to inventing "the sketch of a decent guy” so he can sleep with Lisa Bonet. Was this actually supposed to be a sequel to American Psycho? 

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