One of the biggest problems when picking a movie for any group of people is that it’s so hard to please everyone; when you’re on a date, it’s made a little worse because the fate of any relationship may rest on this pick. It probably won’t ruin your chances altogether, but selecting a bad movie can alter the tone of the evening. Your tastes may vary but in my book, a good date movie should have a little romance and a lot of humor, and something that can provoke conversation later. You can’t always pick the perfect movie, but if you don’t know what they’re into, here are a few suggestions that might help you get started:

Stranger than Fiction
Will Ferrell is an actor who is unfortunately cast often to play a loud and slightly stupid character–as a result, he can be a bit of a turn-off to anyone who doesn’t much care for loud and stupid people. This film really is an example of his range as an actor, as he plays instead the quiet, mumbling Harold Crick: a tax auditor who starts to hear his life narrated by a woman with an English accent. He’s convinced he’s going a little crazy, but becomes really concerned when she announces that he is going to die. Meanwhile, an English writer is having writer’s block–as she can’t quite figure out how to kill off the protagonist in her new novel. Dustin Hoffman comes in as a literature professor Harold consults for information on his situation, Queen Latifah is a new assistant for the authoress, and Maggie Gyllenhaal appears as a woman Harold’s supposed to be auditing, but finds himself falling for. All in all, it’s a surprisingly smart, funny, and romantic film that is easily one of my all-time favorites.…