Addicted to Love (1997)

Addicted to Love is a romantic comedy with a wicked little twist: it takes the ache of being dumped and spins it into a fizzy, slightly unhinged screwball caper where heartbreak becomes a spectator sport. Griffin Dunne directs with a nimble touch, letting the premise stay dark enough to feel daring while the movie’s charm—especially in the prickly, unexpectedly electric pairing of Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick—keeps it buoyant and funny. The New York vibe is all late-night windows, overheard secrets, and impulsive schemes, and the screenplay keeps surprising you with turns that feel more human than formulaic. It’s not for viewers who want their rom-coms purely sweet or realistic, but if you’re game for something offbeat that laughs at obsession while still believing, somehow, in love, it’s an underrated treat.

Addicted to Love is trying to be a dark, screwball rom-com about heartbreak turning into obsession, with two wounded people bonding over a messy, misguided mission. The problem is the movie asks you to laugh along with behavior that plays less “zany” and more creepy and mean-spirited, so the tone can feel unstable and the romance doesn’t always earn the emotional payoff. A lot of the plotting is wildly implausible, and if you need your romantic leads to be likable or your comedy to punch up rather than sideways, this will test your patience. That said, Meg Ryan brings some spark and the New York energy is fun, so if you’re in the mood for a 90s oddball revenge-romance with a cynical edge, you might still get a kick out of it.