Amazon Prime Video always has a host of classic films available to watch with a subscription to the service. Sometimes, because so many other films are available with extra rental options, it can get a little confusing as to what’s actually on the service.
When feeling a little reminiscent, it might be nice to look back and have a re-watch of an old-school 90s film that has an easy feel-good factor about it. In difficult times there are certain films that it’s easy to turn to, and it is always a good idea to try and discover more in this genre.
8 Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)
Hugh Grant stars (words that assure a feel-good film) as a young man always running late and always with another wedding on the horizon as he’s reached the age where all his friends are starting to get married off.
When he meets Andie MacDowell at a wedding, he realizes he may also have been smitten and the laughs, tears and endless feel-good factor doesn’t stop there as this film and Grant bumble through a historically great romantic comedy that has something for everyone that is reminiscent of the 80s.
7 But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
On the other side of the tracks comes something less well-known and much more out of left-field. Natasha Lyonne is currently starring in Netflix’s Russian Doll, but in 1999 she was appearing in a film about a cheerleader with a jock boyfriend and a perfect life. All of that was suddenly ripped out from under her when her parents decided she was gay and send her to a conversion therapy camp.
The film was initially panned critically, but in more modern times it has been revisited and proclaimed a hilarious satire that deals with hard topics in a light-hearted manner, and includes a great performance by RuPaul Charles! The film comes with some magnificent one-liners, which were rife in the 90s!
6 Matilda (1996)
Matilda is a famously feel-good story about a young girl that discovers she has the ability to move objects with her mind. The magic of her powers is nothing compared to the magic that the film used to capture audiences and retain such a grand legacy as a pivotally heart-warming classic, and a bit of a precursor to the superhero genre's current popularity.
Matilda’s family and teachers continue to put her down and make her feel as if she isn’t as special as the audience can clearly see her be. The ending, when she is finally taken away from that by someone who truly loves her and cares, is one of the more triumphant film moments of the entire decade, there's even some action that was aggressively underrated in the 1990s.
5 While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Sandra Bullock stars in this 1995 romantic comedy in which a woman saves her crush from an oncoming train, and then inadvertently makes his family think that she’s his fiancé after he falls into a coma. Bullock is perfect in this awkwardly charming role, and her burgeoning romance with Bill Pullman over the course of the film is marvelously joyful.
Of course, it does follow the “getting caught out in the lie” trope, but uses it to perfection and makes an excellent comedy, and memorably romantic story, out of it all. Bullock and Pullman are phenomenal, and the film feels like it encapsulates the 1990s amazingly, like other films available on Prime did for the 80s.
4 Clueless (1995)
Alicia Silverstone stars as a stuck-up high school girl in this film loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma. While she starts out as vain and selfish, Cher’s journey to becoming a better person by accidentally realizing that she enjoys doing good things is both hilarious and heart-warming.
Her incidental burgeoning love with Paul Rudd is also an amazing aspect of the film and helps make this feel like another film that perfectly snapshots the 90s while still living it. The simple realization that helping people can help us even more than them is simple but joyous, and the film plays with it beautifully.
3 Casper (1995)
Another film that treads a stranger and darker path for such a wholesome experience, Casper is about a young ghost that falls in love. He convinces the terrified new owner of the building he haunts to hire a paranormal therapist so that he and his daughter, played by Christina Ricci, will come to him, and he can meet her.
While the film has aged somewhat, being the first film to use a CGI lead it was bound to age somewhat, it is still a very fun watch and the performances by Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci are excellent. Casper was questioned at the time for having a darker tone than the light-hearted comics it was based on. However, it has since been praised for delving deeper into topics like death in a family film.
2 Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in this romantic comedy about a widowed man raising his son that calls into a radio station to ask for help. The incredible thing that has helped Sleepless in Seattle stay prominent in the genre for so many years is that the leads hardly meet at all during the runtime. Instead, the film is emotionally powered by the idea of loneliness that helps spur one towards love.
The mechanics used in the film set it apart well from others in the genre, even today it retains a unique feeling. Sleepless also helped establish Nora Ephron as a filmmaker who has lasted as a prominent figure in the genre to this day, as many great directors managed in the 90s.
1 Sister Act (1992)
The ultimate feel-good film above all others, Sister Act stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Las Vegas singer who becomes targeted by her former flame when she witnesses him committing murder. She is then brought by a trusted police officer to stay undercover at a convent, living with nuns, so she will be safe waiting to stand witness at the trial.
The classic story of a renegade coming in and changing traditional ways, clashing with the head nun in Maggie Smith, and enlivening a church choir, is amazing. The soundtrack, the characters, and the sheer joy of every second of this film put a smile on the face of anyone who saw it, even if it didn't exactly win the best picture.