Best Kissless Movies

I had a thought today to write a post about the best movie kisses. My standard for a great Hollywood kiss is pretty high, so few movies succeed in meeting my criteria for a truly amazing kiss. While I ponder the best kisses, however, I want to point out some of the greater Hollywood films that all have a significant romantic plot line that does not culminate in a kiss. These films are in no particular rank or order.

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
This is practically the gold standard for a well rounded romantic comedy, so people are usually shocked when I point out that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan do not kiss. We can chalk this up to the fact that they don't actually share that much screen time. They're probably on screen together for 2% of the movie if that. Yet, their locked and loving gaze over Jonah in the elevator at the very end is all the metaphorical lip locking the viewer needs.




MULAN
Okay, bear with me here. I realize that this isn't exactly a canonized film, but it is noteworthy as it is the first Disney movie that doesn't feature a kiss. Even the movies with animal characters involve some sort of kiss! Disney's emphasis on true love's first kiss makes Mulan a true anomaly. Under futher examination, the kiss's absence is a little troubling in that it suggests that Disney is shying away from homosexual undertones. The audience knows that Mulan is cross dressing to save her family honor, but General Shang does not know this. Had they kissed at the end, Disney may have had to answer questions about Shang's attraction to someone who was posing as a man for the majority of the movie.



ONCE
There is a lot more going for this film aside from the fact that the two nameless love interests never kiss. We are meant to leave this movie feeling in our hearts that their songs were a musical kiss. In fact, I think their voices are actually better together than on their own, so perhaps the musical union is better than any kiss. Their love for each other is palpable even without lip to lip contact.



Not done yet... just need to ponder a bit more.