We believe that beauty is only skin deep and that true love is defined by a profound emotional connection that makes each person feel whole. However, we also cannot deny that some marriages in movies — particularly ones between a traditionally attractive woman and a man of not quite the same stature — made us go, “What? How?” The following are some of the most notable examples of beautiful wives in cinema whose choice of a husband got the best of our most superficial thoughts.
Donna Newman (Click)
English actor and model Kate Beckinsale stars in the 2006 sci-fi comedy — and one of Adam Sandler’s best movies — Click as Donna Newman, the wife of overworked father, Michael (Sandler). Christopher Walken’s character, Morty, who gives Michael a universal remote that really lives up to its name, is the one who speaks for the audience when he wonders how a woman as attractive as she is fell for him.
Mona Lisa Vito (My Cousin Vinny)
To be fair, technically, Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei in her Academy Award-winning role) is only the fiancée of Joe Pesci’s titular attorney in the classic 1992 courtroom comedy, My Cousin Vinny. However, even that is enough to get heads turning in the jury box.
Margot Tenenbaum (The Royal Tenenbaums)
Looks aside, it is clear that Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) does not truly love her older husband, Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray). That is part of why, when she and her adoptive brother, Richie (Luke Wilson), finally form a relationship in Wes Anderson’s, The Royal Tenenbaums, we actually find ourselves rooting for the unlikely romance.
Kelly Radner (Neighbors)
One of the first times we ever saw Seth Rogen portray a married man was in the 2014 comedy Neighbors, in which his character, Mac Radner, is wed to Kelly, who is played by Rose Byrne. This is also one of the few times the Australian actor keeps her natural accent, which begs the question of why her character chose this American schlub over some Crocodile Dundee-type she could have bumped into at some point.
Karen Gaffney (Keeping Up With The Joneses)
There is a scene in the 2016 spy comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses when Karen Gaffney (Isla Fisher) pretends to be in love with her secret agent neighbor Natalie Jones (Gal Gadot) as a ruse to discreetly pass a knife to her in the middle of a standoff. However, considering the red-headed bombshell’s husband is the stocky, square Jeff (Zach Galifianakis), we could have easily believed their marriage was a ruse in itself.
Lauren Price (The Hangover, Parts II And III)
In The Hangover Part II, at the rehearsal dinner for Stu Price (Ed Helms) and Lauren Srisai’s (Jamie Chung) wedding, Lauren’s father compares his soon-to-be son-in-law to tasteless white rice in his speech and, to be perfectly honest, we kind of see where he is coming from. However, the fact that a gorgeous woman like Lauren fell for the dentist and certainly treated him a whole lot better than Melissa (Rachel Harris) in the 2009 original, there is clearly more to him than meets the eye (and we are not talking about his inner demon).
Dinah Ratner (Uncut Gems)
There are actually a multitude of reasons why Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner does not deserve Dinah (Idina Menzel) and why she chose to leave him in 2019’s acclaimed A24 movie, Uncut Gems, and his looks have the least to do with it. The New York City jeweler’s undesirable nature has most to do with his compulsive gambling habits, nigh-pathological dishonesty, and many other self-destructive tendencies.
Marge Simpson (The Simpsons Movie)
Her hair may be a little unusual, but I think anyone would agree that Marge Simpson (voiced by Julie Kavner) probably could have done better than Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), but not just because of his thinning hair and accentuated gut. In fact, a major plot point of 2007’s The Simpsons Movie sees the homemaker actually make the decision to leave her husband after putting up with his immature behavior for too long, until he does manage to redeem himself in the end.
Dr. Sheila Gamble (The Other Guys)
In the 2010 cop comedy The Other Guys, Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) refuses to believe that his more square partner, Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell), is married to a beautiful dancer-turned-doctor named Sheila (Eva Mendes). What is even more surprising is how the nerdy detective does not seem to appreciate her or even admire her as much as Terry clearly does.
Diane Szalinski (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids)
We imagine it was Wayne Szalinski’s (Rick Moranis) intelligence that made his wife, Diane (Marcia Strassman), fall in love with him. Of course, it is also the scientist’s intelligence that leads to the bizarre trouble in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but at least they can say their marriage rarely has a dull moment.
Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
In Robert Zemeckis’ brilliant 1988 comedic crime thriller Who Framed Roger Rabbit, private investigator Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is puzzled when he discovers that the plucky, titular toon (voiced by Charles Fleischer) is married to the most desirable bombshell to come out of Toon Town. What is even more shocking is that Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner) never actually two-timed Roger with Marvin Acme, and deeply loves her husband, particularly for his ability to make her laugh.
Vanessa Kensington (Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery)
Despite urging to keep their relationship platonic for both personal and professional reasons, at the end of 1997’s hilarious spy movie spoof, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, secret agent Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) actually elopes with her unusually hairy, hygienically challenged, and egregiously crass titular partner (Mike Myers). However, as we discover in the sequel, she turns out to be a robot clone, which actually explains quite a lot.
The Fives Wives (Mad Max: Fury Road)
The Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Toast the Knowing (Zoë Kravitz), Capable (Riley Keough), The Dag (Abbey Lee), and Cheedo the Fragile (Courtney Eaton) would have never agreed to marry and bear the children of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) had they not been force to against their will. Fortunately, the ladies managed to escape the Wasteland warlord’s clutches, with help from Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) in 2015’s post-apocalyptic movie masterpiece, Mad Max: Fury Road.
Roxanne Chase-Feder (Grown Ups)
While branded as a pretty mindless comedy upon release in 2010, Grown Ups actually provides a pretty clever explanation behind the marriage and Adam Sandler’s Lenny Feber and Salma Hayek’s Roxanne. Lenny is a Hollywood talent agent and Roxanne is a fashion designer — both of which are professions that could plausibly overlap in some way.
Carley Bobby (Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby)
If Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) had not been a successful NASCAR driver, his wife, Carley (Leslie Bibb), would have never been interested in him, and that is not just by our own analysis. This is actually confirmed in 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby when, after a post-accident loss of confidence cost him his career, she leaves him.
Bunny Lebowski (The Big Lebowski)
One of the most essential elements that makes Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski a genuine noir disguised as a screwball comedy is the marriage of Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston) and Bunny (Tara Reid). Theirs is a classic pairing of the wealthy schlub with a vivacious femme fatale whose only interest in her partner is his money.
Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction)
We do not necessarily think Uma Thurman’s Pulp Fiction character, Mia Wallace, is in a whole different league from crime boss, Marsellus (Ving Rhames). However, we just find that her husband’s employee, Vincent Vega — the brother of Reservoir Dogs’ Vic Vega — is a better match for her and their undeniable attraction to each other is clear evidence.
Sara (The Toxic Avenger)
While Melvin Junko never had much luck with women when he was a 98-lb weakling (played by Mark Torgl), it seemed even less likely that he would find romance after an accident made him a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength (played by Mitch Cohen). However, the beautiful, non-seeing Sara (Andree Maranda) falls for the titular hero of 1984’s awesomely cheesy classic, The Toxic Avenger, because of who he is inside and most definitely not for his rough, radioactive exterior.
Audrey Krelborn (Little Shop Of Horrors)
At the end of the 1986 horror musical comedy classic — the theatrical ending, that is — Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), after destroying Audrey II, marries his longtime crush (played by Ellen Greene), whom he actually named the evil alien plant after. Despite being taller and more desirable than Seymour, Audrey reciprocates the feelings of her co-worker, who is a far better person than her sadistic former boyfriend, Orin Scrivello, DDS (Steve Martin).
Charlotte Field (Long Shot)
The title of the surprisingly delightful 2019 comedy, Long Shot, refers to the chances that Seth Rogen’s Fred Flarsky might have with presidential hopeful Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), who happens to be his former babysitter and childhood crush. However, after she hires him as her speech writer, strong chemistry flows between them and, by the end, he becomes her First Mister when she enters the White House.
Audrey Spitz (Murder Mystery)
The hit, 2019 Netflix original comedy, Murder Mystery, actually marked the second time Jennifer Aniston played the romantic lead in an Adam Sandler movie, but the first time the actors played a married couple. We imagine the Friends cast member’s character, a hairdresser named Audrey, became attracted to Sandler’s Nick Spitz because he was an NYPD Officer.
Bree Friedman (You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah)
After Uncut Gems, Idina Menzel would join the You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah cast to play Adam Sandler’s onscreen spouse a second time. The SNL star’s character, Danny Friedman, bears far more redeeming qualities as a husband and father to justify Bree’s attraction to him.
Sally Lamonsoff (Grown Ups)
One of the ultimate examples of a wife too hot for her husband in television history is Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini), who is married to Kevin James’ Doug on The King of Queens. James would also level-up on the big screen when he starred in Grown Ups as Eric Lamonsoff, who is married to Sally (Maria Bello).
Sara Whitaker (Daddy’s Home)
In 2015’s Daddy’s Home, Linda Cardellini’s Sara was married to Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) — the tough, rugged biological father of her two children, Megan and Dylan. Following their split, she married Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell), who is absolutely no match for Dusty as far as looks go, but does prove to be the most committed stepfather she could have hoped for.
Sandy Chester (Summer Rental)
There are few comedic actors in history as beloved on and off screen than the late John Candy, which is why we can totally see why Karen Austin’s Sandy Chester would fall in love with his character, Jack, from the 1985 vacation comedy, Summer Rental. One person surprised by his lovely wife’s attraction to him, however, is Jack himself.
Deborah Clasky (Spanglish)
It is not the difference in physical attractiveness that causes a rift in the marriage between successful chef John Clasky (Adam Sandler) and his wife, Deborah (Téa Leoni), but, instead, the laid-off businesswoman-turned-stay-at-home mom’s personal insecurities. In fact, it is her troubling mother (played by Cloris Leachman) who pleads with her to stop her extramarital affair and be with John, claiming she will never find anyone better, even though he even finds himself tempted by their housekeeper, Flor (Paz Vega).
Susan Huffman (Parenthood)
Not only is scientist Nathan Huffman (Rick Moranis) not quite as attractive as his wife, Susan (Harley Jane Kozak), but his overbearing approach to raising their young daughter, Patty (Ivyann Schwan) eventually causes her to leave him. Luckily, he manages to win the middle school teacher back by serenading her in her classroom with “Close To You” in one of the most heartwarming scenes from Ron Howard’s 1989 comedy, Parenthood.
Bonnie Dimmick (Pulp Fiction)
Co-writer and director Quentin Tarantino appears in his 1994 masterpiece, Pulp Fiction, as Jimmy Dimmick, who urges Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) to get Marvin’s dead body away from his house before his wife, Bonnie, comes home. While we only see Nurse Bonnie from the back in a hypothetical scenario, that image alone might be enough to determine that she was out of Jimmie’s (Quentin Tarantino) league.
Erin Sadelstein (Jack And Jill)
There are a lot of reasons why the 2011 comedy Jack and Jill does not work in the eyes of most critics and audiences. We will count the marriage between Katie Holmes’ Erin and Adam Sandler’s Jack as one of them.
Mae Capone (Capone)
Many of Linda Cardellini’s onscreen spouses have been a level or so down in terms of attractiveness, including when she played Mae, the wife of Tom Hardy’s Al Capone, in Josh Trank’s Capone. Normally, we would never put model-turned-actor Hardy in this sort of category, but his heavy makeup as the titular notorious gangster certainly fits the bill.
Maggie Faris (Alien: Covenant)
One of the few times we have seen Danny McBride play a husband was when he starred as Tennessee in the eighth of the Alien movie installment (but second, chronologically), 2017’s Alien: Covenant, in which most of the main characters are married couples. Amy Seimetz plays McBride’s onscreen wife, Maggie Faris, who sadly dies in an explosion she accidentally triggers while trying to kill the Xenomorph.
Helen Truby (Men, Women & Children)
Rosemarie DeWitt stars in Jason Reitman’s 2014 dramedy Men, Women & Children as Helen Truby, who is dissatisfied with her marriage to Don (Adam Sandler) and goes on to use the website, Ashley Madison, to have outside affairs. Unbeknownst to her, Don has also been meeting with escorts on his own time, in a unique twist on their dynamic.