Film

The Object of My Affection

Name: The Object of My Affection
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1998
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Alan Alda, Nigel Hawthorne, John Pankow

A romantic comedy-drama about a pregnant woman who falls for her gay best friend and imagines building a family with him instead. It's funny and tender without being saccharine, genuinely interested in how people actually talk to each other, and smartly skeptical about the fantasy of perfect domestic arrangements. For anyone who's felt the messy collision between who they love and who makes sense on paper.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy grown-up romance built on sharp, affectionate banter and a friendship that everyone around the couple finds baffling, with the dialogue doing most of the heavy lifting.

Skip it if you want a brisk romance or a clear-cut villain, since the boyfriend is more irritating than menacing and the middle drifts through long conversations.

What it asks of you: Expect talk-heavy scenes and an unhurried, conversational pace across just under two hours, with feelings left unresolved for long stretches.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

When Harry Met Sally...1989

The blueprint for witty, conversational romance with real stakes. It takes seriously the question of whether intimacy can survive the wrong kind of love, and lets both characters be right and wrong simultaneously.

But The New Year's Eve ending feels inevitable now; the constant banter can feel performative if you're not in the mood for it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

A woman resisting the life everyone assumes she should want, chasing connection that feels true rather than sensible. Audrey Hepburn makes self-deception look beautiful, which is partly the point.

But It's deeply of its era in ways that can feel uncomfortable; the pacing is stately by modern standards.

About a Boy2002

Two lonely people who are absolutely wrong for each other on paper, and the film knows it. Warm-hearted without being sentimental, and genuinely funny about male friendship and parental longing.

But The indie-rock soundtrack dates it badly; the romance feels almost secondary to the story it actually wants to tell.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Object of My Affection

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Fleabag2016

Both are about someone who falls for the person they shouldn't, and both are genuinely interested in why that's more compelling than sensible love. The fantasy is the point.

A woman who wants love in forms that don't exist, self-sabotaging with intelligence and charm. It's a drama about longing dressed as comedy, about choosing the wrong person because you know exactly what you're doing.

But The fourth-wall breaks can feel mannered; the second season's tonal shift won't work for everyone; it ends on purpose, which some find unsatisfying.

Chasing Amy1997

Kevin Smith's smartest film about desire across impossible lines. It actually engages with what it means to want someone you can't have, and doesn't pretend there's a neat resolution.

But The dialogue is dense and very '90s; it gets preachy in the third act; some of the politics haven't aged well.

The First Wives Club1996

Three women over forty reclaiming their lives and their autonomy. It's funny and camp and genuinely moving about friendship as the central relationship, with the men as happy complications.

But The comedy can feel broad; it leans heavily on '80s references; some of the satirical edges have dulled.

Four Rooms1995

An ensemble cast riffing on longing and misdirection in a hotel on New Year's Eve. It's weird and theatrical and interested in how people perform for each other under pressure.

But It's deeply uneven; some sketches land better than others; the framing device is thin; it feels like an experiment more than a film.

Bed of Roses1996

A florist and an insomniac widow develop a quietly strange romance. It's gentle and peculiar in a way most '90s romance films weren't willing to be, with real melancholy underneath.

But It's slight and slow-moving; you have to be in exactly the right mood for its particular brand of whimsy; it's largely been forgotten for a reason.

Longtime Companion1989

A story about a group of gay men over a decade, built on friendship and desire and how you show up for people you love. It's serious and elegiac without ever losing humor.

But It's fundamentally a film about grief and illness; the emotional weight never lifts; it's nearly 35 years old and occasionally shows it.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch1990

A movie so interested in its own absurdity that it essentially rewrites the rules midway through. It's chaotic and funny and weirdly touching about found family and belonging.

But It's deliberately silly and self-aware in ways that can feel exhausting; it assumes you know the first film; the plot essentially disappears.

C.R.A.Z.Y.2005

Both are about the gap between the life you imagine with someone and the life you'd actually have. This one explores it across decades and a full family, not just two people.

A French-Canadian family saga built on the central tension of a mother's love for her son and a son's need to become himself. It's funny and heartbreaking and shot like a dream, with Ricky Martin's 'Living La Vida Loca' as spiritual counterweight.

But It's two and a half hours of accumulated family texture; long stretches are in French; the '60s-'80s setting is crucial to the mood; it requires patience.

Passion2013

Same engine: one person's fantasy about another, the collision between what you want them to be and who they actually are, and the damage that gap creates.

A psychological thriller about two women, workplace rivalry, obsession, and the blur between professional ambition and erotic fixation. Brian De Palma at his most controlled and strange, genuinely unsettling about what desire actually is.

But It's baroque and slow-burn; the twist is less important than the mood; some will find it pretentious; it's visually cold in ways that keep you at a distance.