The AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Grownup Love Story is one of the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards presented annually by AARP the Magazine. The award honors the film with the best romance focused on adult characters, usually focusing on characters or performers over the age of 50. The award for Best Grownup Love Story was first given in 2003, when the awards expanded beyond their initial four categories of Best Movie for Grownups, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Despite its name, the award recognizes performers who portray the love story onscreen, not the film's screenwriter. While AARP the Magazine typically limits its winners and nominees to films by and about people over 50, there have been ten films nominated for Best Grownup Love Story whose romantic leads were both below that age: The Painted Veil, J. Edgar, Before Midnight, Carol, Breathe, The Greatest Showman, On the Basis of Sex, Emma., Wild Mountain Thyme, and Lady Chatterley's Lover. To date, The Greatest Showman is the only winner of Best Grownup Love Story in which all romantic leads were below the age of 50.
Winners and Nominees
2000s
Year Performers Film 2002The Gathering Storm Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya SisterhoodMoonlight MileNever Again 2003Something's Gotta Give Love Actually 2004The Notebook The ClearingIn Good CompanyShall We Dance? 2005The Family Stone 2006The Last Kiss Aurora BorealisKeeping MumThe Painted Veil 2007Hairspray 2008Last Chance HarveyMamma Mia!Nights in Rodanthe 2009Julie & Julia Taking Woodstock
2010s
Year Performers Film 2010 The Kids Are All Right Another YearFair Game 2011War HorseThe BeaverJ. Edgar 2012Hitchcock Hope SpringsLincoln 2013Enough Said Before MidnightLee Daniels' The Butler 2014Love Is Strange 20155 Flights Up 45 YearsCarolFreeheldI'll See You in My Dreams 2016FencesMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 2The Meddler 2017The Greatest Showman The Leisure SeekerOur Souls at Night 2018What They HadAll is TrueOn the Basis of Sex 2019No award was given for Best Grownup Love Story for 2019.N/A
2020s Year Performers Film 2020/21 Emma.Ordinary LoveWild Mountain Thyme 2021 2022
Actors with multiple wins and nominations
Multiple wins Wins Performer 3 Diane Keaton2 Blythe Danner Meryl Streep Emma Thompson Stanley Tucci
Multiple nominations Nominations Performer 6 Helen Mirren Meryl Streep4 Jim Broadbent Blythe Danner Diane Keaton 3 Robert Redford Susan Sarandon Emma Thompson2 Annette Bening Tom Courtenay Judi Dench Jamie Dornan James Garner Richard Gere Armie Hammer Dustin Hoffman Richard Jenkins Julianne Moore Vanessa Redgrave Kristin Scott Thomas Donald Sutherland Stanley Tucci Naomi Watts Tom Wilkinson
Age superlatives Record Performer Film Age (in years) Oldest winner Morgan Freeman 5 Flights Up 78 Oldest nominee Michael Constantine My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 89 Youngest winner Michelle Williams The Greatest Showman 37 Youngest nominee Anya Taylor-Joy Emma. 24
References