Romeo and Juliet. Bonnie and Clyde. Harold and Maude.

"Harold and Maude? Never heard of 'em," you're probably thinking.

Well, it's time to change that, because they are none other than — to quote Cameron Diaz's character in the 1998 comedy There's Something About Mary — the pair at the heart of "the love story of our time." Yes, you read correctly. The love story of our time.

Aren't you curious about a film that warrants such high praise?

Allow me to introduce you to this 1971 dark comedy simply titled Harold and Maude.

Directed by Hal Ashby (Shampoo, Being There) and written by Colin Higgins (Nine to Five), Harold and Maude tells the story of Harold (Bud Cort), a young man obsessed with death, and Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79-year-old woman obsessed with life.

(Warning: Be prepared to test your belief in "age ain't nothin' but a number" with this flick.)

At the outset of the film, Harold's only joy comes from attending funerals of people he doesn't know and staging suicides to get his mother's attention.

Enter Maude — the free spirit of all free spirits — who treats every day as a gift, savoring life through the myriad human senses.

Complete with a streamlined soundtrack written and performed by Cat Stevens, the film follows the pair as Maude teaches Harold how to live fully, telling him to "take chances," "get hurt," and not to let "the world judge you too much."

Harold's transformation from gloomy to glowing is a beautiful thing to watch — but the film's best feature is its use of absurd humor to get an important message across. This gem will leave you laughing and thinking — a rarity much like that achieved by the Academy Award winning American Beauty. Whether Harold is scaring off the blind dates his mother arranges for him or driving with Maude in cars that don't belong to them, their antics are guaranteed to make you drop your jaw in disbelief, only to give way to deep and genuine laughter.

To add to the film's fully developed plot and humor, the acting is breathtakingly convincing, the direction is artfully done and the theme is truly timeless — all of which assert the film's rightful place among the great romances of any time.

So as you're wading through the aisles, searching for a meaningful movie with a comedic twist, remember Harold and Maude.

At worst, you'll be intrigued.

But at best, you'll be humming and pondering Cat Stevens lyrics that somehow encapsulate what we should always remember:

"And if you want to sing out, sing out/

And if you want to be free, be free/

Cause there's a million things to be/

You know that there are."