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{{trope}}
[[File:Rom-com-essentials.jpg|thumb|400px|link=Wrong Hands|Romantic Comedy meets [[Strictly Formula]].]]
{{quote|''"You don't want to be in love... you want to be in love'' in a movie."
|'''Becky''', ''[[Sleepless in Seattle]]''}}
A
Most of these feature two, roughly equal protagonists, with one of them slightly more roughly equal than the other. That's not written in stone, of course; ''[[Love Actually]]'' featured numerous characters and plot lines.
How does the average
[[Love At First Sight]] is rare. The two characters will often spend a good part of the movie [[Slap Slap Kiss|fighting]] their [[UST|obvious attraction]] to each other. Eventually, they'll realize they're perfect for each other. Naturally, something will pop up; maybe a ''[[Three's Company]]'' kind of misunderstanding, or [[Third-Act Misunderstanding|a revelation in the third act]] about one of them lying. One of the two characters will storm off in a huff (invariably resulting in an establishing shot or montage with sad music playing immediately after), the other chases after them and does something really romantic to win them back. The movie ends with the two characters ([[Hooked Up Afterwards|or more!]]) reunited in a romantic embrace. Maybe there'll even be a wedding montage in the credits.
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Sometimes the writers add some [[Speculative Fiction]] elements to the mix (handily broadening the potential fanbase, incidentally). The woman might be an alien; the man might get a superpower. Most often, this merely produces [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious complications]], but it can also lead to a case of [[Everything but the Girl]].
If the above sounds somewhat cynical, it's only because romantic comedies are very, very popular and have been around for a long time, dating back to the silent era. As such, there aren't a lot of new paths to beat in this genre. Even when a "RomCom" is done skillfully, it doesn't quite...pop like other works. The
Still, mocking the genre as completely worthless is probably unfair. Given a likable cast (note to directors: if you can get Hugh Grant for your comedy, do so) and a script with a little effort put into it, a
See also [[Rule of Romantic]], and compare with the [[Bromantic Comedy]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Arashi no Yoru ni]]''.▼
* ''[[
* ''[[Toradora!]]''▼
== [[Film]] ==
* Films of the [[Screwball Comedy]] sub-genre of the 1930s were often these.
** ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]''
** ''[[It Happened One Night]]''
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** ''[[Ninotchka]]''
** ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' adds a curve in that the romantic protagonists are divorced as well as former boss and prize employee (editor and ace reporter).
*** A similar situation is found in the '50s musical comedy ''[[Kiss Me Kate]],'' where the divorced protagonists falling back in love are, respectively, the director and leading lady in a modern adaptation of an earlier example of the
** 1981's ''[[Arthur (film)|Arthur]]'' was an intentional throwback to these, and a very successful one.
** 1972's ''[[What's Up, Doc?]]'' was an earlier one.
** 1951's ''[[Singin' in the
** ''[[Leatherheads]]'' was also a throwback. Except it didn't work too well.
** ''
** ''[[Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day]]'' is a modern incarnation, but the threat of war on the horizon casts a shadow over all the gaiety.
* Many of the [[Fred Astaire]]/[[Ginger Rogers]] musicals.▼
* There are quite a few young adult books that follow this formula, Sarah Dessen's work being a good example. They usually are exactly like the countless movies in this genre, except that they take place in high school. Most of the common stereotypes of rom coms are translated into a high school setting, for example instead of them being not compatible the couple usually will be childhood friends, and usually the girl wants the most popular guy, but realizes she's in love with her best friend.▼
▲* Many of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals.
* Every bleeding [[Kevin James]] vehicle save ''[[Grown Ups]]''.
* Some of [[Woody Allen]]'s films, most famously ''[[Annie Hall]]''. He's more prone to the [[Bittersweet Ending]] than most.
* ''[[
* ''[[27 Dresses]]''
* ''[[40 Days and 40
* ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]''
* ''[[50 First Dates]]''
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* ''[[Amelie]]'' has many elements of the romantic comedy; probably it's not considered so by most people because it's a) foreign and b) so original in terms of not only its story but also its art direction and acting that it's hard to associate it with the romcom's reputation of formula.
* ''[[Anastasia (Animation)|Anastasia]]'' might not be a Romantic Comedy exactly but it does have Meg Ryan voicing the lead who has a typically sparky Rom Com like relationship with the love interest Dimitri (John Cusack). Possibly the closest analogue in animation to this genre, though romantic subplots in contemporary Western animation often invoke its tropes (consider the ''[[Shrek]]'' films).
▲* ''[[Arashi no Yoru ni]]''.
* ''[[Bride Wars]]''
* ''[[Casanova (film)|Casanova]]'' (the 2005 film with Heath Ledger)
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* [[I Could Never Be Your Woman]]
* ''[[I Love You Phillip Morris]]'' is a romantic [[Dramedy]].
* ''[[Imagine Me
* ''[[In
* ''[[
* ''[[Just Go with It]]''
* ''[[Just Like Heaven]]''
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* ''[[Love Actually]]'': Multiple love stories going on around Christmastime in London. Stars Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, and some other people.
** Slightly unique in that a few of the couples ''didn't'' get together.
* ''[[Maid in Manhattan]]'' with Jennifer
* ''[[Mannequin]]''
* ''[[Monte Carlo]]''
* ''[[Morning Glory]]'' - It's mostly a comedy about Rachel McAdams working as the producer of a morning show, but it still gets categorized as a chick flick. Like ''[[
* ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'': Old school [[Romantic Comedy]].▼
** As is ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' and several other Shakespeare plays.▼
▲** Indeed, [[Shakespeare]]'s own life got fictionalized for ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]''. Also, there's been a bunch of [[Recycled in Space]] variations on his romantic comedies in recent years:
▲*** ''[[Ten Things I Hate About You]]'' (''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'')
▲*** ''[[She's the Man]]'' (''[[Twelfth Night]]'')
▲*** Kenneth Branagh's version of ''[[Love's Labour's Lost|Loves Labours Lost]]'', which cross-breeds the original text with the songs and style of 1930s movie musicals.
* ''[[My Big Fat Greek Wedding]]''
* ''[[No Strings Attached]]''
* ''[[Notting Hill]]''
▲* ''[[Nyarko San|Haiyore! Nyarko-san]]'' is "love(craft) comedy that '[[Boy Meets Ghoul|boy meets a devil]]'". Yeah, a parody of [[Cthulhu Mythos]].
* ''[[Overnight Delivery]]''
* ''[[Pretty Woman]]''
* Jane Austen's ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', where Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy start out acting contemptuously toward one another. Given the conventions of Romantic comedy, isn't the ultimate outcome of their relationship inevitable?▼
* ''[[The Prince and Me]]''
* ''[[The Proposal]]''
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* ''[[The Sweetest Thing]]''
* ''[[Think Like a Man]]'': The surprisingly well acted story in which Steve Harvey releases a book telling women how men think, women read, and men react.
* ''[[TiMER]]''
* ''[[Two Weeks Notice]]'' (the quintessential [[Hugh Grant]] romantic comedy, stars [[Sandra Bullock]], another Rom Com staple)▼
▲* ''[[Toradora!]]''
* ''[[The Ugly Truth]]'': Stars [[
▲* ''Two Weeks Notice'' (the quintessential Hugh Grant romantic comedy, stars Sandra Bullock, another Rom Com staple)
▲* ''[[The Ugly Truth]]'': Stars [[300|Gerard Butler]] as a foul-mouthed, sexist TV personality and Katherine Heigl as his producer.
* ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'': One of Adam Sandler's more tolerable movies
* ''[[Wedding Wars]]''
* ''[[When Harry Met Sally...]]'' was far from the first
* ''[[When in Rome (film)|When in Rome]]''
* ''[[While You Were Sleeping]]''
* ''[[You've Got Mail]]'' - Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan again. This time she runs a small bookshop, he's one of the owner/execs of a big bookstore chain threatening Meg's store, and while they're hostile in real life, they're close friends online. A remake of a the Jimmy Stewart movie, ''[[The Shop Around the Corner]]'' (1940).
== [[Literature]] ==
▲* There are quite a few young adult books that follow this formula, Sarah Dessen's work being a good example. They usually are exactly like the countless movies in this genre, except that they take place in high school. Most of the common stereotypes of rom coms are translated into a high school setting, for example instead of them being not compatible the couple usually will be childhood friends, and usually the girl wants the most popular guy, but realizes she's in love with her best friend.
▲* Jane Austen's ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', where Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy start out acting contemptuously toward one another. Given the conventions of Romantic comedy, isn't the ultimate outcome of their relationship inevitable?
== [[Theatre]] ==
▲** As is ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' and several other Shakespeare plays.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Film Genres]]
[[Category:Show Genres]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Romantic Comedy]]
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