Romantic Comedy Cliches That Actually Happen

A sloppy guy lands a beautiful girl:



Gorgeous women falling head over heels for a not-so-cute guy may seem unrealistic—just consider Kevin James and Amber Valletta in Hitch. But relationships where one is the Beauty and other the Beast tend to thrive best. One study published in the Journal of Family Psychology suggests that relationships where the man is less attractive than the woman are happier and more emotionally satisfying. The reason: Those husbands are more committed and invested in pleasing their wives because they felt a beautiful wife was a "good deal."

All women have a funny sidekick:



In movies like "27 Dresses" Judy Greer plays Casey, the loyal best friend to Jane (Katherine Heigl) who is traumatized from being a bridesmaid 27 times. And she's always on hand to give Jane advice about her love life in punchy one-liners. In real life, most women have a go-to confident. The difference is, they don't dominate every conversation by fixating on their own romantic problems; they give their girlfriends love, too.

A woman suddenly becomes beautiful just by putting on makeup:



Who knew a little lipstick could go a long way? Men often say they prefer a woman's natural look but according to the results of a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, women are seen as more attractive and likable when they wear cosmetics. Think: Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club. What's taking it too far? When a woman is deemed homely until she simply removes her glasses and is suddenly a temptress. Ahem, Rachael Lee Cook in She's All That.

Female friends break out in random song and dance:



In the flick The Sweetest Thing Cameron Diaz, Selma Blair, Christina Applegate inexplicably sing and dance in random places such as clothing store dressing rooms and diners. Yep, women totally do that—but only during slumber parties when they're 12-years-old.

Female leads always are glossy magazine editors:



Jennifer Garner is an editor at Poise magazine in the movie "13 Going On 30." And it's true that publishing is mostly dominated by the fairer sex. What's usually not true? That said editors live in expensive apartments (never with a roommate) and are paid hefty salaries that fuel their extensive shoe collections.

Love begins with hate:



In When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan's character Sally can't stand Billy Crystal's character Harry's pompous, overly analytical demeanor and the feeling is mutual. The hatred lasts for a decade until they realize that everything which annoys them about each other is exactly what they can't live without. In real life, that's when anger bubbles over into passion and you realize you love the person despite their flaws.

Insisting that you're fine being single (but inside, you're dying of loneliness):



In The Wedding Planner, Mary (played by Jennifer Lopez) spends most of her time trying to convince herself that she doesn't have feelings for Steve (Matthew McConaughey) while she plans his wedding to his fiancée Fran (Bridgette Wilson). It's only when Mary gets roaring drunk one night that she breaks down and admits she's alone and miserable. Isn't that what anonymous online message boards are for?

You suddenly realize that your best friend was always The One and desperately try to woo him:



In "My Best Friend's Wedding" when Julianne (played by Julia Roberts)'s best friend of ten years Michael (Dermot Mulroney) gets engaged, she suddenly realizes he is her soul mate and makes a frantic play for him. Chalk it up to the old adage that says men and women can't be friends. A recent study conducted by University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire found that opposite sex friendships tend to suffer because one party is more likely to pine for the other and people in relationships who are attracted to their friends are more unsatisfied with their significant others.