Romantic Movie Cliches That Hollywood Will Never Tire Of

Whether we're a fan of the genre or not, romance films are still seen by Hollywood as one of their most bankable genres. The genre has two significant spikes in popularity, first during the Hollywood Golden Age with the films of Fred and Ginger, and secondly during the 1980s and 1990s with films like Ghost, Sleepless In Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, Four Weddings & a Funeral and Notting Hill. During those spikes, specific trends or even cliches began to be formed. These cliches would soon start to be used again and again with each successful film released by Hollywood during said peak periods. Some of these cliches have carried over through the decades and are (un)fortunately still being used within the romantic genre today. This post will explore the most common ones.

Opposites Attract

"Partner A is an XYZ. Partner B is an ABC. How will these two end up together?" Hollywood may not use this particular cliche as much as they used to, but you can believe that there will always be a rom-com being advertised or written around this trope. Romance films utilise the 'opposites attract' cliche to make the audience think that two people with opposing personalities or coming from entirely different backgrounds can fall madly in love with one another and live happily ever after. It serves as the romantic version of 'odd couple'. The idea of two opposites 'attracting' is not an alien concept in real-life romantic relationships, but it doesn't happen as often as Hollywood movies may suggest.

Here are some examples. The nice girl falls for the greaser: Grease. The businessman finds true love with a prostitute: Pretty Woman. The bookshop owner and the Hollywood actress: Notting Hill. A washed-up singer finds a connection for writing music with the woman who waters his plants: Music and Lyrics. Opposites Attract may not be a sound basis for a romantic relationship in real life, but boy does it lead to success on the big screen.

From Hate To Love

Linked with the 'Opposites Attract' cliche is the trope I would refer to as 'From Hate To Love'. For the sake of creating conflict in a romantic comedy or drama, the two protagonists start off despising one another. However, by the film's conclusion, the duo has wholly fallen for one another, in a complete reversal of the film's beginning. The 'From Hate To Love' cliche is a trope that many critics point out negatively when reviewing romance films. Take The Ugly Truth as an example. The two main characters of the film are an uptight television producer played by Katherine Heigl and a misogynistic TV presenter played by Gerard Butler. The former firmly believes in true love while the latter is cynical about it. However, after a series of events, the two fall in love with one another and end the film flying off in a hot air balloon. Despite despising each other when they first met, Heigl and Butler's characters now cannot get enough of one another. I guess true love does conquer all emotions. For other examples of this trope, think Han Solo and Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise or the trio of leads of Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant in The Philadephia Story.

The Meet-Cute

Not a particularly big fan of this phrase, but it is the perfect phrase to describe this particular cliche. Our two romantic leads meet for the first time, generally under unusual circumstances, and romantic sparks fly (be they positive or negative. This first meeting sets up the scenario for the rest of the film. Gene Kelly escaping a group of rabid fans by jumping into Debbie Reynolds' car in Singin' in the Rain. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale grabbing the same pair of gloves while Christmas shopping in Serendipity. The meet-cute has persisted in Hollywood over the decades and can occur in the craziest of circumstances. With limited time to get the two leads together, the meet-cute reveals immediate chemistry, even if the meet-cute encounter ends in unsavoury circumstances. It just needs to be the first building block on the road to happily ever after at the film's conclusion.

The 'Comic Relief' Friends

In romantic comedies, much of the humour goes to the friends of the respective love interests. These friends offer support to each party or crack wise at the situation facing the protagonists. For prominent examples, think of Tony Roberts in Annie Hall or Rosie O'Donnell in Sleepless in Seattle. Sometimes there may even be a group of friends supporting the protagonists like Steve Carell's group of work friends in The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Seth Rogen's group of stoner friends in Knocked Up. Sometimes the 'comic relief' friend may be a roommate like Bill Murray in Tootsie or Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill. Sometimes for comic effect, the respective friends of the couple may even end up together as seen with Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby in When Harry Met Sally or with Alison Brie and Chris Pratt in The Five-Year Engagement. However, this is often a plot device used to push the two lovers into being with one another. The 'comic relief' friends may make jokes at their friend's expense early in the film, but by the end of Act Three, they will be the ones urging their friend to reconcile with their significant other. In many cases, they will be the ones helping them in their mad dash to the airport/wedding/etc.

The Obstacles

In more films than I can count, the road to happiness for the romantic couple in question involves moving past a specific set of obstacles that stand in their way. Many of the challenges that the couples face in these films come from ordinary society. Wealth and class are the most common obstacles to a romantic relationship succeeding. In class situations, Party A is deemed 'not good enough' for party B due to being from an inferior class. The class issue has risen its head on both sides of the gender divide in films like The Notebook and Sweet Home Alabama. A similar thing occurs when money is involved, with the less fortunate party deemed not good enough for the wealthy party. In Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts, the prostitute with a heart of gold, is convinced by society that she is not good enough to be with billionaire Richard Gere. In all film versions of The Great Gatsby (made in 1926, 1949, 1974 and 2013), Jay Gatsby is not deemed worthy enough for his love Daisy Buchanan, so goes away and becomes rich to earn her love. Even though the road is rocky and can lead to another cliche that will be discussed later, the couple overcome their obstacles to be together finally.

The Misunderstanding

This particular romantic trope feeds into a couple of other cliches on this list. At the end of the second act when everything is going swimmingly for the romantic couple, something happens to lead to a misunderstanding occurring and eventually leading to the couple going their separate ways at the beginning of Act Three (we'll get to that). Whether it be one side hearing the wrong part of a conversation or taking something completely out of context, the misunderstanding is the first domino that falls in the disintegration of the film's primary romantic relationship. Examples of this cliche include when the bet is revealed in both 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That or when one of the friends with benefits realises that they love the other friend with benefits as seen in Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached. This trope even manages to end romantic relationships in traditionally non-romantic films like Shrek and The Karate Kid. The misunderstanding is controversial, and sometimes unpopular, a trope often used to create tension and drama between the two lovers before they move onto the next cliche, which is...

The Third-Act Breakup

Everyone knows about the third-act breakup, meaning I won't need to go into too much detail to explain it. At the beginning of Act Three, following a misunderstanding or argument or not seeing eye to eye, a film's two romantic leads break up, and all seems lost for their relationship. The third-act breakup has become such a notable cliche that film critics now point it out when they see it in a film involving a romantic relationship. If the split is too predictable or not done effectively, then many critics can point to the third-act breakup as a sign of lazy writing in a bad romantic film. From films ranging from It Happened One Night to When Harry Met Sally to Wayne's World to even Back to the Future Part III, the third-act breakup is the central trope used to move a romantic relationship towards its final climax. However, despite people groaning about it, the third-act separation is still recommended by authors as a critical feature to include in successful romantic novels.

The Grand Romantic Gesture

This cliche is so famous that even The Simpsons had been around long enough to joke about it in 2012. The grand romantic gesture follows the misunderstanding and third-act breakup. Following a period of moping, Party A thinks up a way to win back their beloved in a truly memorable way. Most of the time, this involves Party A running through the streets or hailing a taxi to drive to a particular location. Even if this mad dash to the airport does not occur, Party A will make a grand speech or apology pledging their love and devotion to Party B, who will more than likely accept. For the race against time, think Sabrina, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Sleepless in Seattle, The Graduate. For examples of other grand romantic gestures, think Richard Gere sticking his body out the top of a limo in Pretty Woman, Dustin Hoffman banging on the glass in The Graduate or the flash mob at the airport in Friends With Benefits. The grand romantic gesture is the feature of the genre most people remember when thinking about romance films, which is why Hollywood keeps trying to come up with new ideas for this trope while sticking to the classics.

The Big Kiss

I don't even need to provide examples for this trope. Once the grand romantic gesture has been made, and all the speeches have been spoken, the two parties realise that they genuinely love each other and want to be together and plant a big, long kiss on each other lips. There may be a public audience randomly choosing to applaud the duo as they kiss, although this is not necessary.

Happily Ever After

Once The Big Kiss has occurred, the filmmakers treat the viewers to one final scene, which shows the happy couple living happily ever after. It may be Don and Kathy kissing in front of the billboard in Singin' In The Rain, the montage at the end of Notting Hill or the interview with Harry and Sally at the end of When Harry Met Sally. This cliche is the cherry on the cake, to leave the audience with a final assurance that everything is going to be just fine for our romantic leads as the credits roll.

Those were just a few of the major cliches found in romance films. I know that there are plenty more out there that I haven't written about, but I decided to stick to the most common ones for this post.