Unless Anne Hathaway is in it (and bonus points for when she goes topless), I am not a big fan of romantic comedies. It's not the romantic part - it's the "comedy" section of the title that usually gets me. Because it's not really comedy - it formulaic. So let me break down 99% of the romantic comedies churned out by Hollywood.
The lead character is a sassy, knowledgeable female - usually mid-20's, single, and works for a magazine, television station or in advertising. Nobody ever works at Target or sells cell phones. This lead usually has a quirk or two (loves cupcakes, is a neat-freak, or something of that ilk), and is unlucky in love.
We see Miss Sassy go about her every day tasks - including being super-important at work, usually working for a demanding and uncaring boss. Her career takes precedent over finding love - and her black/sassy/gay co-workers lament over her inability to find a man. Sometimes her mom and dad, who are quirky or zany, get involved in this phase, too.
Something unexpected comes up (death in the family, jury duty, etc.) and Miss Sassy runs into a handsome devil, usually complete with a three-day scrub of beard, an unbuttoned long sleeve shirt over a solid color t-shirt, and an impish smile. This handsome devil usually does something to annoy or bother or irritate our lead - to the point where she can't stand him.
Now this is the point where a romantic comedy can diverge slightly. Our handsome man can either have a significant other or he can keep interjecting himself into the leading lady's life. Usually, what happens is she either gets drunk or needs his assistance badly (or both) - and he does a caring and thoughtful act that makes her realize that maybe she was seeing him all wrong. Sometimes this leads to an ill-advised one-night stand (if there is a sex scene, the female will be wearing a bra the whole time, and I guarantee it won't be white. Nobody ever wears a white bra in the movies. It just doesn't happen.)
Then comes the blow up. The handsome man does something (either inadvertently or with good intentions that go awry) that upsets the leading lady and she leaves him or says something to the effect of "I can't believe I let myself get involved with you" (if I had a quarter for every time I heard THAT from a girl...) and then we get the "sitting in sweatpants and staring out the rainy window" scene. Maybe, if we're lucky, there's a musical montage that shows the two characters still going about their daily tasks, but she finds something of his, or a picture of them together that reminds her of what they had.
Finally, we get the reconciliation. This was nailed by John Cusack in "Say Anything..." - the radio over the head, Peter Gabriel on the boombox - and has been poorly imitated ever since. Sometimes it's something simple like the man showing up with groceries to make dinner (and there will ALWAYS be a loaf of bread and something green sticking out the top of the bag). There's the explanation scene, and most of the time the leading lady will be rambling on about how she was sorry or she was so mad at him, and then he will kiss her.
Some people think this is a show of affection. I prefer to think it's along the same line of thinking of Nelson Muntz when he kisses Lisa Simpson in "The Simpsons" - "This will shut her up".
Then comes the happy ending. They get married, ride off into the sunset, and live happily ever after. The end.
Hopefully I just saved you a $10 ticket and 100 minutes of your lives.
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