Anatomy of a chick flick.

While watching yet another of an endless stream of movies made for women last night, (No Reservations) I thought to myself, "I have seen this movie countless times."  And the truth is, I had!  Over 100 times!  

The plot is so simple, yet so clever.  The "chick flick" is designed to capture the emotional heart of a female.  While watching, I noted many of the the cliches of a chick flick.  I made mental notes and I would now like to present to you the list of elements to a successful chick flick.  You can count on at least 5 of the following occurring in each movie.

1.  A semi attractive woman.  Chick flicks are rarely about very attractive women as the common woman will will not relate to them.  Examples of semi attractive women include Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan and Helen Hunt.  

2. The woman in the movie must start out as very a uptight person, too involved in her work to get involved with men.  It helps if she is bossy and/or bitchy.  Examples: What Women Want, Something's Gotta Give, Bridget Jones. 

3.  The woman may also be a "fish out of water".  Put in a new situation she is not familiar with.  Examples include Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blond, Kate and Leopold.

4. The movie stars Patrick Swayze.

5. There is a musical number in the movie.

6.  There is a child in the movie.  The child must have been traumatized in some way.  If they have cancer, that is even better.  Examples: The aforementioned No Reservations, The Ultimate Gift, the burn victims in Shallow Hal, A Walk to Remember.  

7.  There must be a guy in the movie that the girl hates at first, but eventually becomes her love interest.  The guy is generally either a rebel or a genuine jerk. Examples: 50 First Dates, No Reservations, You've Got Mail, The Sweetest Thing, Mickey Blue Eyes, Hope Floats, OK this is actually a REQUIREMENT of chick flicks.  

8. The woman has a crisis that softens her thick or geeky personality up.  Ex: Mean Girls, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

9.  The soundtrack has a song by Celine Dion or Harry Conick Jr.

10. The girl starts out ugly but makes a remarkable transformation. Ex: She's All That, Bridget Jones, Pretty Woman.

11. The plot involves some "traveling pants".

12. Oprah has had the cast on her show.

13. There is a kissing scene in the rain. Ex: The Notebook, The Sweetest Thing, others I can't think of right now.

14. The kid in the movie is obnoxiously cute. Jerry McGuire, Step Mom, etc.

15. Your wife or girlfriend says at the end of the movie, "that was good!" and you are thinking, "no it wasn't".

There you go!  Break out this list on the next one you see.  You will be grateful you did.  Just leave a note of thanks in the comments.  

My apologies to Matt Damon.