When we watch a rom-com, we have expectations of cuteness. We are prepared to see cute people with cute dogs saying cute things to each other in cute restaurants with cute names. We also expect them to meet in a cute way. In fact, a rom-com would not be a rom-com if it didn’t have a “meet cute.” What is a meet cute? Basically, it’s when two characters in a rom-com meet for the first time.

You see, rom-com characters are not like normal people – they can’t just meet in a bar and strike up a conversation.  There has to be some sort of ridiculously adorable situation that brings them together. A glove falls, they both bend to pick it up, and when they lock eyes, they realize they have found their true soulmates. How often does that happen in real life? Not too often, but then again, we’re not in romcoms. If we were, it’s a safe bet that they wouldn’t be as popular as they are today.

Meet-cutes may contain, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Awkward conversation
• Mysteriously playing music
• Locking of eyes
• Shy smiles
• Serendipitous situations.

Luckily, however, “meet cutes” don’t have to happen in real life, because they happen so often in the movies. Here are some of the cutest “meet cutes” in media history that have satisfied cinema-goers for years. 

Love Actually (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYlpA8boXsw

• Awkward conversation
• Magically playing music
• Locking of eyes
• Shy smiles

Talk about awkward conversation! How often does a string of expletives signal the start of something beautiful? When Natalie (Marlene McCutcheon) meets her future employer, who also happens to be the British Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, she can’t seem to control her potty mouth. But does the PM get offended? No, in fact, he seems to dig it.  We can tell from the way Hugh looks longingly over his shoulder and fairy the tale music coming from out of nowhere that we’re in serious “meet cute” territory.

Romeo and Juliet (1996)

• Locking of eyes
• Magically playing music
• Shy smiles

The original Romeo and Juliet met at a masquerade ball. Their eyes meet across a crowded room, and they are smitten with one another. When we see the modern Romeo and Juliet lock eyes through an aquarium, we know there’s something fishy going on.  Boy sees girl, boy presses his nose against the fish tank and two star crossed lovers meet cute. And forget cute, these two have the makings of supermodels. How about meet gorgeous?

Annie Hall (1977)

• Awkward Conversation
• Shy smiles

If there were a definition of “hot mess” in the dictionary, Diane Keaton there would be a picture of Diane Keaton as Annie Hall next to it. The only thing cuter than the way she and Alvy (Woody Allen) meet in this scene is the sight of Keaton in her quirky signature tie and bowler hat trying to pick up Woody after a tennis game.  With her stilting speech, gushing words and inappropriate laughter, Diane proves herself to be queen of the cringe-worthy. Only Woody doesn’t cringe.  In fact, he believes he has met his soulmate.  When the two leave together in Annie’s car, we can only hope they know where they’re going.

Notting Hill (1999)

• Awkward conversation
• Mysterious Playing of music
• Serendipitous Events
• Locking of eyes
• Shy smiles

When mild-mannered bookseller Will Thacker (Hugh Grant) spills orange juice on movie star Anna Scott’s (Julia Roberts) white shirt, it raises two questions. The first is, who walks around corners with open cups of orange juice?  The second is: Orange you glad you’re not Will Thacker? When girl walks into boy’s bookstore, she is taken by his schoolboy charm. When boy walks into girl with his OJ, she is less than enraptured. The only question left now is how could they possibly clean up at his house without falling madly in love? 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

• Awkward conversation
• Playing of music
• Locking of eyes
• Shy smiles

After dowdy waitress Patoula “Toula” Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) thinks, “It’s useless to dream because nothing ever changes,” we’re pretty sure that something’s about to. Cue Ian Miller (John Corbett) walking into her diner and the setup is in place. for a classic “meet cute.’   Never mind the fact that Toula is wearing coke bottle glasses, a sweater that looks like she slept in it, and a hairdo that she probably hasn’t updated since elementary school. Ian certainly doesn’t.

Even when Toula starts talking in tongues (a brilliant performance by Vardalos) and disses a loyal customer, Ian remains amused. Although Toula does get a second shot at making a first impression, not to mention, a long overdue makeover, it is this initial “meet cute” at the diner that gets “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” off to a magical start.

The Wedding Planner (2001)

• Locking of Eyes
• Mysterious Music Playing
• Serendipitous Event

Who could blame a girl for falling in love with a man who saves her life without sacrificing her Gucci shoe? When Mary Fiore’s (J.Lo) killer heels almost do her in, (her heel gets stuck in a manhole cover, and she almost gets hit by a runaway dumpster trying to rescue it) Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey) “steps in” (pun intended) to save the day.  However, when the rescue mission ends with McConaughey on top of J.Lo, the eye locking almost turns into lip locking. This may be the first time we’ve seen J. Lo speechless.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

• Serendipitous Events
• Locking of eyes

What happens when meet cute meets slapstick with a little stunt work thrown in? You get the introduction between Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) in “Singin’ in the Rain.” After silent film Don Lockwood finds himself in danger of being trampled by a group of overzealous female adolescent fans, he jumps on the roof of a bus, only to bounce in an unprecedentedly upright position into the moving car of the unknowing Kathy Seldon. 

While the two do lock eyes, this meet-cute is far from a love at first sight. Seldon is furious, apparently unaware of Don’s celebrity status and threatens to throw him out of the car. Only later do we find out that Kathy knows who Don is all along. He finds her cool demeanor a refreshing alternative to the usual star treatment, and Don ends up “Singin” in the Rain” when he feels the first pangs of love.

Before Sunrise (1995)

• Serendipitous Events
• Awkward Conversation

Even a movie as un-rom-com-ish as “Before Sunrise” can’t resist a “meet cute.” The introduction between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) begins with a frustrated Celine seated alongside an arguing couple on a long train ride. When she gets up to find another seat, she finds herself sitting next to Jesse. Serendipitous, indeed.

Awkward conversation? Check. The two do seem to have trouble getting their thoughts across, especially when faced with the drop-dead gorgeousness of one another. Gag -like humor? No. Jesse and Celine are dead serious when they agree to hop off the train together and begin their adventure in Vienna.  “Before Sunrise” is a rom with a little less com than most. Nevertheless, the meeting between Jesse and Celine does get a lot of the happy juices flowing.

Serendipity (2001)

• Serendipitous Events
• Awkward Conversation
• Shy smiles
• Locking of eyes
• Magically playing music

C’mon, the title of this movie is “Serendipity.” How could it not have a meet-cute? Jonathan Traeger (John Cusack) and Sarah Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) first realize they are destined for one another when they find themselves reaching for the same pair of cashmere gloves during at Bloomies. As soon as they discover how good looking one another is, they decide to bury the hatchet over frozen a hot chocolate at a restaurant that just happens to be called “Serendipity.” Although they don’t exchange numbers (both are in relationships with other people at the time) Jonathan manages to track Sarah down using the gloves and the film ends with an even cuter meet than it began with.

The Notebook (2004)

Could it be? A meet-cute with none of the traditional elements of a “meet cute?” How is this possible? Let’s examine the evidence.

1. The “meet cute in “The Notebook” happens in an amusement park. There is already corny music playing, which rules out the magically playing music. In this case, we know where the music is coming from.

1. When Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) climbs to the top of a Ferris wheel to get Allie’s (Rachel MacAdams) attention, the conversation is anything but awkward. Calhoun is too cool for school to engage in awkward conversation, plus Ally rebuffs Noah’s attempts (not to mention she is in the cable car with her boyfriend).  The only thing awkward that happens is when she pulls down Noah’s pants while he is left hanging from the top of the wheel in his undies.

1. There are no shy smiles because Allie doesn’t like Noah. The closest she comes to a shy smile is when she’s openly laughing at him after having pulled his pants down.

1. The two don’t exactly lock eyes. Allie is too busy laughing with her boyfriend, and the fact that they are not exactly in eye locking distance.

1. There are no serendipitous events because Noah plans the whole thing.

The Verdict: While “The Notebook” may not have many of the elements of the meet-cute, it does have the most important part: that’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship. His stunt may have left him hanging, but it did end up earning him a date.

Bridesmaids (2011)

• Awkward conversation
• Shy smiles

Let’s get one thing straight, there is nothing funny about getting pulled over for a DUI, which is why it makes us breathe a sigh of relief when we out Kristen Wigg’s roadside run-in with the law in “Bridesmaids” turns out to be over a busted taillight.

Annie meets Officer Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) when she hears the alarm that signals the inevitable doom of a police car pulling you over. In typical Annie fashion, she attempts to add some levity to the situation. Namely, by doing a chicken dance when he asks her to walk a straight line.

Adorable as the dance is (and it is adorable), it does not prevent Officer Rhodes from giving Annie a ticket. However, their undeniable chemistry makes it impossible to maintain standard cop/civilian interaction. After Rhodes outs Annie as ‘’The Cake Baby,” and praises her delectable cream puffs, he finds it hard to play bad cop and decides to let her off with a warning.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

• Awkward Conversation

Should we call this one, “When Harry Met Sally Cute?” Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) first become acquainted with one another in a trial by fire 18-hour trip from their college in Illinois to New York. Sally is the immaculately coiffed collegiate with long term aspirations of becoming a reporter. Harry is the sarcastic know it all with short term aspirations of making Sally’s perfect hair stand on end and not much ambition beyond that.

The trip gets off to a rollicking start when Harry explains his nihilistic attitude to Sally between spitting grapes pits out the window. How dark is Harry? He’s so dark he reads the last page of a book first in case he dies before he finishes reading it. This fails to impress Sally, who defends her relative happiness with a comeback that leaves Harry speechless.

Does this turn into a beautiful relationship? Anyone who has witnessed the “I’ll have what she’s having seen in the middle of the movie will know the answer to that. Watch “When Harry Met Sally”  go from meet-cute to meet risqué in this rom-com classic.