Of course, in order to convince the viewing public that they're not simply churning out the same pale Shakespeare ripoff every year or so, Hollywood requires that each film have a unique spin. For example, What Women Want uses the novel device of shock-induced telepathy to jump start the romance between Mel Gibson's slimy ad man and Helen Hunt's dull creative director. In Kate and Leopold, the groovy twist is a hole in the fabric of time centered over the Brooklyn Bridge. Serendipity uses the notion of fate, although both characters promptly piss all over it by actively trying to find each other. Because a film about two people waiting to bump into each other by chance might be almost as boring as the film that was actually made.

If you would like to pen a romantic comedy, start with the formula above and then research what wacky twists are still available. I have yet to come across a film that uses, for example, a talking chihuahua or the Heimlich maneuver as the basis for its central story. Just don't built your plot around the accidental election of a bass fisherman to Congress where he meets a frosty yet beautiful female tobacco booster. That baby's all mine.

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