Five Amazing Chick Flicks

Women love them, men fear them, and Hollywood keeps on making them better and better. Chick flicks are those sappy movies that are best watched with a glass of wine and a box of tissues. Most women have seen the classic chick flicks that include "Dirty Dancing," "Pretty Woman," and "Ghost," but many others are just as amazing although not as well known.

John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale star in "Serendipity," a story about destiny and true love. Jonathan Trager (Cusack) and Sara Thomas (Beckinsale) meet by chance while doing some shopping and feel an instant attraction to each other. Although both of them are engaged to other people, they grab a bite to eat at a small café called Serendipity 3. Deciding that fate is at work, Sara writes down her name and phone number on the inside of a book and then sells it to a used book vendor. She tells Jonathan that if being together is their destiny, he will eventually come across that book and will be able to contact her.

Because it is a true chick flick, the two do find each other again under the stars in a light snowfall at the skating rink in New York's Central Park. The bulk of the film details the twists, turns, and misunderstandings that lead to that point. At various times, the viewer will wonder whether the two will lose each other forever or simply find each other too late.

Viewers should have two boxes of tissues near them when watching "Message in a Bottle," as Robin Wright Penn, Kevin Costner, and Paul Newman will keep them teary-eyed throughout most of the movie. This is a story about true love and gut-wrenching loss. Wright plays the role of Theresa Osborne, a city-dwelling researcher for "The Chicago Tribune" who finds a love letter in a bottle that washed up onshore. She tracks down the letter's author, a seafaring North Carolina native, Garrett Blake (Costner), who hasn't yet come to grips with the death of his wife, Catherine. His father, Dodge (Newman), lives nearby.

Osborne and Blake fall in love, but that all comes apart when Blake discovers that his letters to Catherine have been published in the newspaper. By the time Garrett realizes that love trumps everything and he has to say goodbye to his wife and find Theresa again, it is too late. He dies trying to rescue a family stranded in their boat in a vicious storm, and it becomes Theresa and Dodge's turn to learn how to move on with their own lives.

"The Runaway Bride" gives a little twist to the classic chick flick, as this movie details a man trying to get a woman to marry him, but the woman keeps running away. Although it is a romantic comedy, it's less about love and more about learning how to be true to yourself and make yourself happy instead of conforming to what others want from you.

Julia Roberts, who has built a career around romantic comedies such as "Pretty Woman" and "Notting Hill," plays Maggie Carpenter, a small-town resident who keeps getting engaged but then bolting before she actually makes it to the altar. Her reputation has hit the big-city paper, and former reporter Ike Graham (Richard Gere) comes to town to watch her next attempt at walking down the aisle.

Maggie and Ike almost unknowingly fall in love, but true to her reputation, she runs as she's walking down the aisle to marry him. They do wind up together eventually, but only after Maggie realizes that she had spent her whole life being what others wanted her to be instead of who she really was.

Mel Gibson will keep you laughing in "What Women Want." He plays the role of Nick Marshall, a cocky advertising executive who is the quintessential overbearing macho man. He loses a promotion to Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), a seasoned ad exec who believes that everyone on her team should understand the consumer's wants and needs. She gives them each a kit that contains female paraphernalia, including makeup, face cream, and hot wax, and asks the team to immerse themselves in the female culture.