Romantic comedies would have you believe that love is essentially boy meets girl, they overcome some stupid problem and live happily ever after. For example:
Katherine Heigl finds herself pregnant and alone until Seth Rogen mans up and does the right thing in "Knocked Up."
Patrick Dempsey endures all kinds of flack for agreeing to be Michelle Monaghan's maid of honor in "Made of Honor." Then he steals her from Scottish heartthrob Kevin McKidd.
Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz find themselves married and winners of a million-dollar jackpot after a drunken night in Las Vegas in "What Happens in Vegas." They spend the movie trying to destroy each other for the money until they realize they are perfect for one another.
The pattern has been repeated in dozens of movies. Consider that Jane Fonda thinks she may have made a mistake in her sudden marriage to Jim Hutton in 1962's "Period of Adjustment," and Jack Lemmon tries to drive away Virna Lisi after finding himself married in 1965's "How to Murder Your Wife."
But every once in a while, Hollywood churns out a film that doesn't go for the happy ending.
Arnold Schwarzenegger loses his warrior girlfriend in "Conan the Barbarian." She dies so he may live. The ultimate sacrifice. Very sad.
Robert De Niro's wife (Sharon Stone) leaves him for brutal wiseguy Joe Pesci in "Casino." She dies of a drug overdose. Very sad.
Dudley Moore saves a man from drowning in order to bed the man's wife (Bo Derek) in "10." Then he realizes she's about as personable as a cabbage. Very sad. But he does get back together with Julie Andrews in the end.
Emilio Estevez screws up a very good thing he has going with Demi Moore in "About Last Night ..." Very sad.
Julie Roberts does her best to ruin the upcoming wedding of her longtime friend (Dermot Mulroney) to Cameron Diaz in "My Best Friend's Wedding." At least Diaz kicks her butt in one of the women's bathrooms at Sox park.
Poor Elizabeth Perkins is left to pine for a 13-year-old boy after he reverts to his true self in "Big."
Love may be all you need, but it often hurts. Here are six films available on video and DVD that look at relationships gone sour for one reason or another. Happy Valentine's Day.
"500 Days of Summer" (2009) -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt starts dating Zooey Deschanel. He falls in love. She doesn't. That about sums us this romantic comedy that bounces back and forth showing the audience how the two can have such different takes on life and their relationship. Other stars include Chloe Moretz as the boy's younger sister, who may be the most grown up person in the movie.
"Shakespeare In Love" (1998) -- Joseph Fiennes is the Bard in this romantic comedy about his relationship with one of Queen Elizabeth's ladies in waiting (Gwyneth Paltrow), who inspires "Romeo and Juliet" but also happens to be promised to another. Other stars include Judi Dench as the queen, Colin Firth as the other man, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson and Rupert Everett as Shakespeare's rival Christopher Marlowe.
"The Way We Were" (1973) -- A Jewish activist (Barbra Streisand) and a politically unmotivated WASP (Robert Redford) fall in love but eventually drift apart in this film that follows their relationship from college days in 1937 through World War II to the Hollywood witchhunts of the 1950s. Other stars include Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles and Patrick O'Neal.
"Before Sunrise" (1995) -- An American (Ethan Hawke) meets a French woman (Julie Delpy) on a train bound for Vienna. They spend a wild night together knowing that they will probably never see each other again. This was such a complete film that I have refused to see the sequel, "Before Sunset," when they run into each other in Paris 10 years later.
"Annie Hall" (1977) -- Woody Allen breaks up with Diane Keaton and then spends the rest of the movie showing how their relationship started, prospered and eventually disintegrated. Allen's best film ever, thanks in large part to Keaton's performance as the title character. Other stars include Tony Roberts, Carol Kane and Paul Simon.
"The Break-Up" (2006) -- A young couple (Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston) move in together but things don't work out. They remain living together because of their situation but that doesn't stop their relationship from getting nastier and uglier the longer they remain in the same home. Other stars include Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser, Jon Favreau and Justin Long.
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