The Cheesiest Romantic Comedies of All Time

I received this via email in the past few days and thought I would share it with everyone! I guess it just helps to confirm why When Harry Met Sally is one of my all time favourite films!

Love is in the air and hearts are aflutter for a rom-com binge this Valentine's Day, with global searches for "top romantic comedies" having risen by 350% in the last 7 days*. But among our favourite classics and modern romantic comedies, which are the cheesiest?

Interested in finding out, OnBuy.com analysed all romantic occurrences in our favourite flicks to reveal how often we're hit by a cheesy cliché.

Which romantic comedy is the cheesiest?

When Harry Met Sally... is the cheesiest rom-com with one romantic occurrence every 48 seconds on average. Starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, this award-winning film from 1989 may be the oldest on the list, but it definitely will never get old! The classic also has the most kisses (24) and the most mentions/acts of sex ( 25 times).

In second place is Bridget Jones's Diary. If picturing Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fighting for our love isn't enough, you only need to wait for less than a minute (59 seconds) for something romantic to happen. The charming rom-com starring Renée Zellweger with her cute British accent claims joint first place alongside When Harry Met Sally... for the number of couples appearances.

Making the top 3 cheesiest romantic comedies is The Wedding Singer. The flick is revealed to have a romantic moment every 1 minute and 7 seconds on average. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's first pairing of four other romantic comedies also takes the crown for the highest number of weddings (4).

Which are the least cheesy romantic comedies?

Flipping the results, Sleepless in Seattle is the least cheesy rom-com of all. Those watching this cute film with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have to wait for 3 minutes and 13 seconds for a romantic moment. Sam (Hanks) and Annie (Meg Ryan) stay apart for the whole film, contributing to its position in last place and for the low number of romantic occurrences compared to other rom-coms.

Making the top 10 is Pretty Woman. When watching the rich businessman Edward falling for spirit prostitute Vivien, we see a romantic occurrence every 2 minutes and 36 seconds on average. This acclaimed 90s classic didn't come in first for any numbers of the romantic moments but seems to be on our list to watch next as volume searches for the classic has risen by 90% around the world in the past 7 days*.

Methodology:

1. To achieve the data, OnBuy.com surveyed 3,102 fans and asked them to name the best romantic comedy films of all time.
2. The 11 films analysed by OnBuy.com were: When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), The Wedding Singer (1998), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Notting Hill (1999), He's Just Not That Into You (2009), 50 First Dates (2004), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), 13 Going on 30 (2004) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
3. OnBuy.com counted the number of romantic appearances in each film, which included the number of kisses, weddings, romantic songs, gifts given, dates, crying, couples, breakups/arguments and romantic gestures. OnBuy.com also counted every time the words 'love' and 'attraction' (including variables) were said, alongside the number of times 'sex' was said and/or had.
4. To find the average time between every occurrence, the total number of romantic occurrences was divided by the duration of each film.

*According to Google Trends on 10/02/2021.