You Complete Me: The Rom-com Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
You Complete Me: The Rom-com Quiz
Image: Getty Images/Handout/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Love is in the air -- or at least on the screen. But do you know the difference between a meet-cute and a match made in heaven?
What is Rom-Com short for?
Roman commander
romantic comedy
read-only memory communication
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Anyone who’s seen a movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks probably knows that Rom-Com is short for romantic comedy. The Rom-Com genre isn’t just limited to films -- it covers books, TV shows, plays and maybe even the events of a Friday night out (assuming you have clever dialogue and a romantic interest or two).

Let’s continue with the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks theme. Most of us know about their Rom-Com fame from films like "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You’ve Got Mail." Name a third film they starred in together.
"Splash"
"Kate and Leopold"
"Joe Versus the Volcano"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

These were all fun romantic romps that starred either Tom ("Splash") or Meg ("Kate & Leopold," pictured here on set with Hugh Jackman), but "Joe Versus the Volcano" was the very first Rom-Com they starred in together. "Joe Versus the Volcano" was released in 1990, followed by "Sleepless in Seattle" in 1993 and "You’ve Got Mail" in 1998.

Before Meg was paired up with Tom Hanks, she met her match with another brunette bachelor in "When Harry Met Sally." Who was he?
Andy Garcia
Alec Baldwin
Billy Crystal
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meg played the wife of Andy Garcia in "When a Man Loves a Woman" and starred opposite Alec Baldwin in "Prelude to a Kiss," but she battled it out with her on-screen best friend, played by Billy Crystal, in "When Harry Met Sally." Rom-Com spoiler alert: They finally fell for each other, flaws and all, in the end.

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What do you call the contrived and unlikely meeting between potential love interests in a romantic comedy?
awk-gawk
meet-cute
love-shove
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The meet-cute is a phrase popularized by Roger Ebert and other movie critics in their descriptions of that key Rom-Com moment when the potential romantic partners first meet. This is typically an awkward or embarrassing moment that highlights their different personalities or values and sets up their challenge of falling in love.

Which Emmy-winning television Rom-Com includes an episode where the main characters are trapped in the bathroom on Valentine’s Day?
"Friends"
"Mad About You"
"The Nanny"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Though all of these TV shows fit the Rom-Com category, this happened to characters Paul and Jamie Buchman in "Mad About You." This award-winning show got lots of laughs for its portrayal of the ins and outs of life as a newly married couple in New York City. Though the characters' romance was already formed when the show premiered, the series does flashback to the meet-cute moment when Jamie and Paul met at a news stand in 1989.

What is the highest-grossing Rom-Com film to date?
"Pretty Woman"
"Sleepless in Seattle"
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" takes the cake with a lifetime gross of $241,438,208. "Pretty Woman" steps in with a No. 4 ranking and "Sleepless in Seattle" settles for No. 15.

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Which of these romantic comedies was based on Shakespeare’s "The Taming of the Shrew?"
"10 Things I Hate About You"
"The Princess Bride"
"Love Actually"
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Wrong Answer

"10 Things I Hate About You" parallels "The Taming of the Shrew" with high school feminist Kat Straford falling for bad boy Patrick Verona. Other Shakespearian Rom-Coms include "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and "Twelfth Night."

Which classic Rom-Com film stars Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn?
"His Girl Friday"
"Bringing Up Baby"
"Desk Set"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Bringing Up Baby" is a romantic comedy great starring the dynamic duo of Grant and Hepburn. This film also falls into the 1930s Rom-Com subgenre of screwball comedy, which uses many Rom-Com devices but stands out for its quick, witty dialogue and fantastically farcical situations ("Intolerable Cruelty" is a modern example). In this movie, Grant plays a paleontologist who is pursued by an heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.

Name the "All in the Family" star who went on to direct many well-known romantic comedies.
Sally Struthers
Rob Reiner
Carroll O’Connor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Rob Reiner, who played Michael Stivic on the hit TV show "All in the Family," went on to direct Rom-Com favorites like "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally," "The American President" and "Alex & Emma."

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Romantic leads use many techniques to sweep a lady off her feet. Which of these films features an actor playing a piece of music that he composed himself?
"Four Weddings and a Funeral"
"Music and Lyrics"
"Pretty Woman"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In "Pretty Woman" you’ll see Richard Gere playing the piano. The tune that he’s tickling the ivories to is a little ditty he composed himself. Who could help falling for that?

Which real-life Rom-Com couple has been together since 1983?
Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby
Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sparks flew when Kurt and Goldie met while shooting "Swing Shift" in 1983, and they continued their on- and off-screen romance in "Overboard" in 1987. As of early 2012, they’re still together.

Other romantic comedies have reflected real life, too. Which Rom-Com writer’s quirky eating habits were included in one of the films she penned?
Elizabeth Meriwether
Nora Ephron
Kirsten Smith
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally" in which Sally takes forever explaining exactly how she wants her food prepared is credited to Nora Ephron, and was added by director Rob Reiner after he saw Nora ordering lunch one day.

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Here’s another example of life imitating art. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" writer Richard Curtis was inspired to write the film when he realized he’d attended a ridiculous amount of weddings in 10 years. How many did he go to?
49
72
103
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The magic number is 72. Richard was reading some of his old diaries and was astonished by how many nuptials he had been a part of, so he decided to make a film based on the idea -- with a funeral thrown in for good measure.

Name the charming Rom-Com that featured the now-famous phrase "As you wish."
"The Princess Bride"
"Ever After: A Cinderella Story"
"Mirror, Mirror"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In "The Princess Bride," Buttercup fell head over heels (literally) upon realizing that when Westley said "As you wish," he actually meant "I love you." The pair, having been separated for years, tumbled back into love with that simple phrase.

Which Rom-Com sitcom starred a female rap singer?
"Girlfriends"
"Living Single"
"All of Us"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Living Single" featured rap artist Queen Latifah as one of four ladies living together and looking for love in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Which adorably awkward Rom-Com character runs into her love interest (or one of them, anyway) at a tarts and vicars party?
Sally Albright
Bridget Jones
Vivian Ward
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bumbling Bridget Jones has good intentions, but they often run awry. In "Bridget Jones's Diary," she dresses in a busty bunny outfit for what she's been told is a tarts and vicars costume party, where she runs into her darling Mark Darcy. The only problem is no one else got tarted up for the party -- making for another highly relatable diary entry.

Which televised romantic comedy coined the pick-up line "How you doin'?"
"King of Queens"
"How I Met Your Mother"
"Friends"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Joey Tribbiani, a character on "Friends," was the founder of this phrase. It was ranked No. 4 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 20 Top Catchphrases" in August 2005.

Some romantic leads move from film to television. Which star of "Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist" transitioned to a Rom-Com sitcom following his or her silver screen acclaim?
Michael Cera
Kat Dennings
Ari Graynor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Years before Michael Cera became a love interest on the big screen, his breakout role on the TV comedy "Arrested Development" had a romantic bent. And Ari Graynor has gone on to star in more romantic films (with a spot on "Fringe," which doesn't quite fit the Rom-Com bill). Kat Dennings, however, has a costar spot in TV's "2 Broke Girls."

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Which Brit-Lit Rom-Com author created the popular book and film character Rebecca Bloomwood?
Helen Fielding
Jane Green
Sophie Kinsella
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sophie Kinsella wrote several novels about shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood, and the first book of the series was adapted into the film "Confessions of a Shopaholic."

This quiz won’t be complete until you can tell us which romantic comedy character said "You complete me."
Mark Darcy
Jerry Maguire
Harry Burns
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In "Jerry Maguire," Jerry tells Dorothy "I love you. You complete me." She responds with another familiar phrase from the film: "You had me at hello."

You Got:
/20
Getty Images/Handout/Hulton Archive/Getty Images