Posted by: Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters
2.12.09
With Valentine’s Day coming up on Saturday, many movie fans will be looking for a good romance film to spark their own love life. But not all movie couples can convince fans they belong together, either on-screen or off.
Online ticket seller Fandango conducted a poll of customers buying tickets for February movies, asking people about their favorite and least-liked romantic movie pairings. On Tuesday, Fandango released a top 10 and worst 10 list.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams lead all couples for their performance in the 2004 movie “The Notebook.” They won 14 percent of the vote, four percent more than runner-ups Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 2005’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” The other couples on the list were, in order: Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (”Pretty Woman”); Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey (”Dirty Dancing”); Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (”Titanic”); Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore (”Ghost”); Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (”Twilight”); Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (”Brokeback Mountain”); and at No. 10, Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche (”Chocolate”).
Pitt and Jolie became inseparable after their on-set meeting in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and the two have since become a Hollywood supercouple with six children, including three adopted kids.
But Harry Medved, spokesman for Fandango, said that off-screen romance only counts for so much. “When it comes to classic mismatches, like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in ‘Gigli,’ the fact that the two stars may have been a couple off-screen didn’t make the on-screen chemistry between them any more convincing,” Medved said.
But JLo and Affleck, who since their 2003 movie “Gigli” have separated and are married to other entertainers, are not the most mismatched couple, according to Fandango customers.
Leading Fandango’s top 10 most mismatched couples were Jessica Alba and Mike Myers in 2008 movie “The Love Guru,” which was panned by critics and made only $32.2 million worldwide. That couple got 9 percent of votes, followed in second place by Woody Allen and Charlize Theron in “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,” a 2001 movie that came out when the acclaimed actor and director was 65 and she was 26. The other names on the list in order were: Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen (”Knocked Up”); Adam Sandler and Kevin James (”I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”); Anne Heche and Harrison Ford (”Six Days Seven Nights”); Kate Winslet and Jack Black (”The Holiday”); Julia Roberts and Woody Allen (”Everyone Says I Love You”); Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron (”Hairspray”); Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes (”Maid in Manhattan”); and at No. 10, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (”Gigli”).
This Valentine’s Day, movie goers will have a couple romantic comedies to choose from. “He’s Just Not That Into You” opened on Feb. 6 with an A-list ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson, and had a strong opening weekend of $27.5 million, while “New In Town” starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. has earned a disappointing $11.9 million worldwide since its Jan. 30 opening.
