Contra Affairs

Fade in: A boy and a girl meet. The boy flirts with the female. People learn over a few drinks in a dimly lit bar that she's working on her master's degree in English Literature, while he can barely scrawl his name in the mud with a stick. Regardless, they fall madly in love, proving that opposites do really attract.

Although appearance and sexual chemistry are essential factors, dating experts point out that people who share many interests have a considerably better chance of remaining together. They don't have to agree on everything, but those from vastly different backgrounds are frequently doomed. That is, unless Julia Roberts appears on the screen.

Pretty Woman stars Julia Roberts as a hard-luck hooker who manages to snag a handsome, wealthy businessman (Richard Gere). A decade later, she appears in Notting Hill, presumably portraying herself, and is charmed by a loving but hopelessly ordinary bookshop owner played by rom-com regular Hugh Grant. Grant was arrested in 1995 for soliciting a prostitute, which is a tasty piece of trivia.