No doubt, as you go to see Date Movie, you’ll find yourself thinking about all of the great date movies – the timeless classics and the generational touchstones.

The typical date movie, generally a romantic comedy but sometimes a film from a different genre that has a particularly memorable love story as a subplot, covers the start of a relationship. It shows the obstacles the couple must overcome and the glory of falling in love, but in many ways the story ends just as the romance is beginning.

We know that Harry and Sally grew old together, and we watched as Rhett and Scarlett (and Rick and Ilsa) went their separate ways. But what happened to all of those great movie couples who walked off the screen arm-in-arm and were never seen again? We don’t know for sure, but we’re guessing it went something like this.



Say Anything (1989)

The couple: Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court

The courtship: The kickboxing slacker has a crush on the class brain. Against all odds, she falls in love with him, too.

Where we left them: She’s going to study abroad, and he’s the distraction who’s going to Europe with her.

What happened after the movie ended: Europe was great, but when they got back home she enrolled at Dartmouth. Lloyd went with her but he came to feel more and more like he didn’t fit in with her life and her goals. They broke up the summer before her junior year.

It was hard, but they both realized it was for the best. Corey wrote a song about the breakup that became an indie hit. Lloyd and Diane stayed in touch for the rest of their lives. She always smiled whenever "In Your Eyes" came on the radio; he always switched stations.



Never Been Kissed (1999)

The couple: Josie Geller and Sam Coulson

The courtship: She’s a newspaper reporter working under cover as a high school student, and he’s the teacher who was afraid that he liked this "teenager" a little too much.

Where we left them: Sharing a long, wet kiss on the baseball diamond while the crowd around them cheers.

What happened after the movie ended: They clicked. The opportunity to relive a part of her adolescence had a profound effect on her, and the unexpected romance took her breath away.

He was the right guy to help feed her newfound confidence. They got married and had three kids. Her memoir of their romance, It Took Me Forever to Get Here, becomes a best seller.



Sixteen Candles (1984)

The couple: Samantha Baker and Jake Ryan

The courtship: She’s a "plain Jane" sophomore with a crush on the rich, hunky senior who doesn’t even know she exists. Or does he?

Where we left them: Kissing chastely over her birthday cake.

What happened after the movie ended: They went out a few times but never even reached a point where they thought of each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. He was a nice enough guy but didn’t live up to her idealized image, and the more time they spent together the more they realized how little they truly had in common.

Neither one ever left their home town, and when they would run into each other they would smile and wave. (As a side note, Sam actually went out with Farmer Ted a few times during her senior year. They stayed good friends even after he moved to the East Coast and became a standup comic, and she liked that she was able to brag to her friends that she had slept with a member of the "SNL" cast.)



Bull Durham (1988)

The couple: Crash Davis and Annie Savoy

The courtship: An aging baseball player and a devoted groupie hook up for one season but gradually realize that they’ve gotten in a lot deeper than they had planned.

Where we left them: Sitting on her front porch swing.

What happened after the movie ended: After spending his entire adult life moving around the minors, Crash realized he had no real "home" to retire to – except Annie. He spent one summer coaching in Visalia, but his heart was back in North Carolina.

With his playing career behind him, he moved back to Durham and settled down with Annie (though they never bothered to get married). He was hired as head coach at Duke University and eventually managed their son, Max, who was an All-American third baseman and first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves.



Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

The couple: Sam Baldwin and Annie Reed

The courtship: She’s about to marry her boring fiancee when she becomes fascinated with a lonely widower who she’s never met.

Where we left them: They finally meet at the Empire State Building and, holy cow, they both look like movie stars!

What happened after the movie ended: Turns out they really were perfect for each other. It took Sam a while to decide that he was ready for romance again, but Annie was willing to be patient. After she ditched Walter, she and Sam logged frequent-flier miles for about a year before he asked her to move from Baltimore to Seattle.

They got married about six months later and gave Jonah two little sisters to play with. Jonah and Jessica became high school sweethearts, got married and gave Sam and Annie six grandchildren.



The Princess Bride (1987)

The couple: Westley and Buttercup

The courtship: Lowly farm boy and would-be princess fall in love and endure everything up to and including death.

Where we left them: Riding off together on beautiful white horses.

What happened after the movie ended: Duh. Eternal bliss. And Humperdinck spent the rest of his life alone.



Pretty Woman (1990)

The couple: Vivian Ward and Edward Lewis

The courtship: Ruthless tycoon hires a hooker to be his escort but she uncovers a good heart beneath his greed.

Where we left them: He lifts her off the fire escape and into his stretch limo, and they ride off.

What happened after the movie ended: It didn’t take her long to recognize that (a.) life isn’t a fairy tale, and (b.) he wasn’t Prince Charming. Yeah, she helped him find the better side of his nature, but it’s not like he was going to get out of investments and open a corner store. He still operated in a cutthroat business, and there was less and less room for her in his life.

She started out as arm candy (with benefits), and in the end, they both realized that’s pretty much what she was to him. When she left him, neither one shed a tear. He put her through college, but they never crossed paths again. Whenever she ate in a nice restaurant, she would smile and order the escargot appetizer.



Risky Business (1983)

The couple: Joel Goodson and Lana

The courtship: High school kid teams up with a hooker in a lurid business venture, and they sorta like each other.

Where we left them: He’s been accepted at Princeton. She hasn’t.

What happened after the movie ended: They saw each other a couple of times over that summer, slept with each other a few more times, but that was it. He couldn’t cut it in the Ivy League – turns out he wasn’t really Princeton material after all.

He married a nice girl he met at University of Illinois, settled in the suburbs and worked a desk job for 40 years. Lana left Chicago and moved to L.A., got some low-level modeling gigs and occasional acting jobs but had to wait tables and tend bar to pay the bills. They never saw each other again.



Pretty in Pink (1986)

The couple: Andie Walsh and Blaine McDonnagh

The courtship: Rich boy and poor girl work past their mutual prejudices and find their common ground.

Where we left them: Making out in the parking lot on prom night.

What happened after the movie ended: Blaine went off to college while Andie stayed in town, tending to her father and trying (with some success) to sell her fashion designs locally. Two months after he left, she realized she was pregnant, but by that time Blaine had already pledged a fraternity and started playing the field.

He didn’t find out about his daughter until she was 2 months old. Andie never asked for child support, raising the little girl alone with lots of help from Uncle Duckie. When they and were both still single at age 30, Andie and Duckie decided to get married. He adopted her daughter and they had four little ducklings of their own.



Dirty Dancing (1987)

The couple: Frances "Baby" Houseman and Johnny Castle

The courtship: Idealistic Jewish teen falls in love with worldly Gentile dance instructor, much to the chagrin of her father.

Where we left them: On the dance floor, having the time of their lives.

What happened after the movie ended: It was a summer fling. Even though Dr. Houseman realized that Johnny wasn’t all bad, he still never forgave the 20-something dance instructor for deflowering his underage daughter. The Housemans never went back to Kellerman’s resort.

Frances and Johnny never kept in touch, but they never forgot each other – she always smiled when she thought of her first love, and he was never the same playboy that he used to be. When he starred on Broadway in "A Chorus Line," she went to three performances but never tried to get backstage.



An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

The couple: Zack Mayo and Paula Pokrifki

The courtship: The factory girl always figured a young Navy officer would be her ticket out of her small town – and this guy might be the one.

Where we left them: He’s swept her off her feet (literally) and carried her away from the factory.

What happened after the movie ended: It wasn’t always easy, but they made it work. Got married and had three kids. She gave him the sense of purpose he’d never had before, and he gave her the stability she always wanted.

They’re both headstrong and temperamental, so they fought sometimes – even separated once for about two months – but they always found a way to work it out. Their son, Sid, enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday.



Top Gun (1986)

The couple: Pete Mitchell and Charlotte Blackwood

The courtship: Macho fighter pilot hooks up with his teacher in the Navy’s elite flying school.

Where we left them: Back together in the bar where they met, with that Berlin song on the soundtrack.

What happened after the movie ended: It was fun for a while, but it didn’t last long. He enjoyed being an instructor, but she got suspicious (and more than a little jealous) when he began calling one of his students "Iceman."

The whole episode convinced her to forget about the flyboys and keep her personal life separate from her career. She had several long-term relationships but never married.



There’s Something About Mary (1998)

The couple: Ted Stroehman and Mary Jensen

The courtship: He never got over his high school crush on her, and there was still magic when he found her many years later.

Where we left them: Smooching in the street after he’s been hit by a car.

What happened after the movie ended: They got married and made each other joyously happy. As an orthopedic surgeon, she was well equipped to reattach the body parts that were severed in the accident, and she lovingly nursed him back to health. They had five kids and moved to San Francisco where she became the team surgeon for the 49ers.



The Wedding Singer (1998)

The couple: Robbie Hart and Julia Sullivan

The courtship: The waitress and the wedding singer were engaged to the wrong people. Then they found each other.

Where we left them: They’re married, and Billy Idol wants to help promote Robbie’s career.

What happened after the movie ended: Robbie’s goofy pop songs and his geeky good looks earned him a few small-scale hits on MTV. He never became a star, but he sold some records and made a name for himself.

He never released "Grow Old With You," but he still sang it to Julia whenever he wanted to make her smile. One Mother’s Day, he taught their kids to sing harmony parts on the song’s chorus. His songs enjoyed a brief comeback in 2004 when his good-natured personality charmed viewers on VH-1’s "The Surreal Life."



Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

The couple: Charles and Carrie

The courtship: British fop and American trollop repeatedly cross paths and occasionally hook up.

Where we left them: After leaving his fiancee at the altar, he asks Carrie if she will spend the rest of her life with him without ever getting married. She says yes.

What happened after the movie ended: They spent the rest of their lives together. Much to his surprise, at age 45 he woke up one morning and realized that he actually wanted to get married. Much to her surprise, when he asked her she found herself saying yes.

They got married one week later at a pub. Angus mentioned sheep during his toast to the bride and groom and brought the house down. They never had kids. Thankfully.



Jerry Maguire (1996)

The couple: Jerry Maguire and Dorothy Boyd

The courtship: Strong-willed secretary believes in high-powered sports agent, and teaches him to believe in himself.

Where we left them: He had her at hello.

What happened after the movie ended: They got married and had two kids, but there was always a divisive undercurrent between his high-profile career and her desire for a low-key home life. He spent a lot of time in the office and on the road, leaving her at home with the kids, which was fine until she caught him with another woman.

The first time it happened, she forgave him. The second time, she’d had enough. He was never a day late with his alimony or child support. She dropped out of the dating game and spent a lot of time with good books and warm baths.



Notting Hill (1999)

The couple: Anna Scott and William Thacker

The courtship: Glamorous movie star and humble storekeeper try to make love work despite their different lifestyles and the prying eyes of the tabloids.

Where we left them: They’re married. She’s pregnant.

What happened after the movie ended: No one gave them a chance. The press joked about their whirlwind romance, and bookies took bets on how long it would last (5-to-1 odds on "less than a year"). But Anna and William surprised them all.

He was perfectly content to be "Mr. Anna Scott," and she loved the way he made her laugh. When she won her Oscar, she concluded her speech by saying, "I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, thanking him for loving her." He smiled and blew her a kiss from the audience. With their twins sitting on his lap.



Moonstruck (1987)

The couple: Loretta Castorini and Ronny Cammareri

The courtship: He never had good luck when it comes to love, but unlike his brother, he had the courage to marry this star-crossed woman.

Where we left them: Newly engaged and welcoming his brother into the extended family.

What happened after the movie ended: They were made for each other. Both had spent years in self-imposed romantic exile, but once they found each other they made up for lost time. They got married very quickly – small ceremony, big reception – and spent the next few decades making love like mad weasels.

Loretta gave birth to their only child, a son, when she was 45 years old. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at the Met, watching him sing Rodolfo in La Boheme.



Footloose (1984)

The couple: Ren McAlister and Ariel Moore

The courtship: Rebel outsider wins over the minister’s daughter with his high spirit and his smooth dance moves.

Where we left them: At the prom, kickin’ off their Sunday shoes.

What happened after the movie ended: Ariel always liked the bad boys, and once her father came to accept Ren, she found him far less thrilling. After high school, Ren headed back to Chicago and never returned to Beaumont.

Ariel went through a few more boyfriends before splitting the scene for California with a heavy metal drummer she met at a concert in Tulsa. At age 27, she lied about her age and was featured in Playboy as October’s Playmate of the Month. She used her real name, which really ticked off her father. Ren bought a copy and kept it for posterity.



Good Will Hunting (1997)

The couple: Will Hunting and Skylar

The courtship: A troubled math genius, with the help of a conscientious therapist, finally works up the nerve to pursue true love.

Where we left them: She’s headed for Stanford, but he’s hitting the road to go see about the girl.

What happened after the movie ended: He caught up with her and they reunited in Palo Alto. He enrolled at Stanford and things were good for a while. But in the end, he still wasn’t ready to commit. He’d made big strides, but "It’s not your fault" and the love of a good woman can’t cure a lifetime of pain and denial. The combination of college life and a committed relationship made him claustrophobic, so one day he just took off.

She saw it coming, but it still broke her heart. Again. She never married. Will never again had contact with Skylar or his friends in South Boston – but when the Red Sox won the World Series, he sent a postcard to Chuckie that simply read, "Yeah!!!!" Every few years he sent long, introspective letters to Dr. Maguire. With no return address.



How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

The couple: Stella Payne and Winston Shakespeare

The courtship: May-December, but with a gender reversal – fortysomething female stockbroker recharges her romantic batteries with a young stud in Jamaica.

Where we left them: On second thought, yes, she will marry him.

What happened after the movie ended: Their marriage lasted seven years, but then he shocked her one day with news that he was gay. She claimed he lied to her – and kept up the charade for a decade – just to gain citizenship by marrying an American woman. He denied it. The whole thing played out in public, and the divorce was very messy.



An Affair to Remember (1957)

The couple: Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay

The courtship: They were engaged to other people but agreed to meet again in six months. Fate intervened ...

Where we left them: ... but it couldn’t keep them apart. They found each other again.

What happened after the movie ended: These two people knew true love when they saw it. They got married and never looked back. Didn’t have any kids, but their lives are filled with those kids she teaches. In all honesty, they can’t even remember the names of those people they had been engaged to before they met.



Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The couple: Belle and the Prince

The courtship: She loved him for what was inside, and he loved her because – well, heck, who wouldn’t love her?

Where we left them: The spell was broken, and the Beast turned back into a handsome prince.

What happened after the movie ended: You know the drill. Happiness ever after. As they got older, the prince developed a bit of a paunch. He went mostly bald by age 40 and resorted to a really embarrassing comb-over.

Belle aged gracefully, and folks who didn’t know their backstory often wondered why a dish like her didn’t ditch him and get herself a boytoy. But after all they’d been through, he was always a handsome prince to Belle. They had a son. He came out really hairy.

© 2006, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.