"What a Girl Wants" has a man and a woman from two different worlds at odds with each other, even though there is great love
between them. Eventually, their differences get the best of them and they split up, at which point we see scenes of them missing each other, set to a trendy pop tune. Then there is an apology and reconciliation in a public setting, and they all live happily ever after. What separates this film from the romantic comedies that use this plot is that "What a Girl Wants" is not a romantic comedy. The woman is a 17-year-old girl, and the man is her long-lost father. I mention this not to creep you out -- it's really only the final moments where the similarities between this and the rom-coms become obvious, and I'm sure no subtextual weirdness was intended -- but to observe how useful the rom-com template is. Here it is being used in a film about a girl looking for her dad, with no romance to be found. Whoever invented that plot formula, kudos! You should be earning royalties on about half the films Hollywood produces.
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