Everyone loves a happy ending. Any romantic comedy that dared to end without a last-minute dash to the airport would feel like a waste of money. Often the presence of Jennifer Aniston has already made it a waste of money, but believe it or not there are a few romcoms she hasn't appeared in this decade.

Imagine if all those Hollywood endings had been bad. Imagine if Meg Ryan had told Tom Hanks he really shouldn't have bothered flying all the way from Seattle, or if Frodo had died in Mordor and Gollum survived, or if Leonardo had died by sinking into the freezing ocean at the end of Titanic. What? That actually happened? Sorry, I was asleep.

What Hollywood is trying to say with its typical storyline is that everything will be OK in the end. It's a sentiment that doesn't hold much water when heard alongside Hollywood's other life maxims: If you inflate your lips to resemble a defeated boxer you will be beautiful; egg white omelettes are delicious; Lindsay Lohan is 'important'...