Chic Flicks and Reality

I just watched The Holiday. Yeah, that movie with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black. It is no doubt a chic flick. To my own surprise, I actually own this movie. I think it fits somewhere in between Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and American Psycho. Anyway, I had a distinct purpose in watching it. I am trying to convince myself that in fact, that kind of love...chic flick love, can indeed occur in real life.
I started with that movie. I didn't think I was quite ready for The Notebook just yet. See, I'm a cynic. Recently that cold, hard shell has been melting away, but some things happened over Thanksgiving that put those walls right back up. I'm trying to peel them back down again. I have a dear friend who is helping to do that. He's really quite convincing that in fact people, real people not movie characters, do actually love other people with wreckless abandon and passion, and that this love those people share is truly unconditional, that they respect each other, and honor, cherish, protect, uplift, and adore each other as well. I find it hard to believe. He's instilling some hope in me yet though and chipping away at the walls guarding my heart every time he tries to convince me that it's true. He's so sure of it, so positive that this is in fact reality. It's terribly difficult for me to understand. His zeal and certainty are such compelling arguments though. How can I not at least try to believe?