WATERLOO - Business always picks up at local movie theaters on Feb. 14, and Cedar Valley cinema managers are expecting packed houses again tonight.

Every year, like clockwork, couples young and old stream into Crossroads 12 Theatre in Waterloo, College Square Cinema in Cedar Falls and Waverly Palace Theatre to celebrate Valentine's Day. Along with roses and chocolate, a trip to a romantic movie has become one of the holiday's hallmarks.

"People feel that they need to have a date on that night," said Crossroads manager Chad Souder. "And there's no better date than going to a movie."

Popular choices this year will likely be "27 Dresses," the story of a perennial bridesmaid starring Katherine Heigl, and this weekend's box office leader "Fool's Gold." In that movie, an estranged couple, played by Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, search for lost treasure. Opening tonight is "Definitely, Maybe," in which a 10-year-old girl (played by Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine") presses her just-about-to-be divorced dad to tell her how he fell in love with her mother.

"It's one of those days when the guys put aside some of their personal stuff and will go to the romantic comedies with their wives or their girlfriends," said Bruce Stotser, owner of the Waverly Palace Theatre. "Cinema has a lot of competition from other formats like DVDs and TiVo and satellite and pirating, but Valentine's Day is one of those times that you can still see that people like to go to the movies, if they can fit it into their hectic lifestyles."

Some couples may choose to head for the cinema on Valentine's Day because it reminds them of their early days as pair, said Grant Tracey, a University of Northern Iowa English professor and film buff.

"They are great for a first or second date, so when Valentine's Day rolls around people tend to go back to those traditions or activities that they started early on in their relationship," he said. "And there are always enough romantic comedies to go around."

The genre is especially popular with women because the films' plots often revolve around the female lead making a choice or inverting traditional gender roles, said the instructor, who likes romantic flicks like "The Apartment," "Broken English," "Just Like Heaven," "Annie Hall" and "When Harry Met Sally."

And watching romantic comedies can be comforting, Tracey said, noting "there's something secure and safe in the notion of a happy ending."

"Going to a romantic comedy is kind of like going to a wedding," he said. "It affirms something for the couples who are there."

Mary Stegmeir at (319) 291-1482 or mary.stegmeir@wcfcourier.com.