For a friend recovering from surgery. Should be light, maybe chick-flickish, and not require too much brainpower.
Actually, she says she wants “reasonably intelligent”, so not TOO mindless.
The Ten Commandments 
Mindless and fun? Eight Legged Freaks.
Well, it’s a chick flick if she’s into spiders…
The greatest action chick flick of all time…Speed! Scratch that, The Terminator!
Also Star Wars has a pretty solid romance going on.
Um, in a less action movie oriented vein Enchanted is awesome. Sort of a parody of traditional Disney movies and made by Disney. Good stuff.
Independence Day
Laugh at me if you like but I love Blue Crush. Surfing, Hawaii, not too brain dead! Guys with hot back muscles!
I think the film adaptation of Bonfire of the Vanities was actually pretty good. It could have been a lot better and the casting should have been totally different, but contrary to the majority opinion of the film, I think it’s a pretty enjoyable late-80s timecapsule, and the acting/dialog is pretty entertaining all around.
I was very surprised to find I really enjoyed this movie.
The King’s Speech was light and amusing. I’d also recommend any movie based on a Jane Austen book.
A few weeks ago I caught the last half of Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and was reminded of how much fun it was. Not a chick flick, obviously, but adventurous with just enough tongue-in-cheek humor.
Blazing Saddles, Charlie’s Angels, Dodgeball, Easy A, Josie and the Pussycats, No Strings Attached, Not Another Teen Movie, Summer School, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Chances are your friend has already seen it, but a lot of people here (including myself) love the flick Love Actually. Very light but a lot of fun.
Cannery Row
The Cheap Detective
Lots of romance, funny and different.
Princess Bride
Radiers probably isn’t chick flicky enough
Likewise Holy Grail / Life of Brian
Brian
(and so is my wife)
Stardust is a light-hearted, romantic fantasy movie. Lots of humor and fun.
Easy A was much better than I thought it would be.
Hot Tub Time Machine was much better than any movie titled Hot Tub Time Machine deserves to be, though not exactly a chick flick.
Both are available on Netflix Instant Viewer.
Kissing Jessica Stein is a cute story about a Jewish-woman that winds up in a relationship with another woman (a gentile one at that :eek:), but it’s more neurotic than lascivious.
Usual caveats about different tastes etc… but…
Music & Lyrics – worth bonus points I reckon if friend is of an age to have lived through (and ideally enjoyed) 80s music.
Get some Mel Brooks movies – not chick-flicks, but light, lotsa slapstick, just right for a patient in recovery! 
Lars and the Real Girl. MUCH more fun than the description would lead you to believe.
J.