The movie thing - by which I assume we are talking about asking a stranger we just met out on a date - happens more in the movies than American real life. It's not that it never happens (and the "dating scene" for certain people in certain cities may consist mostly of this) but I think that, overall, most people meet their partners through mutual friends or at work or school. The difference might be that people go out and do "date stuff" before they definitely consider themselves a couple, even if they already know each other a bit.