He's Just Not That Into You

• Genre : Comedy, Drama, Romance...
  
• Running time : 129 min.
• Director : Ken Kwapis
  
• Studio : Flower Films
  
• Writers : Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein
  
• Cast : Ginnifer Goodwin, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Long..
  

Is it the feel-bad movie of the year? Although it's disguised as a Valentine's Day chick flick, and the advertising tries to convince guys that it isn't filled exclusively with mushy stuff, it's certainly not fun-loving. Exposing, analyzing and patronizing complex relationships, He's Just Not That Into You is a startlingly relatable film that alternates between reasonably entertaining and "drudging up bad memories." It's more sophisticated than you might think and the humor, which is fairly consistent, doesn't resort to raunchiness. The dating crowd will want to take note, however, that this isn't the type of movie you want to watch with your significant other, as you'll both probably leave feeling guilty, paranoid, overly inquisitive, or all three.

The film follows several relationships, each one originally independent of the other, until they all seem to collide at the conclusion. Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) assumes the stereotype of the pathetic, desperate girl, who obsessively waits for her many dates to call her back. She resorts to begging, stalking, and other degrading acts to win the attentions of multiple guys, each one shrugging her off. Alex (Justin Long), a friendly and experienced bar manager, steps in to give Gigi a few pointers on her depressing failure with the opposite sex. Relying too heavily on his advice and his playful concern, she starts to think Alex is interested in her, leading to even more angst. Their story is the most interesting, considering Alex's often eye-opening advice and the humor in Gigi's failings.



Ben (Bradley Cooper) was rushed into marriage with his wife Janine (Jennifer Connelly) and resultantly falls for the sensual flirtations of Anna (Scarlett Johansson). After a quick seduction, Ben realizes he's destroying the relationship with his wife, but Anna is fixed on the idea that Ben could be her true love. Meanwhile, Conor (Kevin Connolly) is wondering why Anna, who is his current girlfriend, won't sleep with him. This section of the film is the most serious, with tragic and emotional twists at every turn.

Neil (Ben Affleck) and Beth (Jennifer Aniston) have been happily in love for seven years, but when her younger sister announces wedding plans, Beth begins to question why she hasn't been proposed to. Neil doesn't believe in marriage, but Beth feels it's a necessity - leading to doubts, heartbreak and the most unlikely segment of the film.

There are an additional few love stories thrown in, each involving several of the characters from the major three plot lines. Perhaps the most inspiring piece of He's Just Not That Into You is the storytelling approach, which carefully intertwines almost every single character - by the end of the film, it's really just one complex story. The problem is that a series of serious relationships that are falling apart, getting glued back together, or never having a chance to develop, is occasionally not varied enough to keep audiences amused.



The large and recognizable cast is delightful to see, introducing a new familiar face every ten minutes, and the humor is universal and doesn't resort to cheap yucks. The film puts on display every single stereotype, mold, rule, exception, and dilemma of relationships; some are predictable while others are surprising, but the whole spectrum is present. Told chiefly from a woman's perspective (guys are terrible and dishonest most of the time, although at certain points the men get their more unbiased viewpoint portrayed) He's Just Not That Into You is likely to rub a great many people the wrong way. It's not a date movie by any means, but it's also not as unintelligent as it appears.

Now, from the tone of the last part of that sentence you may well have come to the conclusion that this is just another standard romantic comedy chick-flick, and, on paper, it should be. But it's not. The script is very similar in tone and feel to "When Harry met Sally" with "supposed" regular people introducing each chapter of the film, the insights are decent and the dialogue contains a lot of honesty that I think many people can relate to. The cast are all first rate with special attention going to Ben Affleck, who has so needed a good role in front of the camera for ages, and Jennifer Aniston as the couple who can't move forward, also good are Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Connolly in their respective roles. The big star turns for me though are Ginnifer Goodwin and Justin Long as the hapless dater and the hapless dating coach, who are really good. For Long it's another step up the Hollywood ranks (pretty much the direction he's been heading since "Dodgeball") and for Goodwin it is a star-making turn that should do for her what "knocked-up" did for Heigl.



What makes this film stand out above others, however, is its exploration into the minds of men, women and their relationships that is on par with the 1989 comedy "When Harry Met Sally." It shows a reality of how each tries to dissect what the other is trying to communicate - what the guy means when he says "it was nice to meet you" after the date, for example. Ladies, how many times have you sat around with your friends going over every single detail to figure out how a guy feels about you? Gentlemen, how many times have you been perplexed by the actions of the opposite sex? This film seems to understand and laugh at your pain the same way your best friend might over drinks.

The actors play their parts well, giving them a personality that's realistically flawed and charming. The character Gigi, for example, is that one over-analyzing, guy-crazy, slightly pathetic friend most people know. Goodwin gives her character just the right amount of sweetness for us to still enjoy her even though she makes embarrassing mistakes and has slight stalker-like tendencies.

But the very qualities that keep this from being a great movie, it's lack of depth and failure to be witty, make it valid and honest as a look at dating and relationship-forming and save it from the utter mediocrity or bad taste it could have fallen into. Jane Austen or even 'Sex and the City' it's not. But it's also not an endless self-centered monologue but a sensible guide to wising up.



Boring elements are the obligatory, but unnecessary, glossy American-movie wedding, complete with boorish speech by a relative. The picture steers clear of even more boring specifics of nowhere dates except for a man, appropriately appearing at that wedding, who attempts to woo poor Gigi by lecturing her on his career as a male witch.

This film is a great date movie. It is funny enough for guys to laugh at, and has an "aww" factor most girls enjoy.And if nothing else, you'll learn a little something.

My Rating

He's Just Not That Into You : 6/10