I’m not a big fan of lengthy movies. So when I found out that ‘He’s Just Not That Into You” ran two hours and nine minutes, I became less excited about seeing it. However, it didn’t feel that long to me, so that’s a good sign.
The movie is based on the self-help book ‘He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys,” by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, who were writers for ‘Sex and the City.”
I read the book before watching the film to get an idea of what the movie was going to be about.
The basic concept is this: If a guy is not calling you, not asking you out, sleeping with someone else, breaking up with you, disappearing on you, already married or does not want to marry you, then he’s just not that into you. There are no excuses. End of story.
The movie features nine main characters, played by Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson and Justin Long.
There are four storylines in the movie. Gigi (Goodwin) just wants a guy to call her when he says he will. After a first date with Conor (Connolly), Gigi waits by her phone for days, hoping that he’ll call. When she meets Conor’s friend, Alex (Long), he tells her to move on because Conor has no interest in seeing her again. Despite all the excuses Gigi comes up with (he lost her number, he’s out of town, he got hit by a cab, his grandma died), Alex explains that if a guy doesn’t call you, that means he doesn’t want to call you.
Meanwhile, Conor is trying to figure out his ‘relationship” with Anna (Johansson), who is seeing Ben (Cooper). However, Ben is married to Janine, played by Connelly, who gives a great performance throughout the film, both as Ben’s controlling wife and as Gigi’s friend. The movie keeps you guessing as to who’s going to end up with whom.
Beth (Aniston) and Neil (Affleck) have been together for over seven years but are still unmarried. Their relationship is tested when Beth confronts him about her wish to tie the knot. One of her sisters tries to comfort her by saying it’s OK not to get married (‘Look at Al Pacino never been married, happy as a clam”).
Mary (Barrymore) seems to have trouble meeting the right guy online. At first, she is excited when a guy asks her out on MySpace but finds out from her friends that MySpace is ‘the new booty call.”
Then, after a successful cyber coffee date with a singer, the guy calls and leaves her a message by singing her name.
But then he calls again and leaves another message, this time singing another girl’s name before realizing he had the wrong number.
Overall, ‘He’s Just Not That Into You” was predictable with only a few laughs but nontheless enjoyable. My favorite character was Gigi, who remained hopeful throughout the movie, despite doing some silly things.
I’m also glad that Goodwin was chosen to play Gigi, because she’s very right for the role. Although she played Johnny Cash’s first wife in 2005’s ‘Walk the Line,” this is definitely her breakthrough performance.
The only disappointment was that Barrymore didn’t have that many scenes in the movie. Besides the two mentioned before, she also discusses what it’s like to get rejected by seven different technologies with Johansson’s character, in addition to a couple other short scenes.
Given Barrymore’s comedic talent, I think her character’s storyline could’ve been much more developed.
And guys, I know this is a chick flick, but don’t be scared if your girlfriend wants to drag you along to see this movie on Valentine’s Day. Even if you end up not liking it, at least you got to see Scarlett Johansson in her bra.
Weng is a member of
the class of 2011.
