Review: ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

Melissa:

Oh, ladies… it’s so true! We sit around and feed each other complete nonsense about why   (insert guys’ name here) hasn’t called. “You’re so wonderful! He was probably just intimidated.”, “Maybe he’s really busy.”, “What if he lost your number?”… This movie, like the book, gets straight to the down and dirty of dating. It’s a realistic, straight forward look at dating behaviors and what the “signs” really mean… No more excuses! He’s Just Not That Into You!

The movie follows a group of characters in their 20’s and 30’s as they all try to figure out the relationships in their lives. I’m going to attempt to explain this as best as I can… so hang in there.

Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) has been on one too many dates where they guy just doesn’t call. She can’t quite figure it out, and usually ends up waiting by her phone or driving by the guys hangouts. After her date with Conor (Kevin Connolly) goes ok, but he doesn’t call, she proceeds to do the same… only to meet his best friend Alex (Justin Long). Alex seems to have the whole dating thing down to an art, understands it inside and out, yet continues to date without letting love in. He ends up being the blunt advise about guys that Gigi needs.

Conor, the date who blew off Gigi is actually obsessed with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), but he is not what she needs. She likes how perfect of a guy that he is, but she wants something more. She wants everything that they have, just not with him.

Ben (Bradley Cooper) is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly). She loves him dearly but pressured him into getting married before he was ready. This is where the problems start.

Beth (Jennifer Aniston) and Neil (Ben Affleck) have the perfect relationship. The only problem is that Beth really wants to get married and Neil is against it despite living together and being together for seven years. She now has to decide how important marriage is to her.

Lastly, we have Mary (Drew Barrymore). Mary is completely lost in the dating sea of technology. If a guy myspaces you, is it a date or a booty call. Is a web chat over coffee a date? Between email, social networks, text, voice mail, and home phones, she is just completely clueless.

This movie really does point out all of the awkward, unnecessary confusion about dating and relationships and tells you like it is. One thing that they address is to think of yourself as the rule and not the exception. for example… You go on a date and then he or she doesn’t call you back… answer or rule… He or she is just not into you…Â   The exception would be that your best friends cousin once had a date where the guy didn’t call back for a month and now they are married. Don’t hold on to hope. Just move on.

I think that they did a great job with this film with the exception of the very end. They went for the super/ultra/mega happy ending that just didn’t need to happen. I think that with certain characters they could have just left things alone and it would have meshed better with the message and the story.

I would recommend this to anyone who is an active dater… or even to read the book. It will open your eyes to some pretty ridiculous habits that we all have. Plus, it’s just plain funny!

[overall: 4.25 stars out of 5]