Independent Film Reviews

He’s Just Not That Into You

Posted on 05. Jun, 2009 by Sy in New Release DVD, User Submitted

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long, Jennifer Connelly, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, and Bradley Cooper. Directed by Ken Kwapis. Produced by Flower Films, with Barrymore serving as an executive producer.

So – I was feeling sorry for my love life one night, and decided to make it worse and watch a romantic comedy (or, “romcom”, as the hip name-compressing media who brought us gems like “Bennifer” and “Brangelina” has repackaged it). “He’s Just Not That Into You” happened to be recently released on Xbox Live, so I thought, what the hey – they’re all the sip-sappy same, right? Au Contraire! Although HJNTIY was predictable, it wasn’t “traditionally” predictable. That is, not everybody has a traditionally happy ending. As an insighful, amusing romcom, I give it 3.75/5 stars.

The cast is wholesomely good-looking, and Ben Affleck should really be played by Paul Rudd, but the chemistry between he and Jennifer Aniston is pretty funny. Drew Barrymore seems to be playing somebody just because she produced it and not because it’s a good part for her. I do like her but I kinda cringed at this role, to be honest. The outtakes at the end reveal who is good at character improv (cough, Aniston, cough) and who is seriously not (ah-Connelly-choo!). Did I mention Scarlett Johansson gets kinda naked? And plays a yoga instructor (but doesn’t do a single yoga pose in the enitre movie, wtf)?

At the heart of the movie is Gigi, the girl waiting by the phone and utterly hopeless to the ways of men. She is the progeny of the generations of lies women tell themselves (and their girlfriends) about men’s behavior and a genetic defect in reading blatant social cues. Pretty, sweet, and annoyingly desperate, Ginnifer Goodwin is brilliantly convincing as the hopeless friend you simultaneously want to give a good shake and yet somehow keep telling her lies to make her feel better (”I’m sure he just lost your phone number…seriously!”). Her embarrassing trials become the platform for revealing the secrets behind the infamously bad behavior of men and why women put up with it. As we get to know the characters (who, predictably, are all in love with somebody who doesn’t love them back), wise “opposite-sex common sense” is unmasked and gently examined. The movie aims to ask: when we really know WHY somebody is acting the way they are, why do we delude ourselves into believing otherwise, and why do our support networks and culture actually encourage it? The arrived-at answers involve a few pretty good truth nuggets concerning human psychology and people’s secret obsession with their own life-dramas.

Ultimately I thought it was a pretty good reflection of cliched romance woes in today’s western culture, and how cultural norms and societal pressures can make us conform and confuse good behavior, honorable intentions, and what it really means to be happy. Even though the movie appears to embrace the non-threatening route of examining the relationship woes of just women, it actually sneaks in an acurate critique of men’s woes as well, and rounds out with the obligatory comedic-relief nod to gay romance.

Basically – don’t go see this movie on a booty-call date. It will probably make you uncomfortable. Also, do not go see this movie with: somebody you’re about to dump, somebody who’s about to dump you, somebody you’re cheating on or who is cheating on you, an ex, or somebody you really like who’s, well, just not that into you. Everybody else is ok.

User Submitted Review By: Katie McKelley

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