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He’s Just Not That Into You

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Flick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Jacqueline MonahanFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Jacqueline MonahanFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Jacqueline MonahanFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Jacqueline MonahanFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Jacqueline Monahan Judy Thorburn

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He’s Just Not That Into You – Follows The Rules of Dis-engagement

Flick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil

From an early age girls are given mixed messages by the opposite sex. First we are told, by our mothers no less, that if a boy teases or is mean to a girl, it means he likes her. I could never understand how that made any sense.  Then, maturing into adulthood, we females have to deal with trying to correctly read signals from the opposite sex.  There are so many head games and rules of dating to sort through that it is a wonder how men and women ever form a worthwhile love connection.   No surprise there are numerous self help books out there which try to educate women on how to interpret male behavior.

He’s Just Not That Into You is based on one such best selling self help book by Sex and The City writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo who wrote the catch phrase for an episode of the immensely popular HBO series. In adapting the book to screen as a romantic comedy, Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein have come up with interconnected love stories that is supposed to be based on the notion “if he doesn’t call, is not sleeping with you, etc. etc., the simple fact is “He’s just not that into you”.  In other words it takes two that are on the same wavelength to make a relationship work. Any logical person with common sense can figure that out.

Set in Baltimore, the story, which is kept afloat by a terrific star studded ensemble cast, follows the romantic entanglements and relationship pitfalls of a group of attractive, heterosexual people in their twenties or thirties. Jennifer Anniston plays Beth, who has been living with her boyfriend, Neil (Ben Affleck) for seven years. She wants to get married; and he doesn’t. Their relationship, although seemingly perfect, reaches the breaking point when Beth gets the word that her younger sister is about to say I do. Beth’s friend and co-worker Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is in the middle of renovating the townhouse she shares with her husband Ben (Bradley Cooper).  Revealing to his best friend Neil that he was pressured into getting married years ago, Ben is one of those guys who can’t control his urge to cheat when he meets buxom blonde hot chick, Anna (Scarlet Johanssen), a yoga teacher and aspiring singer at the supermarket.  Anna has been dating Connor (Entourage’s Kevin Connolly) a realtor that is more into her than she for him.  Connors roommate is Alex (Justin Long, the Mac guy on commercials), a bar manager who offers hard hitting advice to cute and bubbly Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), who is so desperate for a man, that after consistently misreading their signals comes across as a semi-stalker.  Rounding out the cast is Drew Barrymore (who produced the film) in one of the lesser seen roles as Mary, the advertising manager at a gay oriented newspaper called Blade (how clever!).  Surrounded by crew of gay co-worker/friends, Mary has no time for the bar scene and, like so many modern day singles, spends her free time searching on line for a soul mate through MySpace.   Her part is small, but she has some of the best lines in the film. When frustrated by the lack of communication with potential hookups, she exclaims to a gal pal, “You have to go around several portals of technologies to be rejected in texting, voicemail and MySpace.”  Unfortunately, due to the absence of more personal, face to face interaction these days, that might be the most insightful and true “words of wisdom” to come out of this film.

Outside of the rather awkward physical chemistry between Johanssen and Connelly (she looks like she weighs more than the short, slight built actor) the rest of the cast does an impressive job, although I have a problem believing the adorable, sweet faced Goodwin would have any trouble landing a guy. Kris Kristofferson shows up as Beth’s father, but is wasted in a forgettable role.

There is nothing new to learn about female/male love relationships that experience in the real life dating game won’t reveal. However, female audiences will most likely identify with one or more of the stereotypical characters or see a friend who fits the mold. Most of the male characters mistreat women (save for the ridiculously perfect Neil) and most of the women, as usual, are depicted as incomplete without a man or a ring on her finger to make her whole. Thankfully, in this “Crash” type scenario of interweaving stories, for a few characters there is no fairy tale ending.  That is a pleasant surprise.

There are some genuine moments in this film, but in general don’t be fooled in thinking you will walk away enlightened by anything you haven’t seen before. He’s Just Not Into You explores other issues that lead to dis-engagements that has little to do with whether a guy is into you or not.  What we have here is another romantic comedy that is afraid to commit to the subject at hand, at least wholeheartedly. In turn, although the film is somewhat entertaining, I can’t say I was totally into it, either.

 

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