Movie Review: He's Just Not That Into You

For those who don't know about this movie, it's actually based on an expression that was first used in a Sex and the City episode. Carrie's then boyfriend Berger (my least favorite of any of the men she dated) listened to Carrie and Miranda going through a complicated justification of why a guy had not called Miranda after the first date. Berger's simple solution - he's just not that into you. And so it went from there.

The movie, written by the same Sex and the City writer who coined the phrase and wrote the book, follows the lives of a group of interconnected attractive people living in Baltimore. I chose this as our Valentine's movie date because a romantic comedy seemed the thing and Mike would have run screaming after the first ten minutes of Confessions of a Shopaholic. He refuses to see all movies where a major subplot revolves around shoes.

Overall, I found the movie interesting, it certainly held my attention and got a few chuckles and a few oh no's from me as well. Mike pointed out afterwards that to him the whole movie was just one long incredibly awkward moment. I can see his point - when the women in this movie interact with the men in their lives more often than not it was something painful. At least until the last 20-30 minutes in which everything was wrapped up to a degree.

For me the movie raised some questions - why did Jennifer Aniston seem so surprised that Ben Affleck, a professed skeptic and non believer in marriage, didn't want to marry her? But then I've known many women in the same situation. There is always that hope that maybe he'll change his mind, sometime. And why was Jennifer Connelly so obsessed with her husband's possible smoking when she really needed to be concerned that he was sneaking around behind her back with Scarlett Johanssen. And how did Scarlett Johanssen and Drew Barrymore come to the conclusion that it is ok to go after a married man and try and destroy his marriage? You had to wonder about things like that.

However, I'm not panning this movie - I don't think it was worth $10 each - I would have been a bit more satisfied if it had been a matinee - but I did enjoy watching all the pretty people and the movie does have some funny moments. And while much of it seemed absurd and over exaggerated, much of it rung true for me. I've had too many friendswho have angsted over guys who are just not that into us and dealt with predatory women pursuing the men they were with. So the happy endings, though a bit contrived, did actually make me happy.