I really wanted to not like this movie. The whole premise of a movie based off of a book based off a quote that was said in a TV show shocked me. Have we really come so far that we can’t come up with any new ideas for a movie? However, this movie surprised me. It was funny, touching, and did not overly gag me with a bag of sugar sweet.
In case my opening paragraph went right over your head, let me explain the origins of this movie. During an episode of Sex and City, someone told Miranda (a main character) that a guy she liked was just “not that into you [her].”
Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo apparently found this quote inspiring, so they wrote a self-help book, which they creatively titled “He’s Just Not That into You.”
The book was then taken and adapted into a screenplay by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. Ken Kwapis directed.
The movie follows four main couples who all have some sort of relationship problem stemming from the fact that one of the partners is more into the other.
There’s Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), a girl who is continually ruins her chances with men by obsessing over them to the point of stalking. She likes Connor (Kevin Connolly), and gets relationship advice from Alex (Justin Long), a bartender friend of Connor’s who is busy fending off the advance’s of a bar hostess (Busy Phillips).
Connor is a real estate agent who is really interested in starting a relationship with Anna (Scarlett Johansson).
However, Anna is currently having an affair with Ben (Bradley Cooper), who in turn is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly). Janine works with Beth (Jennifer Aniston), whose boyfriend of seven years (Neil, Ben Affleck) won’t propose.
The plot looks complicated when it’s listed out like that (especially when you consider that Drew Barrymore is also in this movie playing a character that doesn’t really fit in anywhere), but in reality, it was very easy to follow.
The main reason for this is the transitions that were used between each scene. Rather than cut to an unrelated character and confuse the audience, a line from the book is placed up on the screen that relates to the movie (i.e. he’s not calling you) and random people comment on what it says.
What the movie boils down to is this: the actors can actually act and the jokes are actually funny. It’s rare in an all-star cast like this one to have every actor give a spectacular performance. Likewise, it’s always touch and go when it comes to jokes and romantic comedies. There can’t be too many jokes so that the movie strays away from the romantic side of the genre, and there can’t be so few jokes that the audience never laughs.
Alex and Gigi talk at his bar. Photo Courtesy of http://www.imbd.com
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