Listen, HJNTIY, We Need to Talk…
If he’s not calling you, sleeping with you, marrying you—or is sleeping with someone else—it could be that he’s just not that into you. It seems like a simple enough guideline. Yet most women wish to be an exception to such rules. That is why so many hopeless romantics will be gathering up their girlfriends with rabid excitement to go see He’s Just Not That Into You, the film based off the self-help dating book of the same name. They shouldn’t.
According to script, we ladies love to have our girl’s nights, which usually include Champagne, group readings of Cosmopolitan, and sharing advice on men. HJNTIY promises all of this in movie form, but all the witty, relatable scenes are easily seen in the previews. Sympathizing with the women in the film turns out to be more depressing than eating a carton of Ben & Jerry’s when home alone on a Friday night.HJNTIY focuses on the intersecting lives of five women and the men they constantly misread. Every time one of them starts to smarten up to the man’s real feelings, their girlfriends ease them back into oblivion by saying that this one time they knew this one girl who ended up falling in love. This distorted view of reality makes many of the characters pathetic in their attempts to understand and snag themselves a man.
Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin of Big Love) sits by the phone all day stalking potential mates. Her desperate, over-the-top need to be loved causes her to pretend she is meeting men for dates and will make you think twice about calling the next guy who gives you his card. Her polar opposite Beth (Jennifer Aniston) has been dating Neil (Ben Affleck) for seven years without a ring. Affleck and Aniston are always playing down-to-earth, puppy dog characters, so it’s no surprise that their chemistry seems real and their scenes of the movie are the sweetest.
It’s hard to relate with many of the characters because, well, there is too many of them. You just can’t get that into them. They each get so little screen time that it’s hard to get to know or understand their many problems. Mary (Drew Barrymore cute as always), has a small part, but reflects the most on women in today’s society. Mary only meets and connects with men through technology like Myspace, videochatting and texting. She complains about how we don’t meet people organically anymore and how being rejected by “seven different technologies” is exhausting. Thankfully she has her gay entourage to give her advice, but don’t worry about their love lives. According to one gay character, it only takes them two or three seconds to understand if someone wants to sleep with them or not.He’s Just Not That Into You doesn’t have a fully rounded enough script for its talented actors, but it’s a cute enough movie with some decent laughs. And don’t worry, single ladies, the end of the movie reminds us that there is still hope in our sad dark lives. Attached? Don’t take your boyfriend to see this film. He might get some ideas, and you don’t want to find out that honestly, he’s just not that into you, either.Hannah Smith
