He's Just Not That Into You Review

I’ve never been a fan of the term “chick flick.”

Part of the reason is the fact that I’m generally not into labels that lead to oversimplifications. Let’s be honest here: when most people hear “chick flick” they either think “mindless fluff only a female will enjoy” or “boring romance only a female will enjoy.” Of course, another part of the reason that I don’t like the term is because I actually enjoy my share of so-called “chick flicks” and I try to cling to any shred of manhood I can. (This from the guy who’s been recapping “Project Runway” for three years!)

Anyway, to me a good movie is a good movie. Whether stuff blows up, people break out into song or the guy ends up with the girl, I enjoy a good movie, and I wouldn’t shy from a film because it comes with a label attached.

All that being said, I think I have to call “He’s Just Not That Into You” a chick flick.

The movie is based on Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s best-selling book (which was based on an infamous line from “Sex and the City”, and follows a group of interconnected 20-and-30-something people as they misread romantic signs and fall in and out of relationships in Baltimore. Or at least the part of Baltimore that “The Wire” DIDN’T take place in because I could count the number of people of color in one hand. (I’m actually ok with this — I would’ve been more offended in this characters in this movie had a token “black friend.”)

We have a married couple (Jennifer Connell and Bradley Cooper) where the husband thinks about straying after meeting an aspiring singer (Scarlett Johansson). The same aspiring singer has a backup boyfriend in a frustrated real estate agent (Kevin Connolly). Meanwhile, the woman in a not-married couple (Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck) wonders why her boyfriend doesn’t want to get married. Also, there’s some charming Drew Barrymore shoehorned into the plot (she’s also a producer) to make a not-so-in-depth commentary about how technology has largely reduced human contact.

There’s also shy, insecure Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) and the vaguely douche-y Alex (Justin Long), who gives Gigi advice about men. I suppose you can call Gigi and Alex the “leads” in this ensemble because they’re the only two characters whose names I can remember. (Seriously, I dare you to come up with any other characters’ name without looking it up.)

Of course, this is one of the movie’s minor problems. None of the characters are able to actually resemble real people — they’re more meant to stand in for certain relationship issues. These are highlighted by title cards (“If he doesn’t want to marry you”, “If he’s sleeping with someone else”) and brief amusing confessionals that should’ve been placed at the start of their respective chapters instead of the end. Then again, with this many characters, you can’t realistically expect fully-drawn portraits in a nice two-hour package, and the actors, for the most part, are charming enough to hold our attention.

For what’s being marketed as a fluffy romantic comedy, I actually thought the more serious arcs were the most engaging. I liked the easy chemistry between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston — to me, they actually appeared to be the two characters who genuinely cared for each other. I also thought Kevin Connolly was weirdly effective as the fallback guy, Justin Long made for a charismatic tool, and who knew Jennifer Connolly could be funny? (LOVED the scene where she smashes the mirror.)

Most of the rest of the cast was adequate. Scarlett Johansson was fine, once again being asked to merely play someone who is sexy and flirts with a married man. As for Bradley Cooper, maybe it’s because I’ve seen him play a jerk one too many times, but I just didn’t feel too much suspense in his “will he or won’t he cheat” subplot.

My biggest problem was actually with Gigi, the film’s narrator and it’s supposed heart.

Here’s the deal: I thought that the character was WAY too unconvincingly naïve and pushy. The movie presented Gigi as an overly clueless simpleton (seriously, had she EVER been on a date before? you wouldn't think so from the way she acted like a 12 year old all the time) and that she kinda made women look like gullible idiots. (Though Ginnifer Goodwin’s adorable performance made it more palatable.)

The thing that actually bothered me the most was that the Gigi character existed in and took me out of a romantic comedy that supposedly dealt with relatable issues like fidelity, marriage and mixed messages on dates in a (relatively) realistic way.

In the end, “He’s Just Not Into You” is a mostly-delightful “chick flick” (yeah, I said it) that sprinkles in entertaining bits for everybody. For better or worse, you’ll probably see something you can relate to and that’s usually a fun feeling.

He's Just Not That Into You...B-