He's Just Not That Into You

Any movie with a concept this completely chick-flicky won't need a hard sell to the female demographic, so let's briefly ignore that taken for granted segment of potential ticket buyers. Instead, this is directed at guys whose first instinct will be to run in the opposite direction from anything that looks so overtly estrogen-overloaded: Ignore your gut, grab a girl and go!

I know what you're thinking. "I got dragged to Bride Wars last month, and there's no way I'm sitting through another piece of shriek-and-squeal stupidity like that." Fear not, fellow manly man. He's Just Not That Into You is roughly a thousand times better than what anyone with a Y chromosome will expect, thanks to a variety of guilty-pleasure interlocking stories and a great cast. More importantly, there's about a 110 percent chance that any dude who takes a date will get lucky after—if not during—this flick. At a packed-house screening, females en masse were sighing, gasping, "uh-oh"-ing, "awww"-ing, and even cheering the romantic onscreen action. If the object of your desire doesn't get affectionate after two hours of this much four-star foreplay, she definitely isn't into you.

The various vignettes range from sexy to serious to (admittedly) sappy, but not one of them is a dud. A perfectly cast Scarlett Johansson is Bradley Cooper's voluptuously irresistible dream girl, but studly nice-guy Cooper is happily married to remodeling-mad Jennifer Connelly. Johansson is so casually foxy and deliciously horny and sideways-smile seductive that she makes the perfect "forbidden fruit," while Connelly's character has to make a concerted effort to be less rigid and frigid.

Connelly works at an office with fed-up Jennifer Aniston—whose honest-to-a-fault boyfriend Ben Affleck won't commit to marriage—and with the adorably ditzy Ginnifer Goodwin, who naively believes that every man she meets is her Prince Charming. Drew Barrymore, haplessly looking for love online, makes real-estate agent Kevin Connolly think he should play gay to drum up new business. And bartender Justin Long is the He's Just Not Into You book come to life, dispensing common sense tips on how to read relationship signals that the starry-eyed refuse to acknowledge.

But wait, there's more! Chapters of the movie are broken up by talking-to-the-camera bits featuring anecdotes by characters who are not part of the main cast. The funniest of these features Frances Callier and Angela Shelton (a.k.a. the radio duo "Frangela") as a pair of hilariously straight-talking BBW bitching on a bench. Shelton's advice for any woman whose man praises her while making his exit: "Get yourself some ribs and some ice cream, because you have been dumped!"

Considering that the advice bestseller upon which the movie is based has no characters or plot, screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein deserve real kudos for coming up with such a thoroughly enjoyable ensemble piece. They deserve even more credit for not giving all of the stories a happy ending, which gives this rom-com cocktail a bittersweet kick.

One final reason to go, for any males who remain unconvinced: If another guy ends up taking your girl to see this movie, she definitely will be into him…and vice versa, most likely. Got it? Good. Now go!

—James Dawson
02.06.09

Ken Kwapis' adaptation of Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo's best-selling self-help book -He's Just Not That Into You follows the love lives of a dozen or so characters. Ginnifer Goodwin stars as Gigi, a young woman attempting to understand the mixed signals she gets from the men she's dating. She gets advice from a bar owner (Justin Long) who prides himself on understanding the ins and outs of the dating scene. Gigi's co-worker Janine (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself involved in a major redecorating project with her husband, Ben (Bradley Cooper). Unbeknownst to Janine, Ben contemplates an affair with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), an attractive woman trying to make a career as a singer. Another of Gigi's friends at work, Beth (Jennifer Aniston), enjoys a successful, healthy relationship with Neil (Ben Affleck), but storm clouds hover over them as he has no interest in getting married. Kris Kristofferson co-stars as Beth's father. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi