“He’s Just Not That Into You,” based on the best selling book and directed by Ken Kwapis, tells the story of making love connections. Girlfriends asked their boyfriends to go see the movie with them, some girls traveled together, and all were thinking about their past boyfriends who might have reminded them of their relationship when being faced with the reality of how to tell if a guy really likes you.
A movie that is point blank about relationships will tell you the flat out truth; that whatever you’re questioning in your relationship shows that “he’s just not into you.”
The movie is scripted, which is different from the book that it is based on. Co-authors Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo helped produce the movie to follow the rules. Meaning, the book was written into categories that would lead to the factor that he or she is just not interested.
One category, if he isn’t dating you. then he’s not interested in being with you. The role-playing in the movie should show viewers that if someone takes an interest in you, they would find a way to date you. If one person does not seem like they want to be in a relationship at first, causal dating is fine, but if they don’t come around and ask you out, then you’re wasting your time in being with them.
Another category is ‘If she isn’t sleeping with you’. well that part of the movie was obvious because one character ended all ties with the other, showing that she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life with him.
‘If he isn’t marrying you..’ is another category. Neil (Ben Affleck) has been dating Beth (Jennifer Aniston) for seven years, with Neil not wanting to get married as he thought people who got married did so because those couples were insecure. Beth thought differently about marriage, wanting the promise from a husband she couldn’t have. Since she couldn’t have him, she decided to leave him.
A similar story, of friends of the last couple, characters gave him an ultimatum. Marry her or they break up, so he felt forced into marriage for the fear of losing her. Both of these couples have problems throughout the movie that they try to work out. For once there was a reality check. Not everything worked out between the couples. One couple was able to work out their problems while the other couldn’t make it happen; but just like real life it proved things could go either way.
Another reality in the film is the portrayal of the “small world” that we live in. The audience saw that all of the characters involved knew people from the story who knew the other people. It’s a concept that the people we know ,and they know would, connect everyone to somehow know each other.
Three of the main woman characters know each other because they work in the same office. Their significant other leads them into the worlds of othercharacters.
Although the movie is more than a chick flick, it involved comedic and dramatic scenes found in chick flicks, but overall, the movie is well balanced. Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein worked on the script together.
Alex (Justin Long) plays the wise character, much like author Behrendt in real life, who gives Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) advice on guys and dating to help her realize whether or not a guy is really interested in you and what he’s really interested in getting. Alex’s character acts as the commentator between the characters and the audience. Gigi is optimistic throughout the movie and Alex is a realist. Gigi gives others and receives excuses herself, for why a guy hasn’t called yet or asked for a second date. Alex tells her that being a guy, he knows what a guy really means when he says something.
This movie is true to life, separating it from all other movies about dating situations. Issues in the movie involved trying to decipher if someone is actually interested in a second date, if a couple should continue to date, and if marriage is an option. Conflicts involved finding the right person to be with, cheating or not cheating on a partner, and ending of relationships.
Mary (Drew Barrymore) could have been Gigi’s twin. Though they never met in the movie, they both were dating to find Mr. Right.
Mary’s love life consisted of what her friends would call “the booty call on myspace.” After telling her this she never went on the second date. Screenwriters added humor to this for the audience to laugh it off. including one date Mary had who called her by the wrong name to show he is dating around.
Constantly checking for voicemails or missed calls or even sitting. Staring at the phone, waitng for him to call was seen all too much in the movie. Some people do this, but it seemed over the top in the movie. Does anyone really sit in front of his or her house phone for hours waiting for it to ring? Or check their voicemails from their cell phones when it does not indicate having a voicemail?
Gigi was always checking for missed calls, staying in on Friday nights hoping her date would call again. Alex had to tell her that she was being rejected and to move on. Gigi thought that she would be alone forever if she realized the guys she talked to were really not into her. This is a common fear for people to think they will never find their true love.
The movie wraps up showing which characters made it in the end, either together, with someone new, or alone. This movie is entertaining, both in humor and in education for dating. But reading the book will also give true pointers if one finds themselves wondering, “are they into me?”
Ginger Rae Dunbar is a second-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at RD655287@wcupa.edu.