(image courtesy of: www.collider.com)
I, along with seemingly every other woman in the US this weekend, saw He's Just Not That Into You. As a part of my bff A's birthday extravaganza weekend, we were hoping with crossed fingers not to be let down. With such high expectations, it was bound to faulter in some way. Of course.
While I'm (as you all know) very anti-spoiler, I will try to review with as little giving detail as possible. I understand that the writers/producers (one of which is the lovely Drew Barrymore) wanted to give the movie a Love Actually feel. A million different storylines that all somehow intertwine. I love movies like this, only, He's Just Not That Into You tries to do too much with too little time. Drew Barrymore's character appeared in so few scenes that I forgot about her character (and its' name) completely. There was an extension of the Scarlett Johannsson (who I loathe as an actress) and Kevin Connolly (who I think is so adorable) storyline that just confused the viewer. This, tied in with the awkward performance by Jennifer Connolly who doesn't play the cheated-on wife convincingly, and the erratic confessional style pieces of random strangers, made He's Just Not That Into You at times, cringeworthy to watch.
That being said. This movie had it's great romantic comedy moments which other recent romantic comedy movies have lacked. Jennifer Aniston was wonderful. She almost too-convincingly played the girl that dreams of getting married to the a guy that is 'morally opposed to marriage.' My only wish was to see more scenes of her storyline. Hand in hand with this, her boyfriend in the movie, Ben Affleck, is like a fine red wine. Better with age. I swear he looks the exact same as he did in Armageddon (circa 1998).
I must admit, I never did read the book version of He's Just Not That Into You. I never really cared if there were rules or exceptions to relationships -- and I still don't, to be quite honest. My suggestion? Go out (or rent!) this for a girls night out or in kind of evening. Don't expect Oscar-worthy performances - but at least Ben Affleck is easy on the eyes. :)
Grade: B.
-M
