BOTTOM
LINE: Despite an
all-star cast and a strong premise, “He’s Just Not That
Into You” has too many characters and stories to fit in to
its 2-hour running time, allowing only for good thematic punctuation
rather than well-rounded characterisation and story-telling.
THE GOOD:
The previews for this film gave off the impression of
yet another generic romantic comedy but it was a pleasant surprise
to discover that this film is not another tirade of boy meets girl
and everyone lives happily ever after. “He’s Just Not
That Into You” lays the more realistic theme on the table
that there are no rules in the dating world, and every individual
and/or couple will end up creating their own story. Through the
all-star cast we are treated to how this theme plays out as each
of the characters tries to rationalise what is going in with their
interactions with the opposite sex, not realising that the apparent
certainty in the “rules” is all a bad ruse that exists
solely to comfort people when they should be just following their
instincts. The best story line in the film belongs to Gigi (Ginnifer
Goodwin) and Alex (Justin Long). In this unlikely scenario, Gigi
gets dating advice from Alex in a number of humorous exchanges,
before an unexpected relationship develops between them. The love
triangle story of Janine (Jennifer Connolly), Ben (Bradley Cooper)
and Anna (Scarlet Johansson) is perhaps the strongest thematically,
particularly with the character of Ben; as played by Bradley Cooper,
he is a spineless liar who plays himself as a victim of his situation,
thereby putting Janine and Anna through hell before deservedly ending
up alone and pathetic. The story of Beth (Jennifer Aniston) and
Neil (Ben Affleck) is good, exploring the territory of what marriage
means to both a man and a woman. All in all, the film covers a lot
of ground and scenarios in the dating/relationship world that should
resonate with the wider audience.
THE
BAD: The main issue lies
in the fact that there are too many characters and stories. As a result,
each character and story is not given enough time to develop, leaving
only broad sweeping generalisations in their wake. Each story has
its own point, but in the end, that’s all it is; a dramatic
point without any exploration or depth. Cutting out two of the storylines
and focusing on the better ones would have made this a very strong
film, particularly as the cast do an excellent job of navigating the
awkwardness and humour of each scene. The Mary (Drew Barrymore) sequences,
although good in highlighting how technology is a factor in relationship
communication these days, are by and large superfluous, as is anything
to do with Conor (Kevin Connolly), who pines for Anna and in the end
is nicely hooked up with Mary. In the end, “He’s Just
Not That Into You” plays like a relationship handbook containing
a series of great statements, but nothing cohesive.
