I’m just not that into this movie
I first heard of the book,
”
He’s Just Not That Into You,
”
when I was a graduate student watching things such as
”
Oprah.
”
One day Greg Behrendt showed up on the show to promote his
book,
”
He’s Just Not That Into You.
”
Behrendt served as a consultant on
”
Sex and the City,
”
and one day when the female screenwriters were listening to a
coworker rehash a date, he bluntly told the girl to forget about
it
–
”
It sounds like he’s just not that into you,
”
Behrendt said.
I’m just not that into this movie
I first heard of the book, “He’s Just Not That Into You,” when I was a graduate student watching things such as “Oprah.” One day Greg Behrendt showed up on the show to promote his book, “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Behrendt served as a consultant on “Sex and the City,” and one day when the female screenwriters were listening to a coworker rehash a date, he bluntly told the girl to forget about it – “It sounds like he’s just not that into you,” Behrendt said.
Eventually, Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo teamed up to write a self-help book that has 11 easy to read signs for women that a guy just isn’t that into her. The signs in the book are all pretty clear – like he’s not that into you if he isn’t asking you out, or he isn’t calling you or he just wants to see you when he’s drunk. A friend and I read the book and had to admit there was something to it.
After all, there was the guy I had a crush on in graduate school who called me four times a week to ask about our homework assignments, e-mailed me daily even though we had all our classes together, but who wore a dirty shirt when we went out to dinner to a nice Italian restaurant. In hindsight, it’s clear. He just wasn’t that into me.
When we first read the book, it was kind of reassuring to think we had this male insight with us now that would help us maneuver through interactions with men. But it turns out, when we are in the midst of developing a new crush, it’s a lot easier to ignore the bad signs than to heed them.
In the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You” director Ken Kwapis tries to bring some of the scenarios from the book to life in a story that connects a group of people living in Baltimore. Three of the characters work together writing copy about nutmeg, and the story spins out from there.
Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) is the single girl in the trio and she has been asking her friends to set her up with anyone they know. She finds herself on a first date with Conor (Kevin Connolly) a real estate broker who helped her friend Janine (Jennifer Connelly) and Janine’s husband Ben (Bradley Cooper) find their home. Though she and Conor have only met once for drinks she becomes obsessed after the date about why he hasn’t called. She won’t talk on the phone in case she misses his call. She takes the phone into the shower with her. She checks the dial tone on her home phone to make sure it is still working.
What Gigi doesn’t know is that Conor is hung up on Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Anna uses Conor to make herself feel better when the married man she is trying to seduce makes her feel bad. Her friend Mary (Drew Barrymore) gives her some bad advice about how the guy could be her soul mate, and she shouldn’t give that up just because he is married to someone else. Mary herself is struggling to find her soul mate, and uses online networking sites to meet men without much success.
In the meantime, Gigi’s coworker Beth (Jennifer Aniston) suddenly realizes that her live-in boyfriend of seven years is never going to marry her. Beth decides to break up with him over it, and then has to deal solo with her youngest sister’s wedding. All the while Ben and Janine struggle with renovating their home, and whether or not they are ready for a child.
Gigi suddenly gets insight into the male psyche when she tries to stalk Conor at his favorite watering hole. Conor isn’t there, but the guy behind the bar, Alex (Justin Long), is happy to tell Gigi that Conor just isn’t that into her. Suddenly Gigi is calling Alex at the restaurant for advice on all things men. When Alex says something sounds like a blow off, Gigi walks away.
The main problem with the movie is that it makes every woman in the movie into a weakling who is willing to bend to the will of whatever man she wants to be with. Beth is willing to compromise her need to be married just because Neil has “philosophical” reasons for being against it. When the wife of Anna’s married man discovers he’s been unfaithful, she blames herself for not having sex with her husband. And every time a guy smiles at Gigi, she starts to imagine what their children might look like. The women never think about what they want from a relationship or in a man. And the men in the movie are just selfish jerks.
The one note that the movie got right is the interactions between girlfriends. No friend of mine has ever told me that a guy I liked was a jerk until he was well out of the picture. My friends and I often rehash first phone calls, e-mails, first dates and other interactions with the guy we have a crush on. It gives us reassurance that maybe with this guy, there is hope.
