If you’re a dude, you may end up getting dragged to see He’s Just Not That Into You. Odds are it won’t be that high on many guys’ lists this week, with Push for the action junkies and Coraline for anyone who grew up with The Nightmare Before Christmas clamshell on their VHS shelf. But that’s not to say Into You isn’t worthy of your time – in fact, it’s fairly great if all you’re looking for is a story about people. While going well beyond the two-hour mark may put off a good portion of the audience, it’s not quite the sprawling relationship epic that Sex and the City: The Movie was. And it does tell a comparably enchanting saga.
Gigi’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) looking for companionship. Her co-worker and best friend Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is married to Ben (Bradley Cooper), who’s considering an affair with Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Anna’s friends with Mary (Drew Barrymore), and Ben is also friends with Neil (Ben Affleck), whose long-term relationship with Beth (Jennifer Aniston) is hitting a roadblock. Meanwhile, Gigi is wondering when her date from the other night, Conor (Kevin Connolly) is going to call her back, and gets a lesson about dymanics [my word] from his roommate Alex (Justin Long). From there, things get complicated.
The film is really funny at parts, but mostly quite sad. Gigi’s and Beth’s stories especially are fraught with silent, unspoken loneliness. And no one character gets to go a very long stretch without getting the cold backhand of reality across their gullible faces. Screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein haven’t written a feature screenplay since 1999’s Never Been Kissed, but here they adapt Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s novel into a not-overlong flick that’s thoroughly enjoyable, if sincerely depressing at parts. Scenes of Gigi incessantly checking her phone are played for laughs, but never lose sight of the inherent pathos in the situation, and never fail to make the laughs nervous instead of hearty.
I will say that the crowd seemed very much divided on this one. The two girls behind me were completely split, one cheering and laughing the whole way through, one instructing her friend to get her outta there as soon as it was over. Both, though, were making ample comments throughout, ranging from the hilarious to the more hilarious. In one pivotal scene with Jennifer Connolly, they went from “Bitch is crazy,” to “Oh no! That jerk!” in the span of about 20 seconds. The conclusion of one of the stories also marked the first time in a while that an entire audience has cheered for a kiss, even though immediately after it they still seemed to be split on liking the movie.
The last film by director Ken Kwapis we reviewed, License to Wed, didn’t fare so hot. I think my fellow writer Arya Ponto gave it a 2 or 3 out of 10. But I’d definitely say the direction of the actors here was spot-on. More than that, the lighting design was really stellar for a movie like this, with great shadows and occasionally angelic backlighting. Hey, the movie probably isn’t something I’d see again, but you could do a lot worse. It’s not quite the masterpiece that Kwapis’ Dunston Checks In was, but what could be?
"He's Just Not That Into You" opens February 6, 2009 and is rated PG13. Comedy, Romance. Directed by Ken Kwapis. Written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (Screenplay), Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (Novel). Starring Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Drew Barrymore, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson.
