He's Just Not That Into You (2009) - Movie review

Don't you just sometimes want to relax by watching a movie that is not so deep, but entertaining an funny? Even though you may run into some clichées and "I've seen it before" scenes? Well, I do and won't hesitate to see these so called Chick Flicks every now and then.

He's Just Not That Into You falls into this category. The storyline is bubbly and quite entertaining, and the cast is full of well-known actors and actresses. Names like Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly and Scarlet Johansson. Not to mention some new names (at least for me) like Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly and Bradley Cooper.

In this movie there are several parallel stories of singles or couples who are desperately trying to understand each other and read other peoples behavior. This may sound a bit chaotic, and maybe it is, but the cast keeps the story alive and compelling until the very end.

The story begins with the early childhood of Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), when she gets the first clue that men are not that easy to read. Years later she is still struggling to find a perfect match and finds herself always waiting by the phone for THE phone call, from a man who is obviously not that interested. But through a failed date with Connor (Kevin Connolly), she meets Alex (Justin Long), who is able to help her to read the signs men give and she is hoping her love life will get a bit better with his help. And everything goes well until she starts to misread Alex and thinks he's falling for her... Or maybe he is?

Gigi's friend Mary (Drew Barrymore) has her own obstacles when it comes to men and feels that she has been dumbed with every possible gadget that our modern technology offers. But she doesn't want to give up and believes she will find her man, eventually. She just has this problem wanting to share all her love-life details with her "perhaps not so straight" co-workers, which is not always the smartest way to do things.

When a man and a woman decide to be just friends, what do you expect happens...? Ben (Bradley Cooper) and Anna (Scarlett Johansson) run into each other at a local grocery store and sparks fly immediately. Ben tries to hold back and explains that he's happily married with his wife Janine (Jennifer Connolly), but Anna won't give up and persuades him into a relationship, which starts first as a friendship, but you know, who can resist Scarlett? I mean... Anna... ;-)

And what if you have been together for years, let's say seven years, and there is no sign of him to be interested in marrying you? Would you start thinking it's against the nature? Well, at least Beth (Jennifer Aniston) feels this way about his long relationship with his beau Neil (Ben Affleck) who seems to be totally against marriage and Beth can't help but think that maybe this is a bad sign. A sign of something much more serious. A sign that says that he will never marry her and even worse; is not that into you...

And of course ladies love to share their thoughts about all the disturbing details of their relationships and point of views from friends are always highly appreciated. Who else can give you help in these matters than another woman, since they know the best. Don't they?

You can expect to see a lot of new turns and little twists, but don't expect this to be too deep or a life changing experience. Entertaining and funny, but an average movie experience, I would say. And one star goes to the cast, absolutely!

Directed by Ken Kwapis

Written by Abby Kohn, Mark Silverstein
Cast Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlet Johansson, Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper

IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001508/