THE STAR-STUDDED He’s Just Not That Into You follows the inter-twining lives of five women and the men they encounter, living together in Baltimore. This bittersweet comedy examines the consequences of women misreading the ‘signs’ from the opposite sex, and of the abuses of trust in a relationship.
The story begins with the desperate Gigi, (Ginnifer Goodwin), always unlucky in love, and, slightly mad. Her numerous failed attempts at finding a man leads her into the path of club-owner Alex (Justin Long). Gigi intrigues Alex, and he begins to give her advice on dating, telling her when to run and saving her from the pain of waiting for a call that will never come. Then there is the beautiful singer, Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Able to string men along as she pleases, she uses Conor (Kevin Connelly) until she becomes bored and moves onto married-man Ben (Bradley Cooper). She succeeds in seducing him, and they begin an affair that destroys his marriage with his long-suffering wife Janine (Jennifer Connolly). Ben’s best friend Neil (Ben Affleck) has managed to avoid marrying his long-term girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Anniston) for five years. However, as she becomes more frustrated with his lack of commitment, she throws him out, consigning them both to a loneliness neither wants. The fifth strand of the tale follows Mary (Drew Barrymore), best friend of Anna and looking for love in the wrong places. Her ideals of being able to strike up a relationship on Myspace are naïve yet charming, and probably quite relevant now that everything you could want to have with a person can be done without having to meet them.
The film’s structure takes one aspect of the relationships within it, and then tries to answer the questions posed, such as ‘If he is not sleeping with you…’ or ‘If he is sleeping with someone else…’ close to the reality.
The film is quite enjoyable, and many of the characters succeed in finding the ‘one’ for them after so long a search. However, there is no happy-ever-after for some of these hapless characters, allowing the film to end on a sour note and a reminder of the fragility of love. The audience is left without the closure that is expected of such a film, and it forces us to question whether or not we ourselves can ever be the ‘exception’ in love, or if we are the ‘rule’, destined for unhappiness despite our best efforts.
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