He's Just Not That Into You

Based on the self-help book of the same name, He’s Just Not That Into You follows the interconnected love lives of nine Baltimore professionals. Beth (Jennifer Aniston) is in a happy long-term relationship, but starts to question Neil’s (Affleck) commitment as the preparations for her sister’s wedding begin. Her colleague Janine (Jenifer Connolly) is moving into her first home with husband Ben (Bradley Cooper) whose fear of commitment leads to a chance encounter with beautiful musician Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Meanwhile, Anna’s on-off boyfriend Conor (Kevin Connolly) negotiates the dating world, leaving clueless Gigi (Goodwin) to find solace in the bottom of a cocktail glass. Gigi strikes up a relationship with Conor’s roommate Alex (Justin Long) who acts as mentor, helping to navigate her way through the modern dating game with the suggestion that, maybe, “he’s just not that into you”…

The numerous characters, relationships and connections work like individual vignettes punctuated by inserts in the style of chapters from the book, and strung together by the mutual connection with the central character Gigi who espouses the advice of all-knowing bartender Alex. There is an impressive cast on display here from actresses who ordinarily occupy much meatier roles; Jennifer Connolly bears the brunt of the emotional scenes, Scarlett Johansson sashays her way through the hearts of the male cast, and Jenifer Aniston does a good line in long-suffering girlfriend. The sheer number of stars crow-barred into the script leaves some storylines redundant; Drew Barrymore as Mary is criminally under-used, especially given her perfect monologue on the pitfalls of dating in a technological world, yearning for the days when people had one telephone and one answering machine, and a guy had either definitely called you, or he had not. The girls in the audience will be able to identify with the consoling line “You’re just too beautiful and too nice – he’s intimidated by you” or an over-coffee dissection of the first date.

Laura Potter