He's Just Not That Into You

He’s Just Not That Into You is an odd movie for me. I love it, and yet there are things about the film I dislike. For instance, any scene with Anna & Ben I skip through on DVD, and I cannot watch half of the scenes with Gigi without being embarrassed.

I think what it comes down to is not that I dislike the film, but it’s actually well enough made that certain things the characters do actually activate parts of my personality. For the storyline between Anna & Ben that means the fact that I can’t tolerate people that cheat on their significant others gets kicked in and I can’t stand to watch their scenes – it literally makes me mad at Ben that he would cheat on his wife, and upset at Anna that she would be okay with taking a married man away from his wife.

The case of Gigi isn’t as severe. What resonates with me about Gigi, is that though she is much bolder than I there are parts of her character that I see so clearly in my personality that I literally become embarrassed for her. While I can watch all of her scenes, I literally become emotionally tense as she goes through situations with men. When she finally hits on Alex after the party I usually talk to the screen and tell her just to “leave!” – of course I know she won’t listen, but I swear to you my brain just wants her to avoid embarrassment.

You’d think as He’s Just Not That Into You isn’t really a relaxing film for me to watch, I wouldn’t enjoy it enough to watch a lot. Truth is, I do love watching it. I think it’s a well made film, and there are parts of the film that don’t make me embarrassed or upset. I think one of the best, most heartfelt stories about love is in the film between Beth & Neil. Theirs is a story line I would actually watch more of, but their place in the film helps to round out everything else that may make the film an “interactive” home viewing experience for me.

What can I say, this is one “chick flick” that I like.

Alex: I dunno... I like you
Gigi: You do?
Alex: Well, yeah, okay, don't start doodling my name on your binder, okay.

He's Just Not That Into You

He's Just Not That Into You Ads
Originally uploaded by drewsevolution

I just realized that Ken Kwapis harkens all the way back to my childhood; he directed one of my favorite movies as a child - Follow That Bird. That’s right he made the movie about Big Bird running away from home and being brought back to Sesame Street when he missed his friends. I know it’s dorky but that makes me love Ken Kwapis just a little bit.

He’s Just Not That Into You is arguably Kwapis’s biggest film to date and probably the one that will bring him a great deal of romantic comedies in the future. In the hands of a less through director the interwoven romantic tales of a large group of friends would be unwieldy and feel every minute of its over two hours in length, but through the strength of the script, and talent of the cast and director the film does not feel laborious as it should. Instead, it feels real, funny and relatable.

It is my personal opinion that He’s Just Not That Into You will be remembered as time moves on mainly because of its cast. The film has some of today’s biggest stars with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson as well as containing fast rising stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Bradley Cooper and Justin Long. This cast is going to go far and most of them will probably be looked back on as the great stars of this era the way we look at Clark gable, Vivian Leigh, Mae West, and Rock Hudson. Their names will be remembered.

A nice thing about seeing He’s Just Not That Into You for the second time was that I was no longer shocked and embarrassed for Ginnifer Goodwin’s character. Her situations were not as uncomfortable for me this time around!

Gigi: So what now I'm just supposed to turn from every guy who doesn't like me?
Alex: Uh. Yeah!
Gigi: There's not gonna be anybody left.

He's Just Not That Into You

When I heard that the non-fiction, self-help book He’s Just Not That Into You was being made into a movie I rolled my eyes. I totally didn’t understand why that would happen or how it could make a good film. However, now that I’ve seen He’s Just Not That Into You I do have to say that I found the film to be thoroughly enjoyable.

For anyone that’s been living in a cave for the past 5+ years He’s Just Not That Into You is the book that dispels all the romantic mythos that we girls hang onto so tightly, the signals we look for if a guy likes us, the reasons he might not be calling, etc.; the book gives the simple answer – if the guy is not pursing you, he’s just not into you.

To translate this into a movie the screenwriter centers on about 10 characters, all going through various parts and kinds of relationships: Gigi is the single and mingling one who dissects everything from the opposite sex, Connor is hopelessly into Anna, Anna is the hottie who convinces herself the married man will fall for her but dangles the other men in her life on a string, Ben married his college sweetheart Janine but didn’t want to and is trying to find a way out, Alex is the restaurant manager who has shut himself off to the opposite sex thinking he has the game figured out, Neil is the good guy in a committed relationship to Beth but can’t stand the thought of marriage, Beth is the successful working woman who loves Neil but wants a proposal, and Janine senses her marriage is going badly but is distracting herself in every way possible. By using these characters the screenwriter tangles together a complex web of relationships that touches on just about everything under the spectrum of love and life and somehow each and every character manages to undergo a gentle and important arch.

My hat goes off to Ken Kwapis for managing to take such a complex story with a myriad of characters and make it not just into an intelligible movie but an entertaining and charming one. I honestly think that He’s Just Not That Into You is the movie that they were trying to make when Someone Like You was made but He’s Just Not That Into You is infinitely better. I also really enjoyed the transitional device in the film of the “interviews” and titles; it was reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally and worked very well.

One of the best things about this film is the cast. This film has an enormous amount of talent in it and is one of the best ensembles I’ve seen in a very long time.

Director: Ken Kwapis
Writers: Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein
Gigi: Ginnifer Goodwin
Connor: Kevin Connolly
Anna: Scarlett Johansson
Ben: Bradley Cooper
Alex: Justin Long
Neil: Ben Affleck
Beth: Jennifer Aniston
Janine: Jennifer Connelly
Kelli Ann: Busy Philipps
Mary: Drew Barrymore

Gigi: Maybe his grandma died or maybe he lost my number or is out of town or got hit by a cab...
Alex: Or maybe he is not interested in seeing you again.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

TDTESS
Originally uploaded by haley.tittle

Friday I participated in the desire to see Keanu Reeves play an alien in The Day the Earth Stood Still. There is not a whole lot I can say about this film besides the fact that it’s just kind of a movie. The film is not terribly bad, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s just kind of in the middle. All of the pieces are there to make it an entertaining film and yet is just kind of misses the mark and I can’t put my finger on how – it’s just not that compelling.

One thing that truly bothers me is that The Day the earth Stood Still is another in a long line of “save the earth” message movies. For some reason this pro-planet message didn’t bother me as much as usual, it could be because it was clumsily inserted into the film or because I knew going in that the film would be a message movie because the original film is a message movie. What actually bothered me is that the message was changed from the original message. The message in the original film is very obviously anti-war – Klatu comes out at the end of the movie and tells humanity this in a moment straight out of a Greek play; the change in message bothers me because this an anti-war message would still be 100% relevant today.

I was also incredibly disappointed in Gort, but that is a personal thing. Gort kicked ass in the original and half way through this version he disintegrates into metal bugs? I don’t get that choice.

What was good about this remake was Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. While I enjoy the original film Klaatu was a very happy go lucky figure that seemed a bit strange to have in a Cold War setting; in this update Klaatu is very alien and serious, he is an individual that is not part of this world and does not understand the desire to want to be. Reeves may not be the world’s best actor but this is a role that fits him incredibly well and he is the best thing to watch in the film.

The egregious error in this film (besides feeling like a slow version of Independence Day) is the lack of a certain phrase. People familiar with the original will be incredible disappointed that they don’t get to hear Keanu utter the classic line “Klaatu barada nikto.” How do you remake the film without its most memorable line?

All in all I would suggest that you wait for home video on this one. You won’t lose much in the translation.

Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: David Scarpa
Klaatu: Keanu Reeves
Helen Benson: Jennifer Connelly
Regina Jaskcon: Kathy Bates
Jacob Benson: Jaden Smith
Prof. Barnhardt: John Cleese