SNMR 7.22: "He's Just Not That Into You"

February is supposedly the month of love: where red, pink and white are the colors du jour for the month. That being the case, this month's SNMR reviews will showcase films that have love and relationships as the theme. However, they are not all rosy and fluffy because I am still depressingly single.

GREEN'S "YOU MAY BE THE BEST FRIEND I'VE EVER HAD" REVIEW:

This is the story of the relationship successes and failures of five women and four men who are all tied together in some fashion.

First we have the story's anchor and sometimes narrator, Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) who is a hopeful romantic, always falling for the wrong guy thinking he may be the one. Then there's Ben (Bradley Cooper), who is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly) who works with Gigi and Beth (Jennifer Aniston).

Beth and Neil (Ben Affleck) have been living together for 7 years, yet Neil refuses to get married, which Beth not so secretly wants. Then there's Anna (Scarlett Johansson), a free spirited yoga instructor and struggling singer, who falls for Ben but is being pursued by Conor (Kevin Connolly), a real estate agent who is attracted to Anna, and friend of Alex (Justin Long) the bar owner/manager who gives sage advice about men to Gigi.

Finally, there's Mary (Drew Barrymore), who sells advertising for a small newspaper and a friend of Anna's, who keeps getting rejected in her pursuit of an online relationship that she hopes will become something more.

Confused? Good, you're supposed to be. Because relationships, interpreting signs and body language from the opposite sex is confusing and frustrating but can be oh, so rewarding if you get it right.

The screenplay is based on the book of the same name, by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo, which was inspired by a 2003 episode of Sex and the City and was adapted well. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out a year ago today.

I also bought and read the book, an easy read which I found interesting because I wanted to see what crap men pull that women fall for to see how much of it can be reversed, since reading signs and body language is equally confusing for men trying to understand women. As I suspected, most of the stuff men do can be easily be done to a man. It's a two way street wide enough for an ox cart to turn around in.

This ensemble cast of stars is excellent and blend well together. No one seems to mind not having center stage. For example, Jennifer Connelly's combined screen time is 25 minutes and Jennifer Aniston's is only 20 minutes in a film that is over two hours long (thanks IMDb for that info.)

Ken Kwapis has only directed a handful of feature films; most of his directing experience comes from various television shows. With good material and a talented cast, Kwapis has no difficulty keeping all of the stories relevant.

What I liked about the film is the ode to the king of modern romantic comedies, When Harry Met Sally and the scene from Some Kind of Wonderful, a quirky but charming r/c in its own right. But what I liked best is that not every character arc ends positively, much like real life romantic relationships, but leaves you satisfied none the less.

I would have liked to see a separate widescreen/full screen release of the DVD, but is not the case here, as both formats are included, one on each side of the disc. Aside from some additional scenes with optional director comentary, there are no special features, which is rather disappointing, not even a movie trailer.

Despite that, this is an excellent film which any r/c fan should enjoy.

**** out of *****

he's just not that into you" (2009, PG-13, 129 minutes), starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Kris Kristoferson and Justin Long. Based on the book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo. Screenplay by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. Directed by Ken Kwapis.