He’s Just Not That Into You: And Neither Are We
The phrase, the book, and the movie are all well past their amuse-by date.
There are a lot of smiles on the poster for He’s Just Not That Into You. I count seven grins plus a smirk, all for a movie about … rejection? Why not make an airy romantic comedy called You’ve Got Melanoma or When Harry Met Misery?
A catchphrase can go surprisingly far in American life. This one went too far a couple of years ago, and it just kept going. But where’s the beef? The line was fine to sustain an episode of Sex and the City, questionable when it gave rise to a terrible book of the same name (plus a sequel), and very strange indeed when it led to a brief talk-show-hosting gig for its author Greg Behrendt (who wrote the book with Liz Tuccillo). It is now insufferable as a full-length movie that has no sense of humor, no romantic chemistry in any of its pairings, and almost no characters — except for nice-looking bland people who either spout variations of the catchphrase or are recipients of it. We stand fortunate that a catchphrase cannot, at least not yet, run for president. (Or maybe one already has, and won? I’d prefer not to think about that.)
Spoiler alert: The phrase “He’s Just Not That Into You” is not spoken in the movie, so if you were prepared to stand on your seats and cheer upon its utterance you will be disappointed. What does appear is a wretchedly interchangeable group of hip media types (in Baltimore), each of whom is either lusting after someone who isn’t interested or coolly rejecting someone. Everyone talks about nothing but relationships, everyone’s apartment seems to have been decorated by the same exposed-brick urban-chic design fairy, and everyone is as cloth-eared about dating rituals as Martians, or maybe teenagers, though half the cast are old enough to have teenage children themselves. Who doesn’t know that if you have a date with someone who doesn’t maintain contact, you shouldn’t call him or her repeatedly and stalk their favorite lairs?
Page 1 of 2 Next ->
Kyle Smith is a film critic for the the New York Post. His website is at www.kylesmithonline.com.
 |
 |
 |
Podcasts |  PJM Home |
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
14 Comments
1. Sarah:Ouch! Sounds like somebody had that particular phrase tossed at them one too many times for such a scathing review…Here I just thought it was supposed to be entertaining and not something you should base your love life on. Glad I read this before I go see it so I can have the proper disdain for it!
Feb 6, 2009 - 6:01 am 2. BWC:“If there is a bright side to this movie, it’s that Cary Grant did not live long enough to see it.”
Great line. Could have been the whole critique.
Unfortunately, the teens and 20 year olds would not understand it.
Feb 6, 2009 - 6:17 am 3. Войска ПВО:..movies like these make me glad I got old..
Feb 6, 2009 - 8:15 am 4. Abdullah al-Libi:Hey, come on, the movie has BEN AFFLECK! It HAS to be good! He was in that great movie Pearl Harbor! He knows all about politics and supported Obama! He likes the Boston Red Sox! He is the total life heterosexual partner of MAAAAT DAAAAMON!
(excuse me while I puke, ignore this lame movie attempting to cash in on girls with low self-esteem, and go rent “300″)
Feb 6, 2009 - 8:57 am 5. Bill Perron:The premiere party Monday night was fun. The fortune tellers were very intuitive and insightful, especially the palm reader, that man knew me like I know myself.
Feb 6, 2009 - 10:17 am 6. Ms. Attitude:I’m going to see it tonight. I have a desire to escape reality and lose myself in stupidity. Atleast for 125 minutes I won’t be thinking about how our country is headed for hell under the supervision of our new leader.
Feb 6, 2009 - 1:25 pm 7. Roderick Reilly:Well, Scarlet did get naked, right? That’s worth something, yes? Like, about $1.00? Or free as a snippet on YouTube?
Feb 6, 2009 - 1:47 pm 8. ashok:I am so sorry you had to see that, and am glad you did not gouge your own eyes out or spontaneously vomit or anything else that might have made the movie more bearable.
Thank you for warning all of us.
Feb 6, 2009 - 8:49 pm 9. Gilligan:Who doesn’t know that if you have a date with someone who doesn’t maintain contact, you shouldn’t call him or her repeatedly and stalk their favorite lairs?
What?!! Why hasn’t anybody ever told me that before? That probably explains all those restraining orders.
Feb 7, 2009 - 6:47 am 10. Allyson Rowen Taylor:I would not waste my time or money on this film.
Feb 7, 2009 - 9:24 pm 11. JackT:took in 27mil this weekend, obviously somebody likes it very much.
Feb 8, 2009 - 5:29 pm 12. Joe:Jennifer Connelly did a great job in He’s Not that Into You; the plot was solid overall too IMO — I personally was not surprising that this movie is based on a novel since movies based on novels tend to be better quality
Feb 8, 2009 - 6:42 pm 13. Carolb:“took in 27mil this weekend, obviously somebody likes it very much.”
Doesn’t mean everyone who saw it actually “likes it very much.” I saw it. It was…just okay, I guess. It wasn’t the kind of movie you say to your friends, oh, you gotta see that movie.
Feb 9, 2009 - 12:16 pm 14. farise mohadiram:Have you seen the movie called He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) to day I have seen it on http://www.80millionmoviesfree.com and oh boy it was out standing don’t know what category we may put it. Lot of people have seen this movie. So many views about the love of teens and the adult issues about marriage
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:46 pm