HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU… or me

The film, HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, is based on the bestselling (so-called) advice book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, the writers of Sex In The City. The idea came from the episode when Carrie’s boyfriend bluntly tells Miranda that men are not very complicated. He explains that she is not receiving mixed messages from the man she’s dating. The guy simply isn’t interested.

The book tries to convey that each woman deserves better, so the next time you feel the need to start "figuring him out," consider maybe that HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU and then set out to go find the one who is. “If you've ever sat by the phone wondering why he said he would call, but didn't or why your relationship just isn't going to the next level... HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.” I don’t like that notion. I mean, maybe I’m in denial, but I would prefer to think that he is interested. I don’t want to be the rule. I want to be the exception (Yes, I realize that this book was probably written specifically for me)!

I knew I wanted to see the movie, but I was skeptical since I was anti the book. The buzz (the billboards and commercials) and the all star cast (Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson and Justin Long) drew me in. Last Saturday my friend Jordan and I hit the theater to check it out and guess what? HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU was a pleasant surprise (despite all the negative reviews it’s been receiving). I found it light, smart, funny and relatable (I admit I am totally clueless in the world of dating and mating).

The movie tells the stories of a group of interconnected, Baltimore twenty and thirty somethings as they try to read the signs of the opposite sex. Married, dating or looking for love, each person in the film is hoping (like me) to be the exceptions to the "no-exceptions" rule.

Beth dumps Neil when it seems he will never ask her to marry him. Mary tries and fails to read the signals of men while online dating. Anna leads Connor on while wooing Ben, who is married to Janine and Gigi waits and waits and waits for Connor to call while getting love advice from Alex.

I most related to Gigi (though at times embarrassingly insecure). I have felt like her before and even thought about doing (ok… I’ve done some of them! Ha ha) some of the inconceivable acts of dating desperation that she does (like cyber stalking, driving by a guy’s house, stopping by a bar he frequents hoping to bump into him ‘by accident’). Gigi just wants a man who says he'll call and does, I mean who doesn’t!

I learned from the movie that when he doesn’t call, he most likely isn’t going to, so don’t call and hang up when you get his voicemail, don’t sit by the phone and wait, BUT (and this is a big BUT) you could maybe be the exception to the rule! Which leaves me back where I started… still thinking he’s going to call.

Despite my confusion regarding the male species, I thought the movie was entertaining, witty and dare I say… FABULOUS.