He's Just Not That Into You

He's Just Not That Into You (2009) adapts a relationship advice book and is built on that book's single idea: if someone is not interested, stop finding reasons for them. Nine loosely connected people in Baltimore run in parallel. Some are married, some have been together for years without marrying, some misread every message they receive. The cast is enormous: Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore. It has the standard problem of the ensemble romantic comedy. Divide 129 minutes across nine stories and several stay thin. In exchange, Ginnifer Goodwin as Gigi is the spine of the film and that strand genuinely works. The interesting wrinkle is that the film does not fully commit to its own thesis. The book was blunt. The film keeps carving out exceptions. Good for: light romantic comedy, big casts, and the texture of the late two thousands. Easy viewing with a friend. Less good for: infidelity takes up a lot of the running time. Anyone wanting depth or one strong storyline will not find it. The scatter is the design.