He's Just Not That Into You (2009) PART 1

Directed by Ken Kwapis

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck,
Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Scarlett Johansson, Kevin Connolly, and Jennifer Connolly

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've updated this. I've been slacking I know. But, it's isn't entirely my fault. Ok, maybe it is.

I tried to conduct what I thought would be a lively discussion with different people on this movie; a "round table" discussion of sorts. It quickly grew legs and got lengthy if not interesting. So lengthy, in fact, that I had to break it up into 2 parts. Who knew some stupid chick flick could spark such passionate opinions. Included in the discussion are;

Me (Single)
Chris (Married with a newborn baby)
Brian P (Married with kid)
Giff aka SMG (Sober Guy that's Married with kids)
The Roose (Engaged)
Holly (Single)
Alyssa (Married)
Sarah (Married with twins)
Tyler (Single)

Warning: Contains some adult language and possible spoiler alerts...so readers beware.

JOSHUA: This movie revolves around a mix of different singles and couples and at its heart is really a story about relationships. There is the desperate single girl, the sexpot, the married couple (the eye wandering husband and the slightly controlling wife), the forever unmarried couple (the wants to get married girlfriend and the “I don’t believe in marriage” boyfriend, the playboy smart-ass bachelor, the other not-as-desperate-single girl, the sexpot chasing slightly desperate bachelor, and some gay couples. It has a really good ensemble cast.

With so much going on in the film there are a lot of different topics that we can discuss. Chris, I’ll start with you because you claimed the movie was “totally guy bashing”. How and why did you find it “guy bashing”?

CHRIS: Okay, when my wife picked this movie out I figured I was in for it and I was right. The summary on the back claimed it was a "super, sexy, savvy right now romcom." First off, I hate when people try to make little nicknames for stuff like "Brangelina”. Secondly, I thought the movie was neither sexy nor savvy. This is mainly because with such an all-star cast all the women especially Drew Barrymore looked horrible in this. What happened to Jennifer Connolly's eyebrows? Is she from Russia or something?

I am sick and tired of guys being portrayed in movies, TV, and commercials as sex driven, compassion-less assholes. Every guy in this movie was a jerk (at least at the beginning). Now I know there really are guys out there that act like some of the characters in this movie but in my opinion they are few and far between. I think for the most part guys want what girls want and which is to love and be loved. Movies like this scare me because it makes me think that this is the way that women think ALL guys are. The men are definitely the enemy in this movie, even the most likable guy in the movie, Bradley Cooper, becomes the worst guy in the movie and it was only because Scarlett Johansson came on to him so hard. Where is the nice guy in these movies? Where is the guy who always gets the "I just want to be friends" speech? Women complain and whine that they want a good guy but they always gravitate towards the jerks. The women in this movie never had a chance because the writers and directors didn't give them any quality men (exception of Ben Affleck, near the end) to choose from. This is not reality because there are plenty of good men out there, I think our married women can attest to that.

BRIAN P: I’m going to agree with Chris on all points. Especially the eyebrows, wtf were her stylist thinking? My wife literally questioned me for 2 days after this movie and figured that deep down I was waiting to cheat on her at any moment. She also wanted to know my "guy secrets". ** Newsflash... guys are really not that complicated. The little bit of complicated genius we do have gets used on cool sh*t like inventing the Xbox 360 and farting in crowed situations and not getting blamed.

JOSHUA: Even though this movie did have moments of badly stereotypical "guy bashing" (see all the married guys) I didn't really think the movie went completely out to attack the male species. If anything, I think it bashed women as much as it did the men in that there were just as many badly stereotypical female traits. Both of the people in the Jennifer Connolly/ Bradly Cooper marriage were bad. The movie made her look like a controlling bitch as much as it made him look like a complete douche. That being said, I think Bradley Cooper was the worst character in the whole film and I think there are plenty of men like him in real life.

HOLLY: I agree with Chris and Brian. The men in this film were poorly represented but in the movies defense with such a large cast, character development was at best mediocre. The male characters though all had redeeming qualities (Except, Bradley Cooper, I have no tolerance for cheaters…even though Scarlett was quite the pursuant concubine.) Justin Long was very honest, even though it was to his determent; he still was very upfront with [Gennifer] even if it was not what she wanted to hear. Ben Affleck compromised his own views on marriage to keep the one he loved. And back to Chris’s remark about men who get the “I just want to friends” speech, this honor in the movie actually went to Kevin Connolly, when Scarlett let him have a taste but denied him seconds.

Granted these men are not an accurate depiction of men today and most certainly not an accurate depiction of men I have dated but as a single twenty-something I have encountered men who do behave as such. These characters are but a small percentage of the male population that does exist.

SARAH:At least the male characters get to experience a metamorphosis - the women are mostly the same!!!

JOSHUA: I don't think it portrays a negative stereotype of guys at all. While Ben Affleck's character is only in the film for about 3 minutes I think his character is one of the few that resonates most. He is completely honest with Jennifer Aniston about never wanting to get married and he sticks buy those beliefs. The film set-ups Bradley Cooper/ Ben Affleck in the beginning so that the audience thinks Ben Affleck is just a horrible person who won't marry Aniston and Bradley Cooper is the faithful husband who is tempted by Scarlett. It then flips it and in the end Ben Affleck ends up being the good guy and Bradley the asshole and rightly so I think. When Affleck proposes to Aniston it is because he realizes that he actually wants what she wants because he loves her...and that is to get married. It isn’t normal but the thru-line to the whole film is, "be the exception, not the rule", and I think it is trying to showcase that by showing the development of a unique relationship against the demise of the classic marriage. In the end, I think Affleck is a nice guy so nice guys are portrayed. I mean how much nicer can a guy be who says (after Bradley Cooper says "Don't married guys just think about all women they are going to miss out on?"), "I don't want to be with any other women. I just want to be with Beth [Aniston]. To me, it doesn't get anymore "nice guy" then that.

ALYSSA: I think that the Aniston/Affleck story line was pretty predictable. It did nothing for me.

THE ROOSE: I know...

JOSHUA: You know what?

HOLLY: Honestly, I did not have such a great distaste for the male cast but more so for the female cast. No wonder these men made such poor decisions their counterparts were, weak, morally corrupt, obsessively analytical, and just desperate. Not one of these women in my opinion represented a strong independent female. So back to Chris’s comment about the men not giving the women a chance, visa versa.

JOSHUA: Again, like I said before, I think they is plenty of "girl bashing" in the movie. I mean, women aren't the only ones who over-analyze and over-react. I think there are plenty of male Gigi's and Scarlette's out there. And, what about Gigi? Could they have made her any worse?

GIFF: Right on. I thought there were an abundance of accuracies in this movie. All she [Gigi] wants is to get married. She falls in love with every guy she dates. All she sees is kids, a house, dog and white picket fence. I know more women like this than none. She is so annoying in doing so....urghh.....desperation...what a turn off. Which is why Scarlett's character is so appealing....

TYLER: I can tell that Gigi was really annoying, but not uncommon in my opinion (right on Gifford), but I don't think its her fault. Eye opening first scene with a kid telling a girl she's poop and pushing her down was actually hilarious, and I wont argue that many of us (men) are mean to girls at that age (only cause we don't know what a blow-j is yet, once that's discovered the ass-kissing, free drinks and dinners begin).

ALYSSA: For SURE everyone has met or knows a Gigi. There are quite a few girls out there that are identical to this character. This girl was raised on the thinking that by a certain age you should be with someone in love and well on your way to marriage. It’s such a pathetic character but definitely realistic! I was dying a slow death for this girl when she spent the better part of the party playing hostess b/c she thought this guy liked her. I seriously did feel sorry for her!

SARAH: I really do think there was an equal amount of bashing for both sides and every character experienced an ah-hah moment that had you changing your opinion. Men: (1) the good guy that tells the hot chick he is married/ends up cheater -- "bad guy"; (2) the playboy tell it like it is bartender/ends up sweet guy with the lovesick girl -- "bad boy turned good"; (3) the anarchist artist/ends up compromising beliefs to make himself and his lady happy -- "selfish jerkface turned knight"; and finally (4) the douchebag no call back/lovesick guy chasing the girl he will never get -- "the nice guy that finishes last". Women: (1) Controlling wife that pressured her husband into marrying her (2) The sappy girl who falls in love at the drop of a hat and resembles fatal attraction; (3) The f@g hag (sorry if anyone who takes offense to this - I love gay people) who seems to play the perpetual role of the 'best friend' who hides behind her feelings; (4) The hot little whore who keeps coming back to the married man; and (5) The woman that starts to imitate the behaviors of character # 1 by telling her boyfriend it's marriage or nothing but gets lucky after all.

CHRIS: I guess I was being a selfish male when I only thought to watch the movie through a man's eyes. Reflecting on the women in this film, some of them were pretty horrible as well. I think some women would be offended by the controlling wife, the annoying girl who falls in love with every guy she meets and was extremely overly analytical. At least I hope women aren't like that. I agree with Joshua that the movie did try to lead you think the opposite of the Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper characters but also agree with Holly's point that this movie had absolutely no character development. She makes a good point saying that there were so many characters the plot was spread pretty thin. I think that's why I really couldn't "get into" this movie because it was hard to identify with any character. I guess the directors were trying to hit on stereotypes but it just didn't work for me.

ALYSSA: I hate Scarlett and this movie made me hate her even more! Overall I was pretty disappointed in this movie. It wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be AND I was really happy when it finally ended.

BRIAN P: Can we discuss the pool scene? That was hot...

JOSHUA: I’m not gonna lie. It was pretty hot. Although, I think Scarlett is highly overrated as an actress.

ALYSSA: I know you guys loved the pool scene but I thought the office scene was pretty hot. I ended up over analyzing the scene though. It was pretty obvious to me that the relationship between the two characters were totally different for each character. Scarlett really liked this guy and I think that in her mind she thought what most home wreckers think...I'll get this guy to leave his wife for me! I'm the younger, more attractive and more fun girl so why wouldn't he want to be with me?!?! Bradley just wanted to get laid by someone new. He needed to prove to himself that he still had "IT" It was totally apparent that was all he wanted when during the office sex scene they were making out and he turned her around to get her from behind. He didn't want to look her in the face. Looking her in the face made more of a connection for him, one that he didn't want to have. And when he shoved her in the closet and porked his wife while she had to listen...it proved my point even more!

CHRIS: I guess I was being a selfish male when I only thought to watch the movie through a man's eyes. Reflecting on the women in this film, some of them were pretty horrible as well. I think some women would be offended by the controlling wife, the annoying girl who falls in love with every guy she meets and was extremely overly analytical. At least I hope women aren't like that. I agree with Joshua that the movie did try to lead you think the opposite of the Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper characters but also agree with Holly's point that this movie had absolutely no character development. She makes a good point saying that there were so many characters the plot was spread pretty thin. I think that's why I really couldn't "get into" this movie because it was hard to identify with any character. I guess the directors were trying to hit on stereotypes but it just didn't work for me.