Wannabe "Love Actually"
Written: May 13 '09
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: All star cast.
Occasionally funny.
Cons: Too long.
Mostly annoying characters.
The Bottom Line: It's a movie without a clear meaning, meant to be funny but becomes pathetic instead. Not terrible, but bad.
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| turandotty's Full Review: He's Just Not That Into You |
I was pretty excited to watch this movie. It has an all-star cast: Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, and Jennifer Connelly to name a few. Being a fan of Sex and the City, I knew that the original (self-help) book that the film is based on was inspired by an episode of Sex that deals with the same concept of a guy not being into you. So I expected this film to be another witty take on single women trying to get around relationship problems in their crazy but fun lives. Except instead of the characters being the flawed, exaggerated, yet likable women of Sex and the City, they were just flawed, exaggerated, and pathetic. Carrie of Sex and the City has neurotic issues, but nothing compared to some of the deluded psychos of He's Just Not That into You.
These women came off so annoying and grating I think precisely because they played into stereotypes so much. Watching this movie at the theater with girlfriends, I think we totally recognized what women do in real life as well: obsess over guys, analyze little details, worrying... but characters like Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), while funny, honestly don't seem to think about anything other than guys. I mean, is that what her whole life revolves around? Perhaps the film realizes this, because it seems to make up for it with more self-assured characters (like Scarlett Johansson's Anna) ending up happily single in the end. One thing I did like about this film is that not everyone ends up in a relationship and ‘happily-ever-after.' Two other people who end up single are Janine and her husband Ben -- which, even though Ben is the one cheating, I sympathized with him more because his wife is a nutcase who cares more about him smoking than cheating.
The only actually likable and relatable couple were Beth and Neil (Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck). They deal with a common issue - couples that have been happily together for so many years because the man doesn't want to commit to marriage). But with the film's length (over 2 hours), even this relationship got dragged out, and I just wanted it to end.
Which brings me to the films length. It was pretty long for a romantic comedy (about 130 minutes). It really felt like it should have been coming to an end around 70-80 minutes through. So the first hour or so of this film wasn't bad. It was actually entertaining at first, but the last half hour was pretty bad to sit through. And the ending was mediocre at best. What are we supposed to glean from the movie? Are we supposed to believe that we are the exception or the rule? Because throughout the movie the point seems to be that we are the rule, but the end makes it seem that actually... all of these women seem to be the exception. It really doesn't make sense or have a clear message. And I had to roll my eyes at Gigi and Alex living happily ever after in the end (at least until they get divorced). No way would any man ever want to be with this needy psychopathic woman unless she got serious help. She didn't even change or become less needy and stalker-ish.
So I guess my overall opinion of this movie is negative. Although it could be worse. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 because it did start off on a good note. And there were so many characters and stories that it was interesting a bit. Watch it if you have nothing else to watch.
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Girl Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
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Epinions.com ID:
turandotty
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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