5 Reasons To Skip “He’s Just Not That Into You”

February 10, 2009 2:30 pm     Posted in Reality  Sarah- East Carolina University g+ page

hes_just_not_that_into_you.jpgIt was a Saturday night. We were out for a girls’ night, just looking to have dinner and loosen up with the sort of movie we can’t drag our boyfriends to. Under the influence of estrogen and bad decisions, we decided to go see what looked like a cute movie, just something to keep us in the spirit of femininity.


By Sarah

Wrong. All wrong. Wrong movie, wrong time, wrong situation. In all fairness, I kinda knew what was coming, having heard about the book well before the movie was even in the works. I didn’t like the idea of it then, but somehow between two weeks ago and last Friday, I decided that I needed to see the movie with the bestie as a girls’ night out scenario. Here’s why I advise that everyone without ironclad self-esteem skip the movie, at least until you can see it in the comfort of your home.

1. If you’re into escapism through upbeat movies, this is not the one for you. After two hours of ‘He Just Not That Into You’, not a single one of the main characters’ plot-lines even resembled positive. I was literally crawling out of my seat trying to salvage the remainder of a happy evening as commitments combusted, relationships crumbled, and ruthless reality checks conspired to sink the Girls’ Night. The only reason I made it through is because I had to see if the writers would actually throw the audience a bone and make a happy ending.

2. The movie is ruthless in its portrayal of female stereotypes. “He’s Just Not That Into You” isn’t just a depressing chick flick, it’s the anti-chick flick. Throughout the entire movie, I kept asking myself, “Do I actually do that? Am I that crazy?” The answer, according to “He’s Just Not That Into You,” is yes. We are all clingy, insane, insecure, naive, trusting idiots, who drive away our boyfriends and potential bfs by being like that. I don’t know about you, but movies that continuously reiterate that I’m completely psycho and clingy tend to turn me off at about the 60 minute mark.

3. Your faith in committed relationships will die a horrible death in the two hour and fifteen minute love massacre. After two hours of infidelity, dating disasters, and misguided love, there was not a girl in the theater who had faith in her relationship, or ability to secure one. Those of us who were single experienced what almost came off as anti-relationship propaganda (“If you do this, this, or this, your ovaries can kiss their chance at motherhood goodbye!”), and were left doubting every simple sentence we had ever spoken to the male gender. My friend, who has been in a committed relationship for the better part of a year and a half, had started to wonder if her boyfriend could have been cheating on her. The movie had a sinister talent for slipping insecurity into our minds, and then mocking us for being insecure.

4. There are better things to do on weeknights than going to a movie that strips down your character and makes fun of what it finds there. The movie seriously killed the happy, estrogen-filled mood of the evening, and left the two of us as quaking, emotional maniacs. I can honestly say that except for when I saw “Lord of the Rings” as a twelve year old, and was terrified by the Orcs, I have never wanted to leave a movie so fast (30 minutes in). Save your seven bucks for dollar pitchers downtown, not “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

5. The movie is more suitable as a look into Gender Studies than a romantic dramedy. I’ve had more laughs in my College Algebra class than this movie. If you do go, look at it as a gender wars type of thing, not something that will make you feel cheery and secure by the last minute happy ending. (It was a happy ending, it was just a too little-too late type of thing.) The movie is accurate in its portrayal of how men and women want different things out of life, and the plot turnaround towards the end was satisfying, but ultimately not enough to recover from the first two hours. It had the effect of a doctor suddenly giving you anaesthesia after your surgery already happened, with a “Look what I just found!” air.

30 Comments on "5 Reasons To Skip “He’s Just Not That Into You”"

  1. J says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20099:56 am 

    Wow, I saw this last night and ended up crying myself to sleep because the guy I have been seeing hasn't seen me or called since Saturday, and this movie made me "realize" that I should definitely not call him, and that he's "not that into me."

    This article is 100% correct.

  2. Lauren, University o says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200910:01 am 

    I'm scared now. I'm supposed to go see it on Friday night.

  3. Alex says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200910:20 am 

    Well, that's depressing.

  4. Ashley says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200910:33 am 

    I saw this movie on girl's night out and we all loved the movie. It kind of reminded me of Love Actually, only with American actors.

  5. Candie says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200910:44 am 

    I havent seen this movie, nor do I want to, but is it really wise to take a movie that seriously? Not all girls are psycho or clingy and I don't think a movie could convince me that I am.

  6. Sam says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200911:00 am 

    I'm so looking forward to seeing it on Valentine's Day now.

  7. rach says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200911:02 am 

    yes, its stereotypical, but its FUNNY! its not saying ALL women are like this ALL the time. but you have to take a step back and look at it as entertainment. yes its a self help book, but its not saying this is how you have to live your life. Ginnifer Goodwin's character is the epitome of that! she is optimistic heading into her life and completely happy living the way she does. i think its great that it makes you second guess a relationship (not all relationships) but i have too many friends who are in a horrible place because of guys, so if it makes you take a step back and re-adjust a few things, then good!

  8. Amanda - Reed Colleg says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200911:40 am 

    geez, i'm glad i didn't go see this.

    i suppose the idea of the book is good, but i agree that in practice (aka as a movie), it would be far more harsh and turn out horribly.

  9. Meregan - Brown Univ says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 200912:35 pm 

    I actually really loved this movie and am planning on seeing it again with my roommate. I went with a group of girls and while there were definitely mixed reactions, no one felt bad after it. I think it's just what you take from it. Relationships are rarely fairytales, and it was nice to see a different representation of romance than *boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back*

    Then again, I really identified with Ginnifer Goodwin so maybe I'm just neurotic and recognized my own people.

  10. sue says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20091:41 pm 

    Wow, dramatic much? I saw this movie and really liked it (as did all the girls in my group). It's a comedy about real-life relationship situations, some people ended up happy and others sad. I don't get why everyone thinks that the advice is so harsh- i see a lot of people (not just girls, and myself included!) pining after and chasing after someone who is not right for them as some elusive ideal.

  11. Olivia says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20092:48 pm 

    I really liked this movie.

    But I also have ironclad self esteem.

    So maybe that's why. :P

  12. K says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20093:15 pm 

    I've never been in a serious relationship and I still loved this movie… but maybe thats just because it isn't a priority for me so I don't care.

  13. Emily says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20093:46 pm 

    I actually went to the movie with my boyfriend. I had been having a really bad week, so he reluctantly let me decide everything we were going to do, so I picked that movie…I thought it was funny! And he was all like, "I'm so sorry for my gender being douches"

  14. Mikaela says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20097:14 pm 

    Yes, I agree with Sue! This movie was hilarious and in no way marks the “death of faith in any committed relationship.” I can see how a feminist would think these things, but that’s a given. It is simply a movie, why put so much faith into it? And girls weren’t the only ones stereotyped, the guys were too. Also, I was under the impression that the movie did have a happy ending.. Maybe there are is a secret version out there? To me, it was quite enjoyable and a good chance to laugh at the mistakes we’ve all been known to make one too many times. It’s okay to laugh at yourself!

  15. veronica says:
    Tue, 10th Feb 20097:17 pm 

    i really liked this movie, but i also read the book and liked it as well. you can't take it too serious because everyone's situation is different, but i thought the book and the movie got across basically the same message. if he's not acting interested in you, he's not. the end.

  16. belle says:
    Wed, 11th Feb 20099:56 am 

    i thought this movie was cute and that it met my LOW expectations, but it certainly wasn’t hilarious. ALL of the characters were drastic stereotypes and none of it was realistic…or maybe i just haven’t met the right crazies yet. either way, see it if you’re looking for a low-key fun night (but prepare cuz this movie is LONG) but certainly don’t look to it to explain any truths of life. unless of course you happen to be living in a cliche.

  17. Kristina says:
    Wed, 11th Feb 20099:57 am 

    "It kind of reminded me of Love Actually, only with American actors."

    My roommates who saw it said it reminded them of Love Actually but without the love. O_o

  18. molly says:
    Wed, 11th Feb 200911:37 am 

    I havent seen the movie, but I own the book, and this book has helped me thru some tough times!! Its the opposite of what you are saying the movie is; the book is…it makes you UN-sad! I will be interested to see how they translated a self help book into a story line.

  19. Heather says:
    Wed, 11th Feb 20099:32 pm 

    I haven't seen the movie, but the book definitly helped me. the advice in the book seems obvious, but the truth is, a lot of us girls really dont follow it. love is blind, and when i say blind, i mean frickin BLIND. i was in a relationship for four years, and i would say that for the latter half, my ex-boyfriend was showing subtle signs of being "not that into me." we didn't have constant fighting, however, so when he broke up with me i didnt really see it coming. when i read this book, however, aside from that chapter that warns you to not have sex with a married man, or stay with someone who cheats on you, most of the book applied to him. its safe to say i saw him all over it, and i was left thinking, crap, why didn't i see this sooner?

    i'm curious to see the movie just because it looks funny, but even if the movie is bad, im not going to underestimate the actual book. it made me realize how much better off i am without that jerk, and even more importantly, it serves the larger purpose of helping me make sure i never stay so long in a dead-end relationship again.

  20. Fiona says:
    Thu, 12th Feb 20096:53 pm 

    ummmmm this is so wrong…loved the movie!!!

  21. Kelsy says:
    Sat, 14th Feb 20091:47 pm 

    HAH – now I'm going to have to go see it, if only out of morbid curiosity…

  22. Liz says:
    Tue, 17th Feb 20096:25 am 

    I hate to be difficult, but I absolutely disagree with this review. There were all sorts of happy endings! Check out http://www.guysmarryeasygirls.onsugar.com

  23. becca says:
    Tue, 17th Feb 200910:02 am 

    THANK YOU for your review. I hated hated hated this movie. It was completely insulting to watch for two hours. None of the female characters knew thier worth – even at the end. I think that was supposed to be the point, but it didn't come out that way. The women never gained confidence in themselves in the movie, I thought that was the whole point of the book…

  24. Jennifer S says:
    Tue, 17th Feb 200912:03 pm 

    Most people forget a vital fact…a friggin' STAND-UP COMEDIAN wrote the original book!! Take from that what you will.

  25. Becca says:
    Thu, 19th Feb 20097:51 am 

    I understand the writer's prospective, but coming from a girl who constantly get reinforced that she's not good enough (I'm in theatre) I ended up walking out crying, and now I'm stuck in this funk because I think I'm doing everything wrong. that movie was hellish.

  26. allie@fabyuhluhs.com says:
    Sun, 22nd Feb 20091:38 pm 

    "My roommates who saw it said it reminded them of Love Actually but without the love."

    I'm with your roommates!

  27. B says:
    Tue, 24th Feb 20091:56 am 

    Sarah, Unfortunately, I made the same mistake too!

    I can't even pin-point exactly why, but that movie was not good at all!

    The stereotyping didn't really get to me too much, the previews were definitely misleading, Drew Barrymore is in it only a few minutes, every girl will really hate Scarlett Johansen after the movie and it was just pretty pointless.

    I think a guy wrote the book or movie anyway.

    It's unreasonably long and makes you think "what the f*** was that?!" when it finally ends.

  28. Danielle says:
    Thu, 26th Feb 20098:05 pm 

    THIS WAS A GREAT MOVIE!!!! It's honest! If a guy likes you, he WILL call.. why HONESTLY would a guy NOT call you when hes supposed to if he likes you?? A guy worth your time will JUMP at the chance to be with you. If you wanna keep in denial and hang out with guys who dont respect you then, no, dont see the movie.. but if you can handle that not everyone is gonna wanna marry you this movie is fine. I LOVED it. I cant wait to see it over and over and I'm gonna buy it and watch it over and over AGAIN.

  29. Kate says:
    Sat, 28th Feb 20093:20 pm 

    This book is really great… it really encouraged me and it has a lot of truths in it. I haven't seen the movie, but the book is A M A Z I N G and so true!

  30. J says:
    Fri, 6th Mar 20095:48 pm 

    Just so everyone is clear, the movie has nothing to do with the book. The book is non-fiction, and a self-help book about dating, whereas the movie is a romantic comedy. The movie just took the title from the book because it's a catchy title.

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