Project-Blu ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ Review, by Nate Boss

He’s Just Not That Into You

By: Nate Boss and Guest Contributor Samantha Boss, 6.11.2009

The Movie Itself:
 For as long as man has existed, man has blown off women. Women who may be too clingy, possessive, annoying, you name it; if they've annoyed us, they've been kicked to the curb, without even an explanation. Hell, they've been kicked to the curb usually with a bullshit story. Hey, sometimes, it's life. Sometimes, women don't take the hint, that he's just not that into you.

Hence, the book. The talk show storm. Now, the movie. There's a whole 'lotta Not Being Into You going on!

He's Just Not That Into You takes a peek at the lives of numerous women, in varying states of relationship. Seeing as the title is what it is, many of the situations are less than stellar for the females, such as:

Anna (Scarlet Johansson), the lusty kit fox, tired of her relationship with Conor (Kevin Connolly), who puts on her vixen act for Ben (Bradley Cooper), disregarding his whole marriage predicament.

Beth (Jennifer Aniston), the ticking time bomb of internal clocks, wanting her longtime boyfriend Neil (Ben Affleck) to commit and get married. (An inspired casting job, and by inspired, I mean inspired by the weekly tabloids. The misery in Aniston's perceived life make her the perfect person to drive a man away here.)

Janine (Jennifer Connelly), one of Beth's co-workers, whose marriage to the aforementioned Ben is on the rocks. Sharp, jagged rocks.

Mary (Drew Barrymore), a newspaper columnist, whose search for love online has brought her the worst of the worst.

Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), practically the lead of the film, a clingy mess, who cannot understand the "codes" and lingo that guys give her, who confides in bartender Alex (Justin Long) her problems, to see if his knowledge in the dating game can help her land a good man.

I'll be blunt: the film is apologetic to those who create their own misery. It paints men in such a negative light it may as well be employed by Sherman Williams. The men in this film cheat. They lie. They lie. They lie. They lead women on. They are seen as vultures, looking only for the moment. They are responsible for the negativity in any woman's life. It's like the film were a comfort food, it really is. Mad at something involving your beau? Look at how all men are, look how devious and dulpicitous they can be. The film doesn't follow it's own ideal: He's just not that into you.

Sure, the Gigi character drives more people away than a taxi driver (Get it? Get it?), but she isn't the only female who really gets the negative treatment. Anna is the one coercing Ben into lying in the worst of ways, but he's shown as the villain for her temptations. A bit of the ol' Adam and Eve thing going on there, no? Beth forces Neil's hand, by not letting good enough be. Janine, hell, she creates the disaster that is her home life by being controlling.

Yeah, sure I'm not getting it. You can say that. I'm a guy. I've had numerous relationships, usually on the shitty end. Relationshits, yeah I've heard the term. That doesn't mean instantly since I had a track record of less than success in the past that I was at fault for it. Hell, my predisposition for picking the wrong people has something to do with it, but to blame the subconscious is a cop out. He's Just Not That Into You is the group hug, the "he doesn't deserve you" speech that it portrays. Over. And. Over. The penultimate pity party.
Nate’s Take: 5/10

In the sense of fairness, how 'bout a female take on the situation? After all, considering how heavy handed towards men the film is, it's target audience (women) may have a different take.

He's Just Not That Into You will leave women saying "Ooh I know that's right!" and men...in trouble.

To begin, He's Just Not That Into You was cast perfectly. Using such leading ladies as Barrymore and Aniston, who have been notoriously unlucky in love, really makes the plight of their characters believable. The film depicts different levels of relationships, from actually finding a guy, to the struggle to get him to marry you, and finally, deciding if you love him enough to deal with his deceitful ways. Every female viewer can identify with at least one of these situations shown.

Based on the light the male characters are shown (cheating, lacking commitment, and cunningly deceptive), you'd think this was the typical male bashing, feminist agenda women's movie. This film appears to take the standpoint that all men are jerks, but that could be expected from any good chick flick. However, it's not totally one sided. Anna (Johansson) is basically a home wrecking slut with little to no feeling for the people she uses and the lives she unravels. On the flipside, Conor, for the most part, is a sympathetic character, constantly chasing after Anna like a love sick puppy dog, despite her obvious lack of romantic interest in him, making him most like the male version of Gigi (Goodwin), the staring female role, who has a habit of desperate-dialing her uninterested one time dates.

While I completely loved this movie, there were some things that could have been done better. For one thing, the character of Mary hardly had any screen time. So, instead of showing the path she follows to find love, we're merely told through conversations between Mary and her gay co-workers. Luckily these scenes have some hilarious moments so it can be forgiven. For the guys watching, it may seem that men are blamed for pretty much everything, you really need to look at the story line of Anna in a different light. Although Ben gets the flack from Janine while the temptress gets off scott free, that isn't the way the lady viewers will see it. Speaking from a woman's point of view, seeing Anna's total disregard for Ben's marriage really turns you against her character no matter what redeeming qualities she may have. And, can I just say, Scar Jo sure does have a lot of experience playing the bad girl, and she's got it down. Not only did I find this film to be entertaining, it's also very insightful. He's Just Not That Into You is a very well fleshed out depiction of the reality of relationships. Greg Behrendt, who is the writer of the book this film is based on, not only opens up basic blow off tactics used by either sex, he provides the signs to predict them. While this film is clearly intended to be enjoyed by women, I think men will still get a kick out of it, if for no other reason than to constantly see Scarlett Johansson half naked.
Samantha’s Take: 8/10
Rating: 6/10

The Presentation:
He's Just Not That Into You hits Blu-ray on a 25GB Single Layer disc, but never fear, it still looks pretty gosh darn good. Encoded VC-1 style (straight ballin'), the film has a few iffy moments, for sure, but all in all is worth the upgrade.

First, the bad. Some edges feel a bit unnatural. Some ring a bit. I saw some halos. Yep, a few of the trademark signs of ye olde Edge Enhancement. It isn't excessive or dominating, but it is visible from time to time. There is some noise in the source; it's not blatantly obvious, but never you worry, it's there. Brighter shots feel a bit bloody (color bleeding, that is).

Now, the good. Colors pop. Stray hairs, pop! Backgrounds are sharp and super detailed, with some great depth to this picture, that is a bit short of being fully three dimensional, but is certainly not flat. Contrast was spot on, as were skin tones. Hell, for the first time Watching Aniston in high def, I didn't think that she resembled the Joker. Heath Ledger's Joker. That's good. That's very good. Just like this video presentation. No joke.

The audio...Long have early adapters cried foul at Warner Bros/New Line. Long have they held staunchly to their positions, rather than looking at the progress the studio has made with bringing high quality lossless tracks to their releases. That's what we have here.

The film DEFAULTS to a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. YES!!!!!! I never minded having to pause a movie and switch it over to the lossless mix, as I pause it to get some initial specs down anyways, but having it be set up for optimal performance out of the gate?! KUDOS, and I'm not talking about the granola bar!

Ah, ok, you want me to talk about the audio for the film, right? He's Just Not That Into You is a romantic comedy. So don't go in expecting the world. Hell, go in expecting nothing, so that anything you get will be a pleasant surprise, that's my mindset going into the genre. The film sports a dialogue heavy sound design (I know, right?), so the most important factor has to be whether the words were clear. For the most part, they were. I caught a few lines that were like "wha???" that I had to rewind and play back, so it isn't perfect, but 2 or 3 lines out of 1,000, that's not a bad percentage, if you ask me.

Dialogue is very much front and centered, not localized. The dialogue is prioritized in the sound mix, so it doesn't get beaten up by the ambiance or soundtrack (that honestly didn't do much for me). The music does seep into the rears gently, complimenting the random bits of, well, random noise that populate a few locales. The subwoofer gets a few random atmospheric rumbles in, as well. It ain't taking this fight laying down, no sir, it wants to be in there and after it. This track is limited by it's source material, so it never really has a chance to shine, to show off the system. It is a great track, regardless, but it's on a leash in the park, rather than let loose to roam and frolic.
Rating: 7/10 ( 8/10- video, 7/10- audio)

The Extras:
Warnerblu Bonus Rewards
He's Just Not That Into You is one of the discs that qualifies for this promotion, where you register 5 titles, and get 1 free in return. This code is the same as the digital copy code, so don't go selling either!

Baltimore Blade: The Relationship Issue (HD)
The lives of characters Anna (3 min), Alex & Gigi (4 min), Beth & Neil (3 min), Mary & Conor (2 min), Janine (3 min), and Ben (3 min). I found this feature to be a bit bizarre, really, and I cannot tell if it was actors trying to get into their roles, and say what they think their characters would say, or reading from a script. Either way, this one could have been a little bit better. The only funny thing in here is when Alex (Long) says Neil (Affleck) is a spitting image of Ben Affleck.

Six Words That Make Up a Film (HD, 11 min)
Cast and crew discuss how a simple phrase made in passing became such a hit, from an episode of a tv show, to a book, and now a movie. A basic making of feature, really

The Director Stages a Scene (HD, 4 min)
Kwapis dissects a somewhat simplistic shot between the Alex and Gigi characters, the body language and meanings.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 13 min)
WIth optional commentary by Ken Kwapis. A subplot between Anna and her mother Maya is a big part of the cuts from the film. They would have slowed it down far too much, giving a supporting character a subplot when main characters don't all get them. The Bill character is given more screen time, while more of the gay theme to Conor is played out. Played out is the key, as it's not a funny story line.

Pre-movie BD trailer
A generic BD promo.

BD-Live
The generic BD promo trailer plays upon logging in. Trailers for other films are available, as well as some content exclusive to this release (see below).

BD-Live extra: Top 10 Chick Cliche's
Yeah, this feature (buffer) is also available on Amazon.com's listing for the (buffer) film. Still, a film-unique feature deserves it's own (buffer) little shout out. The three main (buffer) male actors from the film sit (buffer) down and discuss chick flick cliches that (buffer) aren't in the film. More of a parody/mock (buffer) feature, really.

Digital Copy
The second disc includes a digital copy of the film, if you're into that kind of thing.
Rating: 5/10

Overall:
I suppose this film was intended to polarize audiences. You’ll love it, or you’ll find it poor. Men, who are pretty much notorious for not being the biggest “chick flick” fans, will find much to gripe about here. With solid video and audio, though, this is a great rental, for sure, and is in the realm of blind buy territory!
Rating: 6/10