i am just not into it…

thursday night, after i published the second installment of my “stalking” post, i finished off my white mocha and drove over to the corner video rental near my place to return the “happy-go-lucky” dvd i rented monday night. yep, it’s three days over due.

my friend sarah borrowed it on tuesday. she promised to bring it back the next day; however, her scoliosis struck and she wasn’t able to report for work wednesday. i get penalize a dollar a day that the dvd is out, so she gave me two bucks for it. i told her it wasn’t necessary as my credit card has been charged already but she insisted. so i took it and used it to rent the newly-released dvd featuring an all-star cast lead by jennifer aniston and drew barrymore called “he’s just not that into you”. i missed that movie in theaters when it was released last february – never really intended to watch it, wink, wink. :)

when i got to the video shop, i was told i owe three bucks for the dvd. i didn’t know i had to return it before 8pm every day to avoid late charges. i thought that was too much but i couldn’t argue against it as it was clearly indicated on the receipt that i signed off for. oh dear.

good thing i got an extra buck in my wallet so i was able to rent the dvd - and i went home. there was no dinner waiting for me at home except for the boxed left over i brought from guppy’s the previous night when i had dinner with sammi and ginny.

i heated the food and popped in the dvd.

two minutes into the movie i already saw that “he’s just not that into you” is gonna be as contrived a movie as it could possibly get. it looks so good on screen, though, because of the big stars – and attractive, too, if you will, that the producers (thank you ms. barrymore!) were able to gather, but, otherwise, it feels flat, didactic, and just way, way ------ overly long.

the movie begins with a young gigi (portrayed by ginnifer goodwin – who is she???) who was bullied as a child by a boy but was pacified by her mom by telling her that the reason why the boy was being mean to her is because the boy actually likes her – what!? it’s probably true, though. that is the premise, and if you are a sucker for this genre, you’ll easily buy it, too. lol.

the movie addresses the dilemma that single people undergo when they are searching for that perfect relationship and perfect mate. they have this preconceived notion on how to go about first dates, second dates, etc. – what works and what doesn’t, all the stuff.

the title is inexcusably misleading, though. the story revolves around eight or so people - i lost count, let’s review: in addition to aniston, barrymore & goodwin, there’s ben affleck (who i thought was alarmingly thin), jennifer connelly, scarlett johansson, justin long, bradley cooper and that guy from entourage – sorry, i don’t watch that show.

these characters, quite incredibly, move around in a common circle but, surprisingly, everyone do not bump into each other all at the same time! clever, huh? also, the individual stories are not just about one sex group’s dilemma – and it’s not even limited to single folks! to be fair, those stories could have worked if not for the length and the clichéd (and hasty) conclusion the writers did to the various storylines they forced the audience to endure.

oh yeah i got something about the title too. lol... that catchy is clearly just a ploy to get more women to watch this movie because women, even those in successful relationships, would easily identify with the title more than men - although everyone, men or women, have a sad story or two about someone whom they thought would be perfect for them but turned out be “not too into them” in the end – sorry had to use the title somehow.

it's okay to miss this movie - really... :)