Scarlett Johansson

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Ginnifer Goodwin Nearly Save ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

BrianTT — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:01:00 -0700

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – If you’ve ever been speed dating or even just on a series of dates in a short period of time, it’s not that different from the back and forth between good and bad in the latest romantic comedy, “He’s Just Not That Into You,” a mixed bag of cliches, comedy, coincidences, and cute coupling starring Jennifer Aniston, Ginnifer Goodwin, and many, many more.

Just recapping the “Short Cuts”-esque plot of “He’s Just Not That Into You” practically requires a flow chart to keep track of all the characters and how they are coincidentally related or hooked up. The film is narrated by and most of the characters spiral off of Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), a poor woman stuck in the cliches of dating that we’re taught from an early age like “he’s mean to you because he likes you” and “don’t call him, he’ll call you.”

Justin Long stars as Alex and Ginnifer Goodwin stars as Gigi.
Photo credit: Darren Michaels/New Line

Gigi is cute but also pretty damaged by a string of dates that went nowhere and men who never called her back. After a good first date with real estate agent Conor (Kevin Connolly), Gigi obsessively watches the phone and goes as far as dropping by Conor’s regular hang-out just to see if he’s there.

As his bar-managing friend Alex (Justin Long) brutally tells poor Gigi, he’s just not that into her. Of course, being a romantic comedy, it’s only a matter of time before the callous Alex falls head over heels for sweet Gigi.

The story of Gigi and Alex may be enough for one romantic comedy, but it’s just the tip of the candy-covered heart in “He’s Just Not That Into You”. The reason Conor wasn’t into Gigi is because he still loves Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Anna runs into the married Ben (Bradley Cooper) at the convenience store and the two start a dangerous flirtation.

Ben is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly), who happens to work with Gigi. Ben is also good friends with Neil (Ben Affleck), the longtime boyfriend of Beth (Jennifer Aniston), who ALSO happens to work with Gigi and Janine. The pile-up of coincidental characters is one of the biggest failings of the script for “He’s Just Not That Into You”. I longed for a major character who wasn’t one degree of separation from every other major character.

When her younger sister announces her engagement and Gigi convinces her that Neil will never propose, Beth kicks her man out of the house. Meanwhile, a friend of Anna’s named Mary (Drew Barrymore) bemoans the loss of personal contact in a world of MySpace, Facebook, and instant messaging.

Scarlett Johansson stars as Anna and Bradley Cooper stars as Ben.
Photo credit: New Line

Even with its overly complicated plot, there are elements of “He’s Just Not That Into You” that completely work.

First and foremost, it’s refreshing to see a romantic comedy that doesn’t rely on pratfalls, bodily humor, or montages set to the latest pop tune. There’s a conscious attempt to avoid those kind of cliches in the script for “He’s Just Not That Into You” by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein and it’s nice to see a romantic comedy with people you actually root for unlike the hateful jerks or morons that usually populate the genre in films like “What Happens in Vegas,”“Fool’s Gold,” or the entire filmography of Dane Cook

It’s also interesting to see genuinely talented actors trying to inject two-dimensional characters with a bit of realism. Goodwin, Affleck, and Aniston all give interesting, likable performances. As for the rest of the cast, Cooper isn’t bad, but his role doesn’t feel believable, serving more as a plot catalyst for the two women he impacts with his stupid choices than a real person. Most surprisingly, Connelly seems lost, unable to figure this character out.

What holds back “He’s Just Not That Into You” is a lack of pacing by director Ken Kwapis and his writers. No romantic comedy ever needs to run nearly 130 minutes long and Kwapis pitches the whole film at the same tone. There’s a surprising lack of rising action.

There’s also an unusual emotion that “He’s Just Not That Into You” is more likely to produce than romance - depression. Are we really all so driven to find love that we make the same stupid mistakes over and over again? “He’s Just Not That Into You” should have been more fun. Believe it or not, people do actually get together without so much angst.

And this ensemble, despite some beautiful people in its cast, is surprisingly un-sexy in plot and tone. These people may be obsessed with dating, but it’s hard to believe they know what to do after a few dates.

With all of that in mind, romantic comedy fans could still do a lot worse than “He’s Just Not That Into You”. With some good performances and conscious avoidance of a lot of the trappings of the genre, audiences are likely to fall for this romantic comedy, even if they don’t feel good about it in the morning.

‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ stars Ben Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Connolly, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Drew Barrymore, and Justin Long. It was written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, and directed by Ken Kwapis. It opens on February 6th, 2009, and is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Hit-or-Miss Mastermind Woody Allen Recaptures Genius With Eccentric ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – While legendary writer and director Woody Allen can’t always be equated with sheer genius these days and is more accurately described as a hit-or-miss proposition, the sorely undermarketed and film-festival touring “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” serves as unquestionable retribution for his recently questionable work.

The film, which stars Hollywood sensations Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz, all throughout makes you feel like Allen’s script has something brilliant up its artistic sleeve. While at times you’ll easily predict when sex is on deck, Allen uses “No Country for Old Men” star Javier Bardem literally as his blunt instrument.

Penélope Cruz stars as María Elena in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” from director Woody Allen.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

In the real world, of course, even a man of his charisma couldn’t walk up to a woman with Scarlett Johansson’s magnetism and lure her into a weekend of bliss and eroticism with these simple words: “We’re getting on my plane in an hour for a weekend of drinking fine wine and making love.”

While Bardem can this time because Allen’s script makes Johansson’s risqué character do it, his true treat is scoring a triple play by convincing Johansson’s rule-driven friend – played by the relatively unknown Rebecca Hall – to seek the same interesting slice of life.

Hall’s character is completely out of character in going along with this ride and is in the process of marrying a man who feels to her much like a sedative.

Javier Bardem (left center) and Scarlett Johansson (right center) star in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

Amid all the wining and dining, Bardem displays his range as an actor. He puts out of our mind his powerfully villainous character in “No Country for Old Men” and completely transforms himself for Allen’s creation into an artistic, charismatic and confident Spanish lover.

The protagonists, of course, wouldn’t be complete without the antagonistic presence of Penélope Cruz. Despite training rigorously with a teacher and a paintbrush for her painting scenes, though, Cruz still admits to having “faked” these scenes.

In fact, Cruz says in real life she’s a “terrible artist” and is nothing like her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” character. While she gets by with the brush in the film, it’s not her painting that ultimately slathers herself memorably onto you.

Left to right on set: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

It’s her irate, suicidal and jealous performance that stands out with its emotional and physical carnage. Cruz landed the role of María Elena from director Woody Allen in 40 seconds flat.

Scarlett Johansson’s appearance in the latest Allen work of art is especially his personal joy. Despite appearing in three Allen films in the past three years (“Match Point” in 2005, “Scoop” in 2006 and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in 2008), Johansson decisively denies being his latest “muse”.

When the subject has come up repeatedly in press junkets for the film, she always says they take pleasure in “having fun” together. The 72-year-old Allen, on the other hand, liberally confesses that the 23-year-old “Lost in Translation” star has often been the muse for many of his latest films.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” image gallery.

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More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Johansson follows in the shadows of actresses and former Allen lovers Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. Instead of it being Johansson in 2005’s “Match Point,” Allen initially selected British star Kate Winslet.

While Winslet may have gone on to muse Allen thereafter, she pulled out from the 2005 film to spend more time with her children.

Despite its interesting backstory and compelling film story, the whole work of art that is “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” goes somewhat to poop in its anti-climatic ending. You can feel Allen struggling with how to end this fascinating journey. His decision to waiver somewhere in the grey matter of life is a tragically unfulfilling choice.

Had the ending been rewritten, “Vicky Christina Barcelona” would be one of Allen’s finest works without question. Even without the rewrite, though, it stands as one Allen magnum opus nonetheless.

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which is written and directed by Woody Allen and stars Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Messina, opens on Aug. 15, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com