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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston on sofa

Seven-year itch? Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston in He's Just Not That Into You. Warner Bros./New Line

 

By Alison Bryce

He's Just Not Into You opened in movie theaters this weekend, to scorn from critics and a box-office take of $27.5 million. The critics' dismissals were probably to be expected. But I'd say the cash haul that made the movie No. 1 this weekend was, too.

See, I was living in Montana about four years ago, and I was totally into a guy that wasn't into me. He called all the time to hang out, but just wanted to be my friend. I wanted more.

Then one day I got a package in the mail from my mother. You can guess which book it was: He's Just Not That Into You. I opened it, sobbing.

But here's the thing: Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Seriously: As lame as it may sound, that book changed my life.

The how and why, after the jump ...

Its basic rule -- if he isn't calling/dating/sleeping with/marrying you, he isn't interested -- might have been written to describe my situation. And shortly after I read it, the relationship, if that's what it was, fizzled out.

Now that rule, and a set of scenarios akin to the ones in the book, are being played out on the big screen in the movie version of He's Just Not That Into You.

Which, let's just say, is a cheesy, predictable rom-com. It does an OK job of showing how crazy some girls can get about men -- how we'll analyze a boy's every motion, every utterance of a boy. Will he call me? Won't he? Will there be another date? I've been there, girls, and I'm here to tell you: Drop the hope and move on.

But here's what the movie misses: The aching loneliness a girl can feel after being rejected. The amount of strength it takes to get up and go to work the next day, with a smile, knowing that guy you're into won't be calling. And that maybe there won't be another date for another year. And that there's nothing you can do about it.

So $27.5 million? Sure. Because ultimately, I loved this movie -- if only because under all the cynicism, it's saying to young, vulnerable women: Ladies, you deserve a man who truly appreciates how fabulous you are.

Alison Bryce is a production assistant on NPR's arts desk.

categories: Books, Movies

12:37 - February 9, 2009

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