He’s Just Not That Into You
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He s Just Not That Into You is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo s 2004 self-help book of the same name. It follows nine people and their varying romantic problems. Gigi, a common thread amongst the characters, is followed more closely than the other eight and has a more developed storyline as she consistently misreads all of her romantic partners behaviors. She meets Alex, who helps her to interpret signs given to her by her dates.

The ensemble cast includes Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Kris Kristofferson, and Justin Long. The film was produced by New Line Cinema and Flower Films, the production company owned by Barrymore, who was executive producer.

Production began in Baltimore in 2007. The film was released on February 6, 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures to mixed reviews. It grossed $27,785,487 on its opening weekend and over $178,866,158 worldwide.

Plot

Gigi, Conor and Alex

In Baltimore, Gigi repeatedly misreads the romantic interest of her dates.

Following a tepid date with real estate agent Conor Barry, Gigi is befriended by bar owner Alex, who suggests she misinterprets romantic signals. As their friendship continues, Gigi interprets his helpfulness as a sign he is attracted to her, but Alex rebuffs her, chastising her for ignoring his advice.

As Gigi moves on from Alex, he realizes he is in love with her. After leaving several unanswered messages, Alex arrives at Gigi s apartment after she returns from a pleasant date, and declares his love and they end up kissing.

Janine, Ben, and Anna

Gigi s co-worker, Janine Gunders, obsesses over her home renovations while her husband, Ben, becomes attracted to Anna Marks, a yoga instructor and aspiring singer. Ben and Anna pursue a flirtatious friendship under the pretense of him helping her establish a singing career. Ben reveals that he only married Janine after she delivered an ultimatum, saying that they should marry or break up. Ben agrees to only be friends with Anna, but she continues her pursuit until they sleep together.

Finding cigarette butts hidden in the back yard, Janine accuses Ben of smoking again, citing her father s death from lung cancer. Ben blames the workmen at their house. During a tense home improvement shopping trip, Ben confesses his infidelity. Devastated, Janine blames herself and wants to save their marriage; Ben seems less enthusiastic.

Later, Anna and Ben begin having sex in his office, when he gropes and strips her to her lingerie. They are interrupted by Janine, who arrives hoping to spice up their marriage. Forced to hide in a closet and listen as Ben and Janine have sex, Anna afterward leaves in disgust, ending her affair with Ben. As Janine tidies up Ben s clothes at home, she discovers a pack of cigarettes and explodes in anger. When Ben returns home, Janine is gone, leaving his clothes folded on the staircase with a carton of cigarettes and a note asking for a divorce. Janine moves into an apartment to restart her life, and Anna is seen performing at an upscale nightclub. Alone, Ben buys beer at the same supermarket where he met Anna.

Conor, Anna, and Mary

Anna enjoys a close friendship with Alex s friend, Conor. Though Anna wants a casual relationship, Conor misinterprets her playful affection as romantic interest.

Anna s friend, Mary Harris, works in advertising sales for a local gay newspaper and helps Conor promote his real estate business. Like Gigi, she meets many men, mostly online, but despite constantly monitoring her emails, pager, phone, and Myspace messages, her dates go nowhere.

While Conor attempts to cultivate a gay clientele, two gay men explain how he is going wrong with Anna. Taking their advice, Conor declares his love to Anna. Feeling vulnerable after her falling out with Ben, Anna agrees to a more serious relationship. When Conor later proposes buying a house and moving in together, Anna admits she does not want to and they return to being just friends.

Mary later runs into Conor, recognizing him from his ad photo and having only spoken to him over the phone. They hit it off, and start dating.

Beth and Neil

Gigi s co-worker, Beth Murphy, lives with her boyfriend Neil, a friend of Ben s. After seven years together, Beth wants to get married, but Neil opposes marriage. Gigi announces she will no longer misinterpret vague gestures and comments, and says that men who delay marrying likely never intend to. This spurs Beth to confront Neil, who remains adamant that he never wants to marry, and she breaks up with him.

Preparations for her younger sister s wedding reopen the issue after Beth hears backhanded comments from various family members. During the reception, her father Ken suffers a heart attack. Beth cares for him as he recuperates at home while her sisters wallow and their husbands remain glued to the television with constant takeout food. Beth s patience wanes as the household grows more dysfunctional, but Neil arrives with groceries and helps with chores. They reconcile, with Beth assuring Neil that she wants him back without being married. Neil later proposes, and they wed aboard his sailboat.

Cast

  • Ben Affleck as Neil
  • Jennifer Aniston as Beth
  • Drew Barrymore as Mary
  • Jennifer Connelly as Janine
  • Kevin Connolly as Conor
  • Bradley Cooper as Ben
  • Ginnifer Goodwin as Gigi
  • Scarlett Johansson as Anna
  • Kris Kristofferson as Ken Murphy
  • Justin Long as Alex
  • Wilson Cruz as Nathan
  • Hedy Burress as Laura
  • Sasha Alexander as Catharine
  • Leonardo Nam as Joshua
  • Busy Philipps as Kelli Ann

Production

Baltimore, Maryland, was selected for the setting of He s Just Not That Into You as an alternative to the common New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles settings of romantic comedies. In addition, screenwriter Marc Silverstein had lived in the city for several years prior to attending college. Exterior shots were filmed in the city for two weeks during November 2007. Interior scenes were filmed in Los Angeles.

The film was released on February 6, 2009, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Reception

Critical response

This section needs expansion with: reviews from critics. You can help by adding to it. (September 2019)

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 41% from critics based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. Its consensus reads, Despite the best efforts of a talented cast, He s Just Not That Into You devotes too little time to each of its protagonists, thus reducing them to stereotypes. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.

John Anderson of Variety wrote: No one has anything to distract them from the minutiae of their love lives, which they proceed to incinerate through overanalysis. It s a moral fable, maybe, if you make half a million a year.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: Here s a true S&M date movie. Only sadistic men and masochistic women could love it.

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film earned $27.8 million, topping the box office. Its total US gross amounted to $93,953,653 while internationally it grossed $84.4 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $178.4 million against a $40 million budget.

Accolades

Year Group Category Recipient Result
2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Romance
He s Just Not That Into You
Nominated
Choice Movie: Comedy Actress
Jennifer Aniston
Nominated
BMI Film & TV Awards BMI Film Music Award
Cliff Eidelman
Won
2010
People s Choice Awards Favorite Comedy Movie
He s Just Not That Into You
Nominated

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc was released on June 2, 2009. The Blu-ray version of the release includes a digital copy. It has grossed $26,350,178 in US DVD sales. The film was sold to E! for 4% of the film s domestic box office (~$3.6 million) for television broadcast after the opportunity passed for the USA Network and HBO to pick it up.

Music

Soundtrack

He s Just Not That Into You: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by

various artists
Released March 10, 2009
Label New Line

The soundtrack album was released on March 10, 2009, by New Line Records.

  • Although Scarlett Johansson is seen singing in her last scene of the film, the song she performs is not actually heard.
  • Eidelman s score cue is not included on the physical song CD; it is only part of its download release.

Score

He s Just Not That Into You: Original Motion Picture Score
Film score by

Cliff Eidelman
Released March 10, 2009
Length 31:55
Label New Line

The score for He s Just Not That Into You was composed by Cliff Eidelman, who recorded his score with an 80-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage. New Line Records released a score album.

Year 2009
ReleaseDate 2009-02-06
RuntimeMins 129
RuntimeStr 2h 9min
Plot This Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.
Awards Awards, 1 win & 4 nominations
Directors Ken Kwapis
Writers Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, Greg Behrendt
Stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly
Produced by Drew Barrymore, Michael Beugg, Michael Disco, Toby Emmerich, Nancy Juvonen, Gwenn Stroman, Michele Weiss
Music by Cliff Eidelman
Cinematography by John Bailey
Film Editing by Cara Silverman
Casting By Justine Arteta, Kim Davis-Wagner
Production Design by Gae S. Buckley
Art Direction by Andrew Max Cahn
Set Decoration by K.C. Fox
Costume Design by Shay Cunliffe
Makeup Department Germicka Barclay, Jamie Leigh DeVilla, Jorjee Douglass, Debra L. Ferullo, John E. Jackson, Silvina Knight, Sandra Linn Koepper, Miia Kovero, Angela Levin, Annabelle MacNeal, Chris McMillan, Anne Morgan, Rhonda O Neal, Barbara Olvera, Bunny Parker, Terry Robbins, Tina Roesler Kerwin, Kate Shorter, Heba Thorisdottir, Kim Urgel, Raqueli Dahan-Gonen, Annette Lorant, Robert Rapport
Production Management Robert J. Dohrmann, Erik Holmberg, Joe Incaprera, Rick Reynolds
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Kelly Cantley-Kashima, E. Langston Craig, Stephen P. Dunn, Paul Byrne Prenderville, Ken Twohy, Xanthus Valan, Anderson Vilien
Art Department Dawn Ascher-Trevino, Brook Bacon, Bryan Badman, Paul Baker, Jamie Bishop, Robert J. Carlyle, Chris Carriveau, Peggy Casey, Susan Chooljian, Denise Ciarcia, Michael Davis, Andrea Dietrich, Patrick T. Eagan, Richard Ewan, Jane Fitts, Elizabeth Flaherty, Jimmy Flores, Ellen Freund, Ceri Glowacki, William G. Hall, Jeff Hay, Billy Jilly Bones Jones, Eric Komala, James Kroning, Kay Kropp, Scott W. Leslie, James R. Lord, Eric Luling, Gregory Lynch Jr., John Millard, Howard Payne Miller, Ted Nolan, Kristina Parsons, Beth Petty, Sarah Regan, Bob Renna, Brent Rice, Lauren Ruggeri, Brent Smith, Michael Smith, Sharon Speller, Gary Stel, John Warnke, Maret Wicken, Randall D. Wilkins, Ben Woodworth, Tiffany Zappulla, David Agajanian, Matthew King, Jack White
Sound Department David Baldwin, John Cannon, Curt Cash, Jed M. Dodge, Jason George, Nerses Gezalyan, Richard Bryce Goodman, Glynna Grimala, David Holmes, Scott Jacobs, Daniel R. Kerr, Brian Magerkurth, Lorenzo Millan, James Moriana, Beauxregard Neylen, Mark Ormandy, Steve Pederson, Rocky Reilly, Geoffrey G. Rubay, Brian Seagrave, Brad Sherman, Greg Steele, Jon Title, Rich Toenes, Jeffrey Wilhoit, David Young, Greg Zimmerman
Special Effects by Larry Fioritto
Visual Effects by Michael Boggs, Gavin Miljkovich, James P. Noon, Prateep Siamwalla, Xye
Stunts Melissa R. Stubbs, Michael Ahl
Camera and Electrical Department Phillip Allard, Alex Applefeld, Dana Arnold, Paul Arnold, Ken W. Ballantine, John C. Barber, Art Bartels, Steven W. Blumenfeld, Sarah Brandes, Clyde E. Bryan, Kyle Buff, Jeff Callow, Kevin Vinnie Campbell, Bruce Chimerofsky, Fred Dale, Tulio Duenas, Jim Duggan, Phaedra Eason, Edwin Toby Eversole, Richard J. Fortkiewicz, David Gamble, David Golia, Joseph Graham, John R. Hamilton, Allen Harker, Matthew Haskins, Chris Henry, Tony Hibbard, William T. Iversen, Allan Scott Jackson, Timothy Jipping, Jimi Johnson, Philip Kathrens, Ted Lewis, Damon Marcellino, James M. McClure, Darren Michaels, Matthew Moriarty, Mike Moyer, George Santo Pietro, Aaron Schuh, Mike Shaheen, Suzanne Trucks, Sean Tuell, Wade Tyree, Darryl Wilson
Casting Department Michael Cohen, Dawn Marie Deibert, Rich King, Freya Krasnow, Meagan Lewis, Pat Moran
Costume and Wardrobe Department Kent Cummins, Deb Dalton, Catharine Fletcher Incaprera, Alyssa Kim, Jason M. Moore, Meredith J. Murray, Lisa D. Quercioli, Katie Saunders, Senna Shanti, Jennifer Day Young
Editorial Department Nic Angell, Gary Burritt, Mike Chiado, Jim Eberle, Jim Flynn, Joe Hathaway, Matt Maddox, Harry Muller, George Papuashvili, Katie Pastore, Gregory Plotkin, Khadijah Rashid, Richmond Riedel, Erik Rogers, Stefan Sonnenfeld, Taylor Black, Gregg Lang
Location Management Christine Bonnem, Kris Bunting, Benjamin Cantler, Todd Feaser, Jeffrey Garrett, John Latenser V, Kent Matsuoka, Matt V. Messina, Matthew Dillon Noonan, Marvin Ruffin, Michael Shanahan, Josh Slates, Shane Tunney
Music Department Dallas Aimer, Kim Baum, Tom Boyd, Danny Bramson, Julian Bratolyubov, Paul Broucek, Wade Culbreath, George Doering, Jay Duerr, Cliff Eidelman, Nic Harcourt, Will Kaplan, Brian Kilgore, Philip Klein, Penka Kouneva, Matt LaPoint, Jason Linn, David Low, Adam Olmsted, Bryan Pezzone, Kim Reese, Tim Rodier, Patrick Russ, Dennis S. Sands, Lori Silfen, Sally Stevens, Margarita Sullivan, James Thatcher, John F.X. Walsh, Warren Sherk
Script and Continuity Department Anne Rapp
Transportation Department John Agnew, Mike Belt, Neil Chisholm, Mark Dobkousky, Wayne Flowers Jr., J. Armin Garza II, Geno Hart, Chris Haynes, Kirk Huston, Zoa Keith, Hugh Kelly, Knut Kielpinski, Jay Krueger, Seth Levine, Michael Luckeroth, Hardy Ophuls, Marty Osborne, John Pellegrino, Adam Pinkstaff, William Smallwood, Gerald Titus, Frank Valle, Jay E. Vigil
Additional Crew Wendy Altman-Cohen, Cassandra Barbour, Dana Belcastro, Lisa Marie Boiko, Amber Bollinger, Zach Book, Lindsey Jayne Boyd, Bentley Gurparm Brar, Meghan Burchfield, Anna Burd, Unjoo Lee Byars, Allyn Camp, Matt Cannon, Chay Carter, Brian M. Chilcoat, David Chiu, Ann Christman, Taryn Cox, Mike Davis, Tiffany Donahue, Joseph Faulstich, Rob Fiks, Scott Foster, Marc C. Geschwind, Erica Getler, Emily Glatter, Sarah Grant, Kelly Hannon, Jeffrey Harris, Lauren Henry, Tom Holzhauer, Jeffro, Jeff Johnson, Douglas M. Jones, Chris Kerner, Matti Kluttz, Angela S. Lee, Hiromi Marder, Georgina Marquis, Andrew Matthews, Laura Maurer, Franka Mavrides, Jennifer Yee McDevitt, Carolyn Mcguinness, Weston Middleton, Keri Moorhouse, Michael Neipris, Mitul Patel, Emily Peachey, Amanda J. Powderly, Wendy Price, Katie Pruitt, Rebecca Rajkowski, Joshua Ravetch, Jacob N. Rhodes, Laura Sevier, B.J. Smith, Kelly Dean Smith, Kelsey Smith, Roland Sonnenburg, Joe Steele, Michael Swafford, Korin A. Tarin, Peter F. Tegan, Luther Trotter, Angelo Vacco, Leah Warshawski, Troy Witkovic, Ryan Young, Marc Garcia, Kazumi Nakamura, Guy Richardson, Gary Stone
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
Companies New Line Cinema, Flower Films (II), Internationale Filmproduktion Blackswan
Countries Germany, USA
Languages English
ContentRating PG-13
ImDbRating 6.4
ImDbRatingVotes 173219
MetacriticRating 47
Keywords lingerie slip,gay friend,reference to playstation 2,sex comedy,cigarette