Book Versus Movie

I did skim the book He's Just Not That Into You (three and a half stars total) when a coworker left it on her desk. The movie's better, probably longer to watch than the book is to read, but at least it's not as repetitive. And it's got a soundtrack too - Talking Heads, Lily Allen, Human League, and The Cure. My favorite part was the background clip and plot connection with one of my favorite movies of all time, Some Kind of Wonderful. The real question is whether the movie offers anything more for guys who already know everything from the book, and the answer is probably not. I still enjoyed it, but only in the same way I enjoy well-acted infomercials. The faux-testimonials after each of the movie's "chapter intros" are the funniest bits of the whole thing. As an aside, if you saw Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting (I never can remember that title), then you know that his true strength is comedy and he should just give up drama (especially romance), except for directing things like Gone Baby Gone. Alas, his character was Mr. Mopey here.

What was most difficult for me was keeping track of all the characters (I had to make a chart while watching both versions of The Women too). I found it easiest to do this by noting who made more public displays of affection (marriage, talking on the phone, sensitivity) versus who made more private displays of affection (sex, housechores, honesty). For the record, I personally don't believe that one type of affection is more important than another, but different people prioritize differently. If it helps or at the very least entertains you, here is my official He's Just Not That Into You character breakdown: there were nine main characters, four men and five women, but we'll cut Drew Barrymore because her character doesn't do anything, which leaves us with an even eight. I divided the remaining characters into four groups of two people each (if you want to draw your own table, it's just a square with two columns and two rows). I put the men on the left column and the women on the right column, those who emphasized public displays of affection on the top row and those who emphasized private displays of affection on the bottom. If I've lost you by this point, you can appreciate how most guys feel trying to make logical sense of most chick flicks. It's funny (and not just for the obvious "I made a nerdy chart" reason) to note that none of the characters in the same axis really interact with each other, only with people in others.

Axis I: Men in Public
Kevin Connolly - the real estate agent; calls girls he's into and/or tries to move in with them
Bradley Cooper - the cheater; all ulterior motives

Axis II: Women in Public
Jennifer Aniston - suppresses what she wants for herself
Jennifer Connelly - never questions what her partner really wants

Axis III: Men in Private
Ben Affleck - won't settle down, but will listen when spoken to and do the dishes
Justin Long - the bartender; both the most likable and least believable character; I don't however believe that honesty and sensitivity have to be mutually exclusive

Axis IV: Women in Private
Ginnifer Goodwin - the main girl; desperate, desperate, desperate, to the point of public humiliation
Scarlett Johansson - prefers sex and honesty to respect for marriage and sensitivity, at least until the end (sorry, PLOT SPOILER)