Director: Ken Kwapis (The Office, Malcolm in the Middle)Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love, Walk the Line), Bradley Cooper (Alias, Wedding Crashers), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Labyrinth), Scarlett Johansson (The Prestige, Match Point), Justin Long (Accepted, Dodgeball), Kevin Connolly (Entourage, Unhappily Ever After), Jennifer Aniston (Friends, Marley & Me), Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Armageddon), Drew Barrymore (Charlie's Angels, 50 First Dates), Kris Kristofferson (Blade)
The Deal: A group of women and men try to interpret the signals the sexes exchange. Gigi (Goodwin) imagines every man could be Mr. Right, but meets a bartender, Alex (Long), who explains what the signals actually mean. Janine (Connelly) and Ben (Cooper) seem happily married, but Ben meets Anna (Johansson) who wants Ben for herself. Neil (Affleck) and Beth (Aniston) have dated for seven years, but he doesn't believe in marriage while she does. Connor (Connolly) loves Anna, but she doesn't harbor the same feelings. Mary (Barrymore) sells advertising while searching for men online. They all are trying to find love, but who will they end up with and what will they discover about themselves.
Thoughts: The film attempts to tackle the complex world of relationships, and it both succeeds and fails in the process, which I will cover later. The biggest problem with the story is its slow gossipy pace. Men will feel like nothing is happening most of the time while women will be fixated on the "gripping" story. It sports a massive cast of who's who in Hollywood, which is nice as there is eye candy for almost anyone's taste.
Instead of breaking down all of the performances, which would take forever, I'll focus one the three characters I thought were the best in the film. First up is Gigi, played admirably by Ginnifer Goodwin. I can't count how many times I've met girls just like her in real life, and her character plays out accordingly in the film. Next up are Neil and Beth, played quite well by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston. Their relationship is stressed because Ben doesn't believe in marriage, but he does believe in commitment. Aniston channels some of her real life struggles as her character desperately wants marriage and can't understand the difference Neil sees. They split up only to realize that they truly did love each other, and both become willing to compromise in order to be with each other.
Relationships are complicated, and the film makes a valiant attempt to address these issues. It doesn't shy away from heartbreak, divorce, affairs, desperation, and actual love. It takes common real life emotions and plays them out before your eyes quite believably for most of the film. The problem with its approach is two fold. First, everyone gets a happy ending. Through all of the hardships, every character comes away better and happier from it. It doesn't play out this way in real life all of the time, and it would have been nice to see at least one mediocre to sad ending for a character. Second, everyone is filthy stinking rich (boats, expensive artwork, fancy apartments, etc). This is not to say rich people don't experience this, but it would be nice to have events play out with people living average lives. They all have what seems to be their dream job with lots of money and perks, which prevents many viewers from completely connecting with characters. The emotions are there, but not the lifestyles.
Verdict: An admirable attempt to explain the complexities of relationships, but the film moves slowly at times. Women will love it, men will loathe it. ☆☆☆
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