He's Just Not That Into You' lacks depth

    It's snappy. It's emotional. It sheds some light on the mysterious male mind. It delves into the dating scene of the late '20s and early '30s. And it has nine protagonists.
    "He's Just Not That Into You" is "Crash" (2004) meets "Sex and the City" (2008). It delivers the goods in a funny and moving romantic comedy, revolving around nine (again, nine) characters, each in the midst of romantic turmoil. A star-studded cast, including the likes of Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore, portrays unhappy souls living in and around Baltimore, most of whom paired into couples. There are loose connections between all of the characters, but, unfortunately, not in any witty or satisfying way
    Comparisons can certainly be drawn to "Love Actually" (2003). The audience follows several serious couples and a few seriously single people as their relationships and personal lives fall apart over the course of the movie. In the end, some of these relationships are rekindled and some of these characters find new love. But, surprisingly for a romantic comedy, not everyone winds up with a happy ending.
    Ginnifer Goodwin plays the lead among leads as Gigi, a hopelessly romantic young woman with somehow-endearing, stalker-like qualities. Drew Barrymore holds the least amount of screen time and importance as Mary, a single magazine editor.
    Adapted from former "Sex and the City" story editor Liz Tuccillo and Greg Behrendt's best-selling self-help book for women of the same name, the movie is unsurprisingly filled with advice about men for single girls. There are tips for single guys, too, but fewer of them. This guidance can be drawn not only from dialogue between characters, but from interesting and unexpected cuts to tiny confessional vignettes that act similarly to chapter markers. In these peculiar moments, short quotes such as "if she's not sleeping with you…" are taken from the film and displayed as text, followed by comedic, direct-to-the-audience commentary by bitter and presumably single characters who are unrelated to the plot of the film and never appear again. These are similar to moments in numerous "Sex and the City" episodes and in "When Harry Met Sally" (1989).
    "He's Just Not That Into You" is funny, bordering on really funny, especially if one is surrounded by the contagious laughter of giggling females. Men in the audience will laugh as well, perhaps in spite of their supposedly predisposed disdain for chick flicks. But the film has its flaws. Its biggest downside is that there are simply too many characters to be portrayed with equal complexity. Many of them and their relationships are severely underdeveloped. Drew Barrymore's character, for example, seems only to serve as a vehicle for social commentary as she laments the digital age and its negative impact on romance. With Facebook.com, Myspace.com and e-mail readily available, when do we ever meet people face to face anymore?
    Many of the men's relationships are poorly crafted. The friendships between Affleck and Bradley Cooper's characters and between those of Kevin Connolly and Justin Long are superficial and barely given any screen time
    But these faults can be forgiven, as the film is funny and manages to tell the stories of so many characters.
    Perhaps even more than on its humor, the film relies on outstanding and emotionally evocative performances by Aniston, Affleck and most of all by Connelly, who far and away provides the finest performance as a 30-something wife struggling to keep her marriage together in the midst of her husband's infidelity. She undergoes the most emotional drama, at times taking the film out of the romantic comedy genre and into something more serious.
    "He's Just Not That Into You" is a solid rom-com and an enjoyable watch. And guys: Don't take a date to see it if you're not that into her… it could get awkward.