How do you know if he's just not that into you? Well, there's no easy answer to that question but I can tell you that if you drag his ass to this ridiculous movie and cop to liking it, there's a damn good chance he won't be that into you.

Essentially, "He's Just Not That Into You" is an intertwined series of love stories. It's a movie about falling in love, falling out of love, and looking for love as told through the eyes of an eclectic and eccentric group of twenty and thirty somethings.

Most of "He's Just Not That Into You" feels as if it were written by a woman who was scorned by one too many guys. At the surface, the film plays like a half ass therapy session and a petty way of lashing out at all the evil men in the world. That would be fine I suppose, but even the women in this picture aren't particularly well drawn.

"Love, Actually" is a far superior tale of intertwined love stories while "The Break Up" was much more honest in its depiction of...well...break ups. While "He's Just Not That Into You" boasts an impressive ensemble cast, many of these characters come across as more annoying than engaging. The bubbly Ginnifer Goodwin (of Big Love fame) is cute as the unlucky in love Gigi, but her complete and utter stupidity kept me from really feeling bad for her. Bradley Cooper appears as Ben, and for a brief time, it appears as if Ben might be a surprisingly complex character, but then the screenplay chickens out and opts to turn him into a one dimensional dumb ass. The usually dependable Jennifer Connelly appears as Ben's neurotic, stressed out wife Janine, and she simply feels out of place. Seriously! I'm convinced that Janine accidentally wandered into this picture from an entirely different movie. Scarlett Johansson is drop dead gorgeous, but her free spirit Anna is nothing but a home wrecker. Justin Long actually plays against type here appearing as Alex, a cocky know- it-all, convinced he has all the right answers. The problem is, Alex is so seemingly egomaniacal that I never once wished him any sort of happiness. Drew Barrymore is halfway decent as sweet Mary, a gal who spends most of her time trying to hook up with guys via the internet. Of the entire cast, it is Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston who shine brightest, but perhaps that's because their sub plot is the only one that has any sort of warmth, depth, or truth to it. Ironically, Affleck and Aniston only share about fifteen minutes of collective screen time in a film that runs an overly long two hours and five minutes.

Generally, I don't like my romantic comedies this offensive and mean spirited. Sure, there's the occasional funny moment and every now again, the movie has a clever line to throw at the audience, but in the end, it seems like the harder "He's Just Not That Into You" struggles to find truth and sincerity, the more it fails.

Then in a last ditch effort to persuade the audience just how cute and clever it is, "He's Just Not That Into You" pays homage to the John Hughes scripted "Some Kind of Wonderful" by suggesting that perhaps Gigi will meet the same romantic fate as Eric Stoltz's Keith Nelson. But then, the film has the sheer audacity to suggest that this can't happen because this is real life. Real life? Are you kidding me? What a crock! "Some Kind of Wonderful" has more heart, charm, and sincerity in it's opening credits than this film does in its entire running time.

I suppose I'm making "He's Just Not That Into You" sound like a worthless pile. The truth is, I have seen far worse romantic comedies (i.e. "Fool's Gold"), and I'm willing to bet this one is better than "Bride Wars". Still, with this cast, I expected something far better. I didn't mind so much that "He's Just Not That Into You" attempted to go into edgy directions, but it should have done so with a little more honesty, and a lot more finesse. In the end, the majority of "He's Just Not That Into You" plays like a cartoon. An unnecessarily long cartoon.