So the latest chick flick falling into the romantic comedy category starring a list of Hollywood’s hottest celebrities might not bring anything new to the table in the complex field of dating and relationships, but it surely tries to simplify the subject enough for everyone to get it.

Based on Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo's popular relationship advice book, the multilayered story follows the lives of nine interconnected Baltimore residents making their way through relationships. During a 2 hour run, the flick attempts to cover all the ground on why men and women fail to connect, in spite of the changing traditional moral values and all the facilitating technology provided by cellphones, text messaging and emailing.

Starting with the very beginning of male-female bonding, the story starts on a playground with a 6-year-old girl being socked in the arm by a 6-year-old boy, and actress Ginnifer Goodwin providing the narration.

As the mother wipes her daughter's tears, she explains that the boy hit her because he likes her, forever dooming her daughter to reinterpret every interaction with any boy she’ll ever meet and seek for hidden meanings in every word they say.

Screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein applied the concept put forth by Behrendt and Tuccillo’s book, which stemmed from one line of dialogue in a 2003 episode of “Sex and the City.” In the original episode, one of the four leading ladies, Miranda Hobbes, discusses a date she had with a man, who refused her invitation upstairs, with her friends, and also gets a male’s (much more simplified) perspective coming from Carrie Bradshaw’s boyfriend, if the guy doesn’t want to come upstairs, it means he’s simply not interested.

Regardless of their schedule the next day, or whatever excuses men usually use to end a date, if they’re interested in a woman they will always (with very few exceptions) accept their “coffee invitation” inside, at the end of a date.

“He’s Not That Into You” is a complex assembly of stereotypical characters and situations, starting with the newly married couple, Janine (Jennifer Connelly) and Ben (Bradley Cooper), to a seductive and self-confident yoga instructor named Anna (Scarlett Johansson) to the longtime unmarried couple Neil (Ben Affleck) and Beth (Jennifer Aniston), who face turmoil when Beth decides she really does want that ring, and ending with Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), the desperately needy single girl, who represents the catalyst for much of the movie.

The chain starts with Gigi, who goes on a date with a cuddly real estate agent, Connor (Kevin Collolly). While she is breathlessly waiting for his call, he’s really interested in Anna, who is into bad-boy Ben, who is married to Janine, who fears she’s losing her husband.
Ben's close friend, nice guy Neil has been in a seven-year relationship with beloved Beth. Although he insists that she’s the one, he draws the line at marriage claiming he doesn't want to ruin a good thing, which never sets right with Beth.

On the other end of the string, Connor’s best friend, a womanizer called Alex (Justin Long), tries to help Gigi understand that Conor is never going to call her, brutally letting her in on the little secret that, if someone is interested in her, they will stop at nothing. In other words, if he doesn't call, it's not because he lost her number, or was hit by a bus. He simply didn't want to call, get over it.

Playing the outsider, Anna’s sweet best friend Mary (Drew Barrymore), is trapped behind the high-tech communications wall, constantly wondering what happened to real life interaction and small talk after she appears to attract only slick operators.

While the book’s point can simply be summarized in “don’t waste your time if you’re not getting what you should out of a relationship,” the movie fails to follow the point suggesting instead that women are drama queens, with a gene for deluding themselves.