What was i thinking ?  I am the consummate romantic, the believer in love, that it can happen to anyone, anytime at any age.  Being a jeweler has jaded my perspective on this topic.  I had avoided seeing this movie until quite actually there really wasn't anything other than the remake of Friday the 13th and I can think of no more useless movie that a pointless slasher flick. ( The number one gross this week too...sad commentary )

So we take a fairly good ensemble cast including :

 Ben Affleck,  Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly,Ginnifer Goodwin, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Connolly, Justin Long and an assorted array of people all talking, talking, talking, about men that just can't commit to a relationship.

They are married and feel trapped and what to venture out and cheat.   Ben,  Bradley Cooper, is married to Janine, Jennifer Connelly, and meets and yearns for Anna, Scarlett Johansson. Janine is obsessed with truth and seems to almost more concerned that Ben had stopped smoking rather than the fact he is cheating on her.  But it isn't all one sided.  Anna on the other hand is looking for Mr. Right and has a boyfriend Conor, Kevin Connolly  but he is still not enough by her standards.  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH......... Scarlett I have two words for you. Salad Bar.  Coming from someone that used to be thin and almost doubled in weight, has struggled to make even modest loses, it literally kills me to see young people gain weight over the years.

Drew Barrymore to her credit has been producing movies that although are not anything significant in the art and drama section are all making money! This one will most likely has survived and will do that too.

If you can get the title you'll get the film.  To woo the guys to the movie so it not "just" a chick flick, I have to vote for Justin Long's character and the semi counseling sessions as his character Alex  with Gigi, Ginnifer Goodwin who is pathetic in her longing for a mate.  There are scenes of her on a date, stopping to run into a bathroom, and call Alex for advice in a situation that are comedic.  Another is bluntness with no sensitivity over drinks that literally I could never do and was very very blunt. 

The most real characters and situations I thought are Neil, played by Ben Affleck and Beth by Jennifer Aniston.  Ben loves and is committed but ring shy. He is by far the most self assured, loving mate but is quite happy not being married and actually rationalizes why they should not have to worry about it.  Beth on the other hand one day just can't stand it, and brings the relationship to an ultimatum.  A gamble that doesn't pay off.  Not until a heart attack of her father does she see how much better a husband he is not being married to her than all the other husbands of her sisters.  Sadly the movie will not leave it alone and in the end there is a change of heart from Ben that I doubt should take place, but this is a " happy ending" chick flick.

The other relationship is one that happens Gigi and Alex.  Alex not even knowing it has fallen for Gigi.  She gets that he is into her but he fails to see it and in one moment when you think that relationship is going to go somewhere he kills it.  Gigi stands up for herself and defends her actions.  I liked the line that, and I have to Paraphrase here, she basically says as sad a case as she is with all her hopefulness, openness and hope fr love, in spite of all the setbacks and emotional drama that goes into dating, she was closer to finding a mate than he was.  No matter how you slice it he is just...alone.  I happen to agree with her.  She is in the game and playing whatever hand she can, with honesty and openness.  A little crazy, zany, obsessive but she is on the field and playing the cards she has.  There is something to be said for that.

In my profession I have helped teenagers that were childhood sweethearts and yes they last sometimes thank you.  I have married old men to young women and older women to young men, very old people marrying are the cutest.  Even my mother at age 73 got re-married and is happy as can be.  Then I have had a lot people that are not exceptions to any rule, just regular folk with as many funny stories on how they met and how the romance developed as there are people.  Some of the most remarkable weddings and marriages have come from the Internet!  I would have never guessed, but when people are honest and play their cards with integrity and have a goal which is marriage and a life mate the Net can improve the pool of people.  Math and statistics stupid.  I didn't get it at first but had to witness it over the years.  My all time favorite was one day two old men in their 70's one had severe balance problems and needed and assistant to help him around the store, the other had an advanced case of  Parkinson's disease and was really having trouble moving at all.  Both were buying gifts for a 50th anniversary.  The real story was in the eyes!  I get goose bumps just thinking about the eyes.  These eyes were from young men, diligently with a lot of care , picking out just the right gift for there love, like it was the first time they had ever given them a gift.  All their heart, all their love where in the eyes. God bless them.  So that is what I thought of at the end.

So I guess I had a good time, even though I didn't really like the movie, it's assumptions, some of the relationships turned me off, and some of them I thought went where they did because the audience was expecting it to.

However the biggest argument from me was the the dialog on exceptions.  Alex and Gigi are talking about all the women that "think" they are going to be the exception to the rule and never are, they are the rule.  I beg to differ.  I think every relationship is the exception and never the rule.  For every wedding and long term marriage goes against the odds today.  For every happy ending there is always an exception.