He’s Just Not That Into You **1/2

Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly, Kris Kristofferson
Director: Ken Kwapis
Running Length: 2:05
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Gigi (Goodwin) is getting dating advice from Alex (Long). Beth (Aniston) has been living with her boyfriend Neil (Affleck) for years, but he shows no signs of proposing marriage. Janine (Connelly) and Ben (Cooper) are married and have just bought a new house; but Ben is cheating on her with Anna (Johansson). Anna is currently seeing Connor (Connolly), but it isn’t that serious.

Like “Love, Actually” before it, “He’s Just Not That Into You” weaves multiple, related storylines together dealing with love and relationships. Unfortunately, it does not do so as well, and runs about fifteen minutes too long. There is a lot of star power here, and they do the best they can with what they are given, but only about half of the story lines work in any real way. Still, there is enough here to entertain many. This is best left for DVD if it must be seen.

50 First Dates ***

Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin, Rob Schneider, Blake Clark
Director: Peter Segal

Veterinarian Henry Roth (Sandler) is a player. He has made a habit of seducing tourists coming to Hawaii, where he lives. That is, until he meets Lucy (Barrymore). After spending a day together, they agree to meet again the next day for breakfast. One problem: when the next day comes, she doesn't remember him! It seems that she was in a car accident that caused her to be unable to retain short term memory. She remembers everything up to the accident, but forgets everything from the previous day. But a funny thing has happened: Henry is genuinely interested in Lucy. He begins to show up for breakfast every day, hoping she will eventually remember him. Sandler and Barrymore have great chemistry together, even better than in their previous effort together, "The Wedding Singer". Sandler's Henry is sweet in his pursuit of the forgetful Lucy. There are some plot holes that can be forgiven for a movie of the type, and the end doesn't cheat the audience with an easy solution. And, of course, this is a good date movie for the Valentine's season.