Remember all those wonderful little romantic comedies from the nineties? Remember when the box office was full of Nora Ephron’s classic movies like “You’ve Got Mail”? This is not that kind of romantic comedy. “He’s Just Not That Into You” functions as a kind of tutorial video on what not to do in relationships, a vehicle for lessons on dating in the twenty-first century. The occasional documentary-style interviews with random (and often amusingly insane) people about their dating histories are one of the more enjoyable aspects of the film. This format helps balance the various intersecting storylines. In the technical sense, Ken Kwapis’ rom-com is a success, but the thematic elements of the film are questionable at best.

The first 75 minutes or so of the film are like a slap in the face to feminism. Nearly every female character is either annoying, idiotic, psychotic, or some combination of the three. The implication that these women should represent the entire gender is both offensive and perplexing. The message appears to be that women’s failure at dating is their own damn fault, and while the film makes some good points, the wisdom is overshadowed by its presumptuous nature and subtle (albeit unintentional) misogyny.

The majority of the men are portrayed as the voices of reason (aside from the cheating husband), while the women struggle with their relationships. Ginnifer Goodwin’s character is a pathetically clueless woman who does everything wrong when it comes to dating. Justin Long is spot-on when he likens her to a basset hound: both are hopelessly stupid and have sad eyes. Goodwin’s performance is so good, though, that I really truly believe she is as desperate and delusional as her character.

Even more annoying than Goodwin is Scarlett Johansson’s character, the ever-so-clichéd sexy yoga instructor home-wrecker. It’s hard to say whether if the character is flat and obnoxious by nature or if Johansson herself just can’t give the role the depth it needs. The rest of the ensemble cast, however, delivers stellar performances even when the story falters. Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck display their usual understated awesomeness, and Justin Long stretches his acting chops as the cad with a heart. Bradley Cooper portrays the cheating husband perfectly, with all the fear, giddy excitement, desire, and guilt of a man on the wrong side of a moral dilemma. The above-average acting simply cannot make up for what most of the characters lack in substance.

What should be the culmination of all the characters’ journeys of self-discovery and evolution is actually a disappointing climax. When Goodwin’s moment of clarity finally arrives, she realizes that if a guy doesn’t call you, it’s because (wait for it) “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Unfortunately, it just isn’t enough to redeem her character. Jennifer Connelly and Scarlett Johansson have similar moments where they break out of their stupors and finally stand up for themselves. As satisfying as it is to witness these women’s epiphanies and catharses, it doesn’t make up for the rest of the film. The most frustrating aspect of this misguided movie is that nearly every knot in the tying-up of loose ends completely contradicts the message of the movie, making you wonder, what was the point? In the end, I’m just not that into this movie.