NYT Defense

This is a link to a film review of “He’s Just Not That Into You” by Manohla Dargis that was in Friday’s paper: http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/movies/06into.html?ref=movies

Dargis aptly reviews the film through the lenses of gender representation, and does so in a smooth and informative manner.

She compares the movie to other representations of gender for the first half of the review. While Dargis doesn’t get to her actual “but” right away, her use of these other devices let’s readers know that she’s not impressed by the female representation offered by the film. Her “but” is very clear: after comparing the movie to a children’s song, she writes “Such is more or less the reductive case in “He’s Just Not That Into You,” which is based on an obnoxious so-called advice book…”

She weaves her thoughts about the acting into her other thoughts on the film, and does an impressive job of taking on the large cast by fittingly separating the actors by gender. Her tone is mocking and funny, and suggests that her review may be more entertaining than the film itself.

Dargis’s overall structure is well done, and her bookend in the piece allows her to go out with a bang. Her piece is intellectually enlightening and educates readers about than just the film, proposing that there is something there worth thinking about, though it’s not the story on screen.