Ken Kwapis is Just Not That Into You

by Mallory Potosky | Published February 5, 2009

What are the top 10 things that come to mind with the release of every new romantic comedy? Do you think of all the makeover montages (á la Bridget Jones’s Diary), the singing into random objects (like in 13 Going on 30) or the quirky, sardonic or sassy best friend (think Rosie O’Donnell in Sleepless in Seattle)? There’s also the one night stand that turns out to be the new boss, sliding down a wall while crying, elderly who say inappropriate things, shots of heads falling into the frame and landing on pillows, speeches to win over the girl, a falling in love montage and the chase to stop someone from doing something or going somewhere.

Romantic comedies have become formulaic and anything but appealing to the smart moviegoer. There is, of course, the occasional breakout movie that exceeds all expectations. But those are few and far between. Earlier comedies like The Philadelphia Story and Annie Hall wouldn’t be able to compete at the box office with the likes of Sex and the City: The Movie. But what if the best of these movies combined? It would probably result in a smart, funny, relatable story for both sexes. It would probably result in something like He’s Just Not That Into You.

Based on the book of the same name, which was inspired by one line of dialogue from “Sex and the City,” He’s Just Not That Into You is about the connections—romantic and otherwise—between nine Baltimore, Maryland residents. Guiding the ensemble of actors, which includes Ginnifer Goodwin (“Big Love”), Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly (“Entourage”), Bradley Cooper (Yes Man) and Scarlett Johansson, is director Ken Kwapis.

Known largely for his work with television ensembles, Kwapis helmed the pilot episodes of such television comedies as “The Office,” “The Bernie Mac Show” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” Each, he says, “are unique in that they’re not about jokes, they’re about behavior and tone.” Much like He’s Just Not That Into You, “what stands out is the sense that comedy comes from how well we can observe behavior.”

Among the director’s other projects that have “observed behavior” are Sexual Life, an independent movie he wrote and directed starring an ensemble of actors that included Elizabeth Banks and Tim Weber, the movie adaptation of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and He Said, She Said. Here, Kwapis shares his thoughts on the behaviors that led to his latest movie.

Mallory Potosky (MM): You’ve worked on a movie that was based on a book before—and that’s common—but the book that this movie is based on doesn’t have an actual storyline. Did it prepare you at all to read the book before hand?

Ken Kwapis (KK): Well, I definitely read the book and what I realized was what we were making was a film where, in a way, the main character isn’t so much a character but a theme. Actually, that’s not a very good way to put it. It’s almost like the film is constructed like a piece of music with a theme in variations. But it definitely helped to read the book; just this whole idea of misreading signals can play out in different aspects of our lives.

MM: The book is based on a line from “Sex and the City” so it already has that female interest and it’s going to be marketed as a romantic comedy. Do you think that the final result will appeal to both genders?

KK: Oh yeah. I mean, I think the book was aimed squarely at women but the film attempts to represent men and women fairly equally. I think that the film shows that men are—can be—just as confounded by signs of women and that there are just as many men who pine after and are rebuffed by women as there are the opposite. Certainly Kevin Connolly’s character is smitten and so adores Scarlett Johansson, yet she’s really not that into him. Kevin is sort of like her default if something better doesn’t come through. I think that it might take a little more work to get guys to see it…

MM: But in the end…

KK: Well, I think once they’re there… for instance I think there’s a difference between romantic comedy and a film that kind of excludes men. I don’t think a lot of men were interested in Sex in the City: The Movie for instance. But I know a lot of men that would go see a film like an Annie Hall or a When Harry Met Sally. I don’t think romantic comedy, per se, is only for women. I also, weirdly enough, don’t really think of the film as a romantic comedy.

MM: It’s definitely not so in the traditional way, like the movies that are coming out now.

KK: I think this was our hope in developing the script and how we executed this. We wanted to, first of all, avoid certain rom-com clichés. We even shot a little promo that you can find online, entitled “10 Chick-Flick Clichés That Are Not In He’s Just Not That Into You.” It’s something that Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper and Justin Long and I put together in order to make guys less apprehensive about coming to see our film.

In adapting the book into the film we tried to do a number of things. One was to keep it very real. If you asked the female cast members what their favorite costume was, they’d probably scratch their heads cause it’s not that kind of film. It’s not a costume show. There are no scenes where people shop. We tried, on every level—photography, costume design, production design—to make these characters feel as real as possible, as relatable as possible, as successful as possible. And, by the way, for a director with a cast of very glamorous and, frankly, very beautiful people, it was hard.

The book really has a lot to do with rejection. But how do you take a group of people like Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Connelly and make them, in effect, rejectionable? Well, the way to do it was to try to keep it as real as possible. In working with the cast, I encouraged everyone to think of me as someone who is simply there to eavesdrop in the lives of these characters, as opposed to thinking of themselves as putting on a show for me. This is really about, How can I create this feeling in an audience that you’re eavesdropping on the lives of real people?

One of the compliments I’ve received on the film is that people feel like they know these characters, they’ve met them or they’ve been there and done that. Some people said they wished the movie didn’t end because they love the company of these characters. I think a lot of it has to do with, for instance, there’s a lot of humor in the film but it is humor that sort of comes up from behavior instead of jokes…

MM: Or slapstick…

KK: There’s no slapstick, no gags, no physical comedy and by and large there’s no jokes. So many comedies, in film and television, run on jokes; that’s the fuel of the comedy. The rhythm of a comedy goes joke to joke. This film couldn’t be further removed in a way. It’s like there’s a lot of funny stuff but then it will turn on a dime and become sort of heartbreaking in the blink of an eye. It’s very emotionally difficult for these characters.