Love, like, and some dislike are all in the air at the boxoffice this weekend as the highly anticipated and star-studded He's Just Not That Into You hits theaters. Based on the best-selling book of the same title by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, the movie takes some of the real-life relationship issues discussed in the book and creates an intricate web of singles and couples and the completely dysfunctional ways they try to love, marry, and break-up. A sure crowd-pleaser, He's Just Not That Into You is an amusing and humorous chick flick aimed at nabbing all the date night couples heading to the movies in the coming weeks.

As the film opens we are reminded of a classic piece of advice given to girls at a very early age that apparently sticks well into the adult years: If a boy is mean to you, it means he likes you. So begins the endless saga of miscommunication, misinterpretation, and mind games associated with dating and relationships. The movie, in similar fashion to the book, is separated into different sections all designed to help men and women try to decipher the hidden meanings behind why the opposite sex does what they do: why they don't call you back, why they won't date you, why they won't marry you, why they won't sleep with you, why they sleep with someone else. Each character represents one of the many various stages dating and relationships often take.

First, there is Gigi, a main character and sometimes narrator of the film, who is feverishly looking for Mr. Right, but is far too caught up in the hidden meanings behind what guys do to even notice when a guy really actually does like her. Then there's Beth and Neil who have been together for seven years, but Neil doesn't believe in marriage and will not ask Beth to marry him, which is driving her away. There's Ben and Janine who married before they were ready, leading Ben to a poorly thought-out affair with Anna. There's Conor who has casually been dating Anna and desperately wants to take their relationship to the next level but doesn't know how to accomplish that. There's Mary who is having a hard time creating a relationship with a real person in a world full of technological advances that make it more than possible to never actually speak to anyone face to face. And finally, there is Alex who is so convinced he has women and their mind games all figured out that he has actually become completely incapable of having a romantic relationship at all.

Seeing how the world of romantic relationships has become an intricate minefield of confusion is more than slightly amusing. Some of the ways in which subtle meanings are misconstrued are downright hilarious. Some are horrifying. I never realized how much emphasis could be placed on something as simple as a smile, a phone call, or a phrase like "nice meeting you." It makes me think about how much we do that to our Heavenly Father without even realizing it. We pray and suddenly start looking for all these hidden subtleties in the things around us. We think maybe He told us one thing but what He actually means is something else. Even more damaging, we start to think He's just too busy doing other things. When we wait longer than we think we should have to for an answer to prayer or get an answer we don't like or agree with, we start to think maybe He doesn't care anymore. Maybe He just doesn't know what we need... or what if He just simply forgot to call us back?

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