Think Like a Man is based on the best selling book by Steve Harvey. I actually thought him being the author was part of the script. That should tell you how much I travel the relationship aisle of the book store… In spite of myself, I found this to be somewhat enjoyable. I say that because I have a looong standing aversion to romantic comedies. Why? I’m glad you asked… From my perspective, they suck. More on that later.

The premise is the women are tired of the way their relationships are going, and discover Steve Harvey’s book. The women follow the advice and get the men to fall in line. The men find out the women are using the book, and start to use it against them. The plot focuses on 5 (but should really be 6) men and the women they are interacting with. The Player, Zeke (Romany Malco). Self explanatory… Non Committal Guy, Jeremy (Jerry Ferrara). Jeremy has been dating Kristen (Gabrielle Union) for 9 years their place still looks like a frat house. The Dreamer, Dominic (Michael Ealy). He’s a great guy, changes careers often, with no real plans for the future. The Mama’s Boy, Michael (Terrence Jenkins). Soon to be Divorced Guy, Cedric (Kevin Hart). His character tends to go a bit over the top for me, and is one of the reasons I can’t totally invest. I laughed at your initial antics, move on. We get it. Quit milking the joke. Much like I am over emphasizing this topic. And finally, Happily married Guy, Bennett (Gary Owen). He is a balance of Cedric- witty, dry and straight to the point. And way under utilized.

What was so special about the predictable and formulaic love story that made me not hate it? You are so full of good questions today! I felt that portions were almost believable. If the “90 day rule” had not had such an onscreen presence, I could have overlooked the (less) compressed time frame that is such a reality killer in romantic comedies.  I won’t say the characters were totally developed, or that any performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination. I did laugh and it flowed pretty well. I probably over identified with too many of the situations, (except the mama’s boy). They seem to have left out Dated Too Many Crazy Women Guy. That would have been me!

I appreciated that some of the relationships were already in progress. Not everyone went from “Meet to Love” in 2.9 days. This is probably the biggest complaint I have about romantic comedies, couples falls in love too quickly, I cannot suspend that much reality. Star Trek has done a better job of making me believe that man can travel through space, and most other reaches are humanoid. Maybe its my belief structure. Having lived as long as I have, met as many women as I have, gone on as many dates as I have, it all seems like crap when they meet for 15 min and are instantly in LOVE! Add all sorts of issues that are only somewhat funny in movies, but would be intolerable in real life to the mix, and you might as well add a unicorn. The average romantic comedy should be rebilled as fantasy.

Many of the characters, men and women, had some sort of evolution. Granted, they were all on almost the exact same time line, and it came pretty conveniently, but there appeared to be some progress.