t’s a terribly disappointing moment when you are watching a movie directed by a very good director with very likable actors and you realize the movie is terrible. It’s even worse when you can’t quite pinpoint what is the downfall of the movie. Unfortunately that’s where I was with “How Do You Know”. The movie is directed by James L. Brooks, who directed the excellent “As Good as it Gets” and the even better “Broadcast News”. It stars Kansas City boy Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson. Between the director and the actors it sounds like a can’t miss hit….but it’s not– at least I don’t think it is.
The movie centers on Reese Witherspoon’s character, a pro softball player who early on finds out she has been cut from the USA Softball team because the coaches consider her past her prime at 31. She’s dating a stud pitcher for the Washington Nationals (Owen Wilson) and has recently had a few run ins with Paul Rudd’s character who is being indicted for corporate malfeasance. So everyone has problems. First, all of them are good in this movie, as they usually are. I think part of the problem is that none of the characters are particularly likable.
Brooks gets the most out of his actors but a huge part of the problem lies with the script, which he is unfortunately credited as writing. With any movie though, especially something like this where its about, I guess, “real people”, you want to feel like you can identify with them in some way. But these people are jerks. Sure, it has a lot to do with what each of them are going through. Maybe it would have been better if we got to see the same characters at a different time in their lives.
Another part of the problem is that it is largely focused on Reese Witherspoon’s character when Paul Rudd’s character is probably the most likable and interesting of the three. Every time it cuts to her whining to Owen Wilson about how she is sad but doesn’t want to talk about it, you really wish it would go back to Paul Rudd and his father…Jack Nicholson.
“How Do You Know” is a fitting title for this movie because it begs the question of ‘How Do You Know’ when a movie has gone terribly wrong, even when the movie seems perfectly fine. It’s watchable and interesting but also rather annoying at the same time. Kind of a weird one for me. I’m just not sure where I stand on this one. I guess in the end is all that matters is that the movie is entertaining and uplifting. On that alone, I would suggest it but it may fall in the either you love it or hate it category.
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How Do You Know trailer: