How Do You Know (March 28, 2011, #71)
Approx. Run Time: 121 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson
James L. Brooks only picks certain products, to attach his name to, more often than not, as a producer. Most notable is As Good As It Gets the romantic dramedy that performed strong at the 1997 Academy Awards. He also has his name on a certain animated show, about a dysfunctional family from Springfield: The Simpsons. So, when he picks a project, it’s usually a good idea to pay attention… usually.
Lisa (Witherspoon) is the heart and soul of the USA’s ladies softball team, with a new coach on board, her future is about to get shaken. She falls for womanizer Matty (Wilson), who plays pro baseball. Meanwhile George (Rudd), is a businessman about to take the fall for his father’s (Nicholson) company. George and Lisa meet by chance, and soon something begins to develop their. Lisa soon has to decide who will be better for her, and both guys try their hardest to win her over.
This movie had potential, from the cast, to the story, to the director. But, much like its characters, the movie had a hard time formulating what it wanted to say, and took too much time spitting it out.
Reese was her normal, cute self, and Paul Rudd was handsome and bumbling, yet they had terrible chemistry together. Most of their scenes together felt forced, and unnatural. Nicholson was just there, going through the motions. Owen Wilson was the only person to truly excel in this film.
The story had potential to be a good, romantic comedy. Yet it fell into the same routines that every other romantic comedy falls into. Some of the dialogue written in this film is fantastic, but there was just too much. A good fifteen or twenty minutes could have been cut, and this movie would have been much better.
The title asks, “How do you know?” Well, if the question is really, “How do you know this film is terrible?” Then, by all means, “Let me count the ways.”
Final Decree 5 out of 10
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