How Do You Know? Well Guess What, You Probably Never Will!

Director James L. Brooks is said to have researched the life of female athletes since 2005 before building up the character of Lisa Jorgensen played by Reese Witherspoon. Reputed as being a perfectionist (I hate that word as often under achievers, mediocre and averagely talented human beings hide behind the aura of genius which accompanies these so called perfectionists ), Brooks has indeed come out with some good films many years ago.
Terms Of Endearment made the whole world cry and Broadcast News is probably one of the best films made in recent times about the cruel world of media. However it is alarming to think that despite working on a film for nearly five years, Brooks directed one of the biggest box office flops of the year! In How Do You Know, his latest cinematic attempt, Witherspoon plays a softball star who despite being a great athlete and team player is going to be dropped from the National Team because of her age.
Small digression, please check and see if you can remember the title of the film a few minutes after watching it, a memory lapse is guaranteed. Enter Paul Rudd with his great blue eyes and charming smile. He is George, a businessman who is having an equally bad day as he finds himself in the midst of a federal investigation. His boss is his own father, the grandiose Jack Nicholson who looks absolutely terrible in the film and overacts to a maximum.
Anyway Lisa and George are set up by a friend despite the fact that both are romantically involved with ill suited parties. George has an over achieving, Indian girlfriend, who, let’s not be afraid of clichés is a mathematics genius only interested in her research, hence her decision to break up with George when he falls into trouble; and Lisa is going out with a millionaire major league pitcher Matty  (Owen Wilson) who isn’t  a bad guy except for the fact that he does not believe in exclusive relationships and completely lacks depth.
But he is so sweetly idiotic about being completely unaware of women’s feelings in general, that it is hard to detest him. In one scene for example, Lisa comes to visit him to get some support, he quickly drags her to the couch, rests his head on her lap and watches himself on television, failing to ask her how her disintegrating life is getting sorted out. Wilson is very good and natural at giving blank empty looks and he is perhaps the only one who does not seem to be over acting.

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