How Do You Know - 2 smiles

There are several reasons “How Do You Know” bombed at the box office this weekend. The main reason is James L. Brook’s screenplay. He has two different stories, one a drama and the other a romantic comedy, and he’s decided to combine them into one narrative … with little success. The second is casting Jack Nicholson in a supporting role. Jack is Jack and in this movie; he smirks and shouts but doesn’t really act. Every scene he’s in is a distraction, which creates credibility problems. A secondary problem with casting is Paul Rudd as Reese Witherspoon’s love interest. His low-key approach to George is too much of a contrast to Owen Wilson’s more winsome Matty and he has little chemistry with Witherspoon although Witherspoon is delightful as always. And as much as I don’t care for Owen Wilson in movies, he’s effective here.

When George (Rudd) meets Lisa (Witherspoon), George (Rudd) has a Federal investigation hanging over his head and a father (Nicholson) who would just as soon see his son take the fall for something he did. And Lisa has just moved in with her new boyfriend, Washington Nationals pitcher Matty (Wilson). Rather than focus on the interaction between these three people, Brooks, who also directed, shifts way too often to George’s business problems and his father, which gets tiresome. In some of his previous movies like Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and As Good As It Gets, Brooks has successfully interwoven secondary storylines into the main plot to good effect. Unfortunately, not with “How Do You Know.” When the story shifts away from Lisa, Matty and George, we lose interest. 12/17/10