'How Do You Know'

'How Do You Know' (PG-13) (2 stars)

Writer and Director: James L. Brooks
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, Kathryn Hahn,
Mark Linn-Baker

"How Do You Know" is a story about two very likable people and one misguided but kind of sweet person. I liked following these three people but they keep getting interrupted by a story line that kills the movie. "How Do You Know" starts with a classic James L. Brooks start as we see Lisa, a little girl who shows up a little boy on the baseball field. Lisa will grow up to be played by Reese Witherspoon and Reese is one of the most likable actresses on screen. Reese plays Lisa who grows up to be a really good softball player even making the Olympic team. Maybe it is due to Brooks or Witherspoon's past but Reese looks and plays like a real softball player. She looks like an athlete and Reese is so charming in this movie that I really wanted to like this movie. Lisa gets a call from George who a friend has told to call Lisa for a date. It leads to a very awkward first date that is funny but painful. Both are going through some rough patches, Lisa was cut from the Olympic team, but they are sweet and maybe there is promise.

George and his father are being indicted on charges of wire fraud. George is played by Paul Rudd who like Witherspoon is very likable on screen. I love Paul Rudd because he has an easy going charm and we root for him in all his movies. Lisa is also kind of dating a professional baseball player Matty played by Owen Wilson. She doesn't know if what she has with Matty is real and she meets George again and starts to like him. Matty is not to smooth with relationships and settling down.

"How Do You Know" is great when it concentrates on Lisa, George and Matty. They are all nice people and I was rooting for George and Lisa. This is not because I don't like Matty but he seems like too much of a player. Owen Wilson is perfectly cast, not so much for playing a baseball player, but because he fits the goofy and immature Matty well. The part I didn't care for was the story line of George and his father being indicted. Jack Nicholson plays the father and Nicholson just doesn't seem to work well here. Maybe it is because he is miscast or I think it is because his character is not written well. This is a surprise coming from James L. Brooks who always writes deep and fully formed characters. Nicholson does a lot of shouting and flailing his arms like he is trying to make more out of a weak role. He seems to be taking a page from the sometime screaming style of Al Pacino. The Nicholson charm is missing and I know he plays a arrogant man but his character just doesn't gel with the rest of the movie.

The whole indictment story seem like a third wheel and interrupts the movie. We don't need this story line, why can't we just follow this sweet love triangle? Why can't there just be the father character without the weak plot? When the movie concentrates on George and Lisa I loved this movie because I have a deep affection for Witherspoon, Rudd and Wilson. I was frustrated with the movie because I expect a home run every time coming from Brooks. This is the great writer of "Terms of Endearment", "Broadcast News", "As Good As It Gets" and "The Mary Tyler Moore" show. His writing is a little off here and the movie fails but there is so much to like that I think a rental at home in an intimate setting might be a better ideal.