I Don't Know How She Does It

Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a successful business woman living in Boston with her husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) and their two children Emily (Emma Rayne Lyle) and Ben (Julius and Theodore Goldberg). Kate is an expert at juggling her marriage, motherhood and career.

Kate works at the Boston branch of an investment firm based in New York City. She has worked hard and has earned the respect of her co-workers. She submitted a proposal which the company felt had merit and Kate was tasked with working along side of Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) to refine the proposal for presentation to the CEO of the company. A great opportunity for Kate but added strain to her already stretched thin relationship with Richard. Richard is involved in his own business and has just been offered a great opportunity himself.

The movie is peppered with insights from the various characters which explain the whys and wherefores of Kate's behavior.

Pierce Brosnan does a very good job of portraying the driven businessman who has had a personal tragedy early in life and work has become his obsession. His loneliness shows through his business exterior and even though we know he is falling for Kate, he keeps the relationship purely professional.

The film has not received very favorable reviews - 3.7 out of 10 on IMDb and only a 20% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes. I disagree with this. I found this film to be entertaining and at times touching - especially for those of us who have ever missed the school play or anything concerning our children because of work related obligations. True - the film is not Oscar worthy and is pretty much a formula movie with the moral of the story being family should come first....but it has many redeeming qualities and that proverbial happy ending.

This movie is worth an afternoon trip to the theater (Matinee Price).

This film is about the life of a mother of two young children, who also holds an important position at an investment firm.

"I Don't Know How She Does It" tells the story of a working mother in a fun and lighthearted way. There is so much on her plate, and she struggles to balance between work and home. The film is fluffy and cheerful, augmented by its captions and narrations during still motion. The jokes are funny but a little far in between. The film could also benefit by increasing the emotional portrayal of Kate's lack of bonding with her children. Still, "I Don't Know How She Does It" is a fun film, just don't take it too seriously. Working mothers would connect with this film the most, but other people can still find it enjoyable and fun.

Kate Reddy lives a busy life. She is a high-rising finance executive and a mother of two young children. She is often away from home, causing family strains and whatnot. What happens when Kate suddenly gets a big assignment, that requires her to stay away from home for more than two months?

To be honest, I was at a struggle to write a summary for this movie. I couldn't think. Words couldn't come to me. This movie didn't do anything for me. The movie played for 80+ minutes, but there was no real progression in its story line. Nothing happened.. Really. After the movie ended, I wondered what exactly was it that the directors wanted to show to its audience.

I don't recommend watching this movie, unless you're looking for a time waster.. If that's the case, go ahead and rent this movie.

Viewed on: November 29, 2011

This drivel masquerades as a comedy but offers little more than a misplaced feminist rant. I am sure they expected women to say 'oh it's so true - we DO make lists and we Do multitask!' but please - who exactly was this aimed at - zombie life forms? Maybe they think that women are so tired that they wouldn't notice how cliché-ridden and pathetically hackneyed this offering is? It was not amusing. It was not interesting. It was not original. It did not have a single redeeming quality and I suggest you do not waste your time nor your money on this rubbish.

Indeed I shall waste no more time reviewing it.

Honestly, we kind of enjoyed this but by the end we were both agreed that this was good for TV but not really up to film standards - our conclusion was that SJP just doesn't have the presence to pull this off - she's a good ensemble actress, but on her own, as a star, carrying a film? We just couldn't make that leap.

The script has some nice wry observations on marriage, career, and parenting but all-in-all this needs more wit and spark, more oomph. Most of the comedy came from the idea of sexual tension between SJP and Brosnan, and that's just cheap laughs.

This film is aimed firmly at women over 30 who either have to, want to, or who wish they didn't have to juggle children, career, and life. It is wryly amusing and observant occasionally, but there should be lots and lots more of that, the paucity of observation and the safe boundaries means it fails to create anything other than a very safe film that is mostly trite.

While it is admirable for having good strong female characterizations it fails really to go anywhere with it, and above all, SJP just does little to convince us that she's a star vehicle.

All in all, OK with a glass of chardonnay, pretty difficult without....