How Do You Know

Plot synopsis:
Softball player Lisa Jorgenson is devastated when she is left off the Team USA roster. Unsure what to do next, Lisa begins dating Matty Reynolds, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals. She also receives an intriguing phone call from a young executive, George Madison, who was advised by a friend of Lisa's to give her a call. George calls out of politeness because he wants to explain that his relationship with his girlfriend has just become more serious. But life takes an abrupt turn for the worse for George when he suddenly finds himself the target of a federal criminal investigation for corporate malfeasance at a company run by his father, Charles Madison. George is fired from his job and abandoned by the company, with the exception of his father and his pregnant secretary, Annie.
Still reeling from this blow, George goes to his girlfriend for sympathy and is stunned when she immediately breaks up with him. On a whim, George calls again to invite Lisa to dinner and she accepts. It turns out to be a disaster; George is so overwhelmed with his troubles that Lisa eventually asks that they just eat in silence, and they part ways not expecting to see one another again. Soon, Lisa moves in with Matty, who has a penthouse in the same upscale building where George's father lives. Matty is rich, well-meaning and fun, but is also immature and insensitive, and continues to have casual affairs with other women.
George is indicted and could face prison time. Annie is so loyal that she tries to give him inside information in advance, but he urges her not to lose her own job. Matty tries to do better in Lisa's eyes, promising to consider seeing fewer women on the side. He inadvertently offends her, so Lisa moves out and spends a pleasant, tipsy evening at George's modest new apartment. George's father then drops one last bombshell on his son: It was he who committed the illegal act for which George is being charged. Due to a previous conviction, Charles would spend at least 25 years — basically, the rest of his life — in prison, whereas George would only do three years at most.
On the night Annie's baby is born and her boyfriend proposes, Lisa begins to reconsider her previous reluctance to settle down. George is clearly smitten with her, but Matty pleads for another chance and she accepts. George makes a proposition to his father: He will take one more shot at persuading Lisa to be with him; If she will, Charles must go to jail, and if she won't, George will take the rap for his dad. At a birthday party that Matty throws for her, George confesses his feelings for Lisa and goes outside to give her time to think it over, Charles looking on from above. Finally, Lisa says goodbye to Matty and joins George outside. At the end of the movie, they are seen boarding a bus together.

Tags: romantic, boring

Review:
from people going in to see this movie, expecting a chick flick and being disappointed.I believe the reason for the poor reviews of this movie are due to the fact that is has been advertised and delivered as a romantic comedy.True, it is fit for the romance genre, comedy..
Humour is few and far between for a comedy-seeking crowd, however for those who connect to the characters, the humour is purely intended for those devised from caring for the characters.Reese Witherspoon has perfected the role of Lisa, this is the movie that I would beg girlfriends to watch, due to her total delivery of the character throughout the entire picture, which is something most girls and women can relate to (whether they've reached that hurdle yet or not).
Brooks to write a film that pleased him and not have to pace it like most other "successful" Hollywood crap movies.
I also thought the relationship between jock-player (Wilson) and over-the-hill jock Witherspoon was sweet and funny in its own way.However, Kathryn Hahn steals every scene she's in as Rudd's personal assistant who hates what's going on and is also a single mom-to-be.
No. Is it a highly enjoyable romantic comedy with good supporting performances and funny scenes?
It wasn't until my Uncle pushed it on me, "Didn't that tank?" "Yeah, but it's actually good!" I think the reason why this movie got such bad reviews is people expected the typical rom com (I did).
What it is, is a REAL movie, with depth, great characters, smart dialogue, and the complexity of reality, with some jokes and a love story thrown in.
Ok, so I went into this thinking- The ratings are pretty bad, but then again how bad can a movie with Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon be?
This is the best performance yet by the wonderful Paul Rudd, a return to form for Owen Wilson, and the first truly sexy turn by Reese Witherspoon, always an excellent actress but never this yummy heretofore.
Also, with actors like Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson (plus how it was advertised as a comedy) I was expecting to do a lot more laughing in the movie than I really did.
I think if you go to this movie knowing it's more of a romantic comedy than a typical Owen Wilson/Paul Rudd style comedy then you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I am glad I did not let the ratings and reviews dissuade me, because this is a great movie.If you like Paul Rudd (I am a big fan), don't mind Reese (I like her even more now), like Owen Wilson (yep), love Jack (who doesn't?) and loved Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets, you will NOT REGRET watching this movie.
And let my tell you that Resse its great here, Paul to, and Jack, well maybe it will be his last movie so he's great to, but the big win is James, he it's a master of feelings, he is the best for making me laugh and cry, one of my favorite directors.
Reese Witherspoon is as cute as ever and Paul Rudd is is still the wholesome boy next door but even with these three actors, the movie was a total waste of time and money..
No, how can you take a movie with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson and basically throw away their talent by wrapping it around insanely boring and random dialog?
The first few times the characters think they are saying something witty that makes no sense to where the movie isn't going, it is irritating.
There's a girl (Reese Witherspoon), who's having a really bad day and is dating a completely idiotic guy (Owen Wilson), who's supposed to be funny I guess but totally isn't, and then there's a guy (Paul Rudd) and he's having a dreadful day as well and somehow the two meet and start pouring their souls out to each other, but in a boring-nothing-makes-sense kind of way.
Two whole hours of movie which seem more like five and will let any who tries to watch it as tired as Coach Mo after running the marathon...If you're hopping for something in the lines of "As Good As It Get" with smart dialogues like "The Simpsons" then you're in for a disappointment..
Seeing Owen wilson and Paul Rudd on the cast, i thought this movie would be Rom Com. But as i start watching, i found out it's a Romantic Drama with lots of life lessons.
Those are good enough signs to like a movieWhile Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd might not make to the really A list of stars, its nice to watch them.
Starts with Reese Witherspoon going into a relationship with Owen Wilson, while Paul Rudd is coming out from his.
Wilson is an athlete.The movie does not have a plot like a Inception but the dialogs are not expected either like 'I love you' and 'I love you too.' There's a very believable character in form of Rudds assistant.
So, for example, Owen Wilson, in many peoples' minds relegated to dependable one-note-johnny status as an actor, actually conforms himself to the spunky charm of the written character and gets to jump up on the mountaintop, alongside Olivier, for a few touching, precious moments.In short: This is the real scourge of Hollywood: That the movie-going public has been trained over the years not to expect, let alone demand, good writing.
Get hip to the music of good theater writing, and learn to expect nothing less from the movies that you spend your precious life's moments watching..
I've seen Resse in much better movies, she is not a Legally Blonde here.I wonder if it's even a love story, or even romantic, because it does not look like that.
Of course, as films always do, there are stumbling blocks.The first stumble is that Ms. Reese is first hooked up with a real character played by the wonderfully talented Owen Wilson as Matty, the professional baseball player.
While the males are showered with obscene amounts of cash and attention, the equally great, or even perhaps better, female athletes have to settle for little more than faint praise and a pat on the back.) I was also highly entertained by a wonderful supporting cast, led by none other than the legendary Jack Nicholson as Charlie, Rudd's father and playing as fine a slime-ball as ever graced the silver screen.
It ends up playing out like a romantic comedy rather than a drama, but there is still a lot of thought and simple honesty to the whole thing.This is the role that I have been waiting for for Paul Rudd.
Yeah, I like Reese Witherspoon, maybe I was hypnotized by here the whole movie..., who knows.
Maybe that was why so many people gave this wonderful movie a low rating :o( Paul Rudd is now one of my new favorite actors.
It is a way funny movie GO WATCH No one appreciates a good comedy that isn't full of raunchy comments the whole time.
I quickly found myself waiting and hoping for her next appearance.And frankly, while I'm not giving them their own numbered paragraphs, Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd, who have the workhorse roles and the responsibility for carrying this movie on their shoulders, really come through.
George tells his father that he is in love with Lisa and he will propose her; if she accepts, he will not accept to take the blame for the fraud."How Do You Know" is one of the most deceptive romantic comedies that I have recently seen, considering the cast with the names of Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson that are wasted in a poor screenplay.
The pointless story is illogical and uninteresting, with Paul Rudd performing a naive executive with the behavior of an intern or student; Reese Witherspoon performing a softball player with an erratic behavior that does not justify the profile of her character; and Owen Wilson completely lost in a dull character.
As for a romantic comedy, then "How Do You Know" was fairly slow and lacked some of that special ingredient to make it stand out from the many, many others in the same genre.Sure the movie had an impressive list of cast, and there was some good chemistry between Reese Witherspoon (playing Lisa) and Paul Rudd (playing George).
Most impressively was seeing Jack Nicholson (playing Charles) in this movie, he truly is a diverse actor.The story in "How Do You Know" is basically right out of the romantic comedy cookbook; two people meet and eventually get to find love, and of course need to get through the obstacles along the way.
But for fans of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd or Owen Wilson, then this movie is a good addition.
"We're all just one small adjustment away from making our lives work," says one of Reese Witherspoon's two love interests in her upcoming movie, How Do You Know.
And by "small adjustment" he meant the addition of Reese's love into his own life - a life which had taken a bit of a wrong turn without any fault of his own but which he knew could be course-corrected with the love of the right woman by his side.How Do You Know takes a contemporary and romantic look at the question, "How do you know (when you are in love?)" In this movie, Reese has two equally-cute but horribly messed up men vying for her love - played by Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd.
Those of us who love light-hearted romances, simply want a break from our every day lives and in that respect, this movie delivers enough charm, laughs and touching moments to qualify as a a great chick flick.Parisa, www.CelebMagnet.com.
Great cast, but it's quite sad to see all those good actors having nothing to do on screen.I could see people playing with their mobiles during the film, usually i find this very annoying, but in this case, i couldn't blame them, as you just simply get bored watching this.Don't waist your time and money watching this..
Oh, one more thing...there is absolutely no love, comedy or story line in this movie.
I would rather be put on fire than to watch this again.All the actors in this film are great but WOW, this movie was so bad.
If like me, you've followed Jack Nicolson for years and want to check out everything he's ever done, simply pretend that you didn't read his name on this cast list - save two hours of your precious life as this lot are definitely not worth it, what is sadder is that they genuinely seem to think that they are!Reece Witherspoon is as attractive as always but Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd must surely take equal honours as THE most boring men in Hollywood, let alone two hunks that Witherspoon's character would want to actually date!She's supposed to a softball champ but since dropped from the National team hits a low spot and so baseball hot-shot (Wilson) gets her attention but she can't seem to make him commit to anything serious.
OK, now that we've got that out of the way let's start with the review,, Firstly, this movie is a huge disappointment because having a cast that is this talented and a director that has a very good comedic history produce such a film is very depressing.Secondly, This movie is BORING!
It's been a long time since I watched a movie that was as confused, unfunny, meandering, and insufferably boring as this one was.I think it's fair to say if Brooks hadn't been behind it, no one would have had anything to do with it.The story can be distilled down to Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd going through personal traumas that should magically be put in their proper perspectives (I guess) with a shot of love.
But none of them live in the wasteland that is "How Do You Know." Skip it, you'll miss out on a good two hour slumber only.This is Rom-Com by the numbers...the complete opposite of a wittily written gem like "(500) Days of Summer." Can this genre of movie simply be that hard to pen?
The potential of the film's good actors is completely wasted by an improbable scenario, awful dialogs, no chemistry, no rhythm and uninteresting cinematography.It is very hard to categorize the film as one is not sure the film's director had any idea what kind of film he wanted: comedy, drama, sport movie or else.So it isn't that "How do you know" is a bad romantic comedy or terrible relationship drama, it is a universally bad film, which I am not sure deserve a 10-line long critic.But I rate this film 10 out of 10 for the insomniacs: they will find sleep sooner than later..
So if you are really not up to seeing the journey of this two very insecure people get back on their feet together, just don't go watch it because you are not going to consider it funny since it is always crucial to understand the concept and like (or love) the characters (or something about them at least) in order to enjoy the jokes...I found it clever different and extremely adorable...
The acting was fantastic (as it always is for them three) SPECIAL REQUEST TO IMDb USERS: Dig deeper into films go watch them for concept and message instead of just to get a good laugh or see cool 3d effects because if one takes that as the main focus then we miss out on the true essence of movies which I like to call...soul.
All I gathered was that Reese didn't make the USA softball team, so she's upset and ends up with 2 men--a knuckleheaded (but warm-hearted and well-meaning) pro ballplayer (Owen Wilson) and the CEO (Paul Rudd) of a business that is in legal trouble thanks to the CEO's father (Nicholson, who must have been desperate for money to star in this movie).No need to go into more details.
I honestly felt bad watching this movie for all of the actors, because generally I think most of them are pretty good.
The overall message of getting up and countering the beatings of life does get taken by the undertow of romantic interaction, but does it with enough charm, that I forgot about the lost potential.That said both Witherspoon and Rudd bring a charming novelty through their characters, coupled with a surprisingly efficient performance by Owen Wilson as the well-meaning, but mindbogglingly spoilt baseball star, bring a novel feel to the humour, which has awkward sensibility, far from the more up front standard people are used to.
Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Kathryn Hahn have good chemistry.
The only person who gave this movie a little bit of humor or life was Owen Wilson's character.
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
Can not be bothered to write a review as wasted enough time watching it, waste of good actors, lame plot and a shambles of a film..
hours, and every minute is just pure pain to watch.All I can say is: what a waste of talent, Witherspoon, Rudd, Wilson, Nicholson, all are very good actors, but not in this movie.
Really flat characters, bad acting, VERY bad and predictable story...The only good parts are the ones with Owen Wilson, he's as good as usual, but Rudd and Witherspoon are just bad.
I didn't expect a decent performance out of Owen Wilson, and he didn't disappoint.I did expect Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd to make this a worthwhile movie, but the incredibly awkward dialog and failure of direction made this movie unbearable to watch..
Terrific great quirky romantic dialogues between Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson are the core of this funny and feel good romantic comedy.
Lets start by saying, I had expected so much more, As Good as it Gets is definitely one of the films I like very much in the comedy genre and I had hoped this was up there.
Unfortunately it does not have the same intriguing story or the same level of comedian enthusiasm, but its not all bad.The roles that Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd plays are great, and especially the way the audience really can believe that they are two troubled human beings, dealing with each their own problems.
I had hoped that Jack Nicholson had a larger role then what he had, I simply loved him in As good as it gets, in this he has a smaller role but he is still good, I especially love the last scene with him and the face he makes (that's priceless).I did like the film, but I could have wanted some more fun and more "action" on the way, it takes time in developing and showing us the characters and usually that's not a bad thing, but when you expect comedy all the way, then it takes to long to get acquainted..
It was bad.Owen Wilson, same as Paul Rudd, it seemed they both didn't understand the type of movie they were in.
The comedy is the scenes between father and son, Jack Nicholson and Paul Rudd.