Writer/director James L. Brooks could seemingly map the human heart at will.
How else could a filmmaker wring so many tears out of audiences via “Terms of Endearment” or build as sturdy a love triangle as the one anchoring “Broadcast News?”
But with “How Do You Know” Brooks looks more like a tourist in the realm of romance. He’s gathered a rom-com murderer’s row led by Reese Witherspoon. And he’s even coaxed old pal Jack Nicholson back for a supporting turn.
But the James L. Brooks of 2010 doesn’t seem to know what makes people tick – or how to construct a modern romance to win over either our hearts or minds.
Witherspoon plays Lisa, a softball player recently cut from the national team. She’s adrift, and supposedly fair game when she meets a charming Nationals pitcher named Matty (Owen Wilson). He’s a player in more ways than one, but Lisa pushes aside common sense and decides to move in with him.
Huh?
Meanwhile, Lisa begins a secondary courtship with George (Paul Rudd), an executive who just found out he’s the target of a criminal investigation. Rudd plays him with all the sincerity of a Muppet on Christmas Eve, so you know there’s something awry. And George’s father (Nicholson) isn’t much help to his embattled son.
At first, it’s hard to suss out why “How Do You Know” can’t measure up to Brooks’ best work. The dialogue is often whipsmart, far headier than anything found in a rom-com starring Kate Hudson or Kristen Bell.
“Here’s a toast to people who make toasts,” George cracks at one point. Earlier, when Matty asks a fellow pitcher when he knows he’s in love, the hurler responds, “When I use condoms with the other girls I’m with.”
Smart stuff – and pure Brooks.
But Lisa is a mystery, and a brittle one at that. Sure, she looks like Reese Witherspoon, and the actress has never been lovelier on screen. But it’s hard to fall in like, let alone in love, with a character so poorly realized. And why don’t Lisa and Matty ever talk baseball – or sports – or physical training?
Lisa’s first date with George is a disaster, a poorly written piece meant to firm up their differences. So why does George emerge so smitten?
These incongruous moments start to pile up, and no matter how charming the leads remain it wears the viewer down. And when the romance is supposed to be peaking, we’re left to shrug our shoulders at the failed fireworks.
And then there’s Nicholson, over-emoting to flesh out an Olive Oyl thin character. He’s a trooper, and any excuse to lure him back on the big screen isn’t wasteful. But couldn’t Brooks whip up a more compelling role for him?
“How Do You Know” is Oscar material – on paper. The actual film fails to use its precious resources while channeling Brooks’ lesser works, like “Spanglish” and “I’ll Do Anything.”
A great artist appears to be in serious decline.
(Photo: Jack Nicholson and Paul Rudd co-star in “How Do You Know,” writer/director James L. Brooks’ sixth feature. Columbia Pictures)
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, in the first place, Spanglish is an unqualified masterpiece of quirky comedy. In the second place, olive oil is thick. Of course, you may be right about this movie, but if we’d listened to you on Spanglish we would have missed a gem.
I meant Olive Oil, Popeye’s love interest … but it should read Olive Oyl … fixed now.
Her recent films aside (keep her AWAY from Disney! ;( ), Kristen Bell is far more talented and appealing than Kate Hudson (who may be the comedy Antichrist, unless it’s Katherine Heigl or Adam Sandler), and deserves better than to be lumped in with her…
I’m not quite yet sold on Bell, but she shrewdly picked “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and earned a cult-ish following from “Veronica Mars” … so there’s that. But her recent rom-com slate, including “When in Rome” and “You Again” typify the sour state of the genre.