PRINTMovie Review: I Don't Know How She Does It
I Don’t Know How She Does It is a cliché look at the modern working-mother
Photo courtesy of Weinstein
September 17, 2011 | 12:00 p.m. CST
If you think Sarah Jessica Parker can balance a high-powered career, two children, and a happy marriage with grace, think again.
Set in Boston, Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) lives a double life as a businesswoman and a mother of two with husband, Richard (Greg Kinnear). Between the bake sales, first haircuts and constant business trips, Kate faces the challenges of modern motherhood in the face of the “momsters”: the perfect stay-at-home moms. Her intense, career-obsessed assistant, Momo, doesn’t make things any easier.
Related MovieWhen Kate has the opportunity to pitch an important deal to her investment firm, she takes on an overwhelming load that includes spending too much time with her flirtatious business partner, Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan). In the process of working on this project, she has to answer the question ”can she really have it all?”
This movie plays with a relevant concept, yet the application of it is cliché and rather boring, to say the least. Although there are some clever portrayals of parenthood, there is a certain je-ne-sais-pas missing from the mix.
Filmed in a pseudo-documentary style, side characters such as Kate’s best friend Allison (Christina Hendricks) and rival co-worker, Chris (Seth Meyer) give “interviews” commenting on her management of work and motherhood. This part is hands-down the funniest section of the movie, which gives an amusing look at society’s view of this balance.
The worst part of this film is Parker’s acting, which is irritatingly similar to her character on Sex and the City. In fact, the Carrie Bradshaw prototype makes Parker’s status as an executive unbelievable. Her frazzled state throughout the movie is more reminiscent of a chicken with its head cut off than a woman who is actually worth the title of I Don’t Know How She Does It.
Although this film has endearing qualities, including the chemistry between Parker and Kinnear, it may not be worth putting on your to-do list.
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