How Do You Know is kind of taking a bunch of serious good ideas and putting them into a comedy environment, but is more like mixing the star power and popularity of Reece Witherspoon and Owen Wilson-styled humour, and a very ambitious yet clueless story.
The story has 2 parts:
Part 1: George (played by Paul Rudd) is son of Charles (Jack Nicholson), who is the target of a federal investigation. George is then set up by his own father to take the blame for falsifying corporate documents. So he has to choose whether he would go to jail for his dad within the next few days.
Part 2: Lisa (played by Reece Witherspoon) is a softball player but she gets cut from the Olympic team because of her age. At the same time, she also has commitment issue with her boyfriend Matty (Owen Wilson) who is a $14 million per year baseball player.
The two stories seem unrelated and complicated. But the movie does not explore into either actually. There's not much detail into either George's and his father's business, nor is there anything about Lisa's dream of being a successful athlete. The movie suddenly becomes a romantic fluff, and suddenly, their personal backstory and issue are not important anymore.
With such great actors and talents, I expected more. Now, the whole movie just seems forced. The characters don't seem to connect with each other. The stories don't fit with one another. There is no chemistry and the relationship is not convincing per se. There are too many random moments that seem important, but unanswered and unresolved, and instead, I was left to believe that the writer/director was probably thinking, "I don't know!" when someone asks him "How Do You Know?"
Great Acting: OK.
Entertaining: Not really.
Enjoyable Fluff in the last 30 minutes: YES!
Is it Worth the Price of a Movie Ticket: NO!
Would I watch It Again: Maybe a long time from now.
