Biana Arbit Why would you take a book that is witty, smart, honest and funny and turn it into something so ridiculous? I spent most of the movie wondering what possessed the screenwriters to take an excellent book, throw everything out except names of characters, completely mis-cast most of the roles and produce this joke of a movie? If you enjoyed the book - the movie will completely disappoint; if you haven't read the book - there is nothing worth watching in the movie, since the way the story line and the characters have been re-written by the screenwriters make this an un-realistic, pointless, waste of time.And the acting - as much as I adore Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and The City - she just cannot pull of this role; a business woman in an all-men investment firm does not fix her tights in a video conference room, does not say thank you 10 times in a row, and is generally not a ditz. A working mother is not a walking joke which is what SJP makes this character look like

Steve Pulaski I Don't Know How She Does It is another film that actually has a bit of a brain in its head, but rather than recognizing it, many people dismissed it on-sight as a film that was unremarkable and generic. Some even went as far as to call it an outdated look at gender roles. The idea of a mother being the breadwinner of the family and holding down the fort, juggling a big job, kids, scheduling, and a family that needs her now more than ever is not a completely new idea, but outdated? Definitely not.Does it need to be brought up that the United States is currently in a recession? That people now have longer hours at work with less of a reward, have no foreseeable retirement in their future, have more priorities and more of a fear for their lives and families well-being thanks to an increasingly tumultuous world? I Don't Know How She Does It is slight entertainment, but beneath some of its silliness and eye-rolling circumstances lies a cast with good chemistry, a moral that is still alive and well, and a realistic depictions of the struggles in a modern family's life.Sarah Jessica Parker is Kate Reddy, a woman in banking attempting to juggle her heavy workload, time with her husband Richard (Greg Kinnear), and more time with her children. When she accepts an even more hectic job by her boss Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan), things get even more complicated and she begins to lose the time with her family that she values. However, there are bills that need to paid, expenses that won't finance themselves, and work that needs to be done if Kate and her husband want to maintain the lavish home they live in along with all its benefits.Immediately, this will be written off by some people as wealthy white people complaining when circumstances do not go there way. From the beginning, I feared that I Don't Know How She Does It would fall into the same unfortunate trap Uma Thurman's forgotten film Motherhood did, about another mother trying to juggle all the responsibilities that came with raising children. While the film featured a solid performance by Thurman, it seemed as if nothing more than a look into a bad week in the character's life. Parker's Kate, on the other hand, is having a stressful life and if something isn't done, it will last for years on end.I think that's the little note people overlooked with this film. Parker lives a life millions of American women (and men) live. Director Douglas McGrath and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (who went on to pen We Bought a Zoo with Cameron Crowe) also gently explore the double standard of women sacrificing their work to attend to their child in need. It is Olivia Munn's Wendy, a coworker of Kate, who explains this in a one-on-one monologue with the camera (a style that is done often in McGrath's film to only some avail). Wendy states how that if a man cuts work to see his child, he is an honorable and dedicated soul. However, if a woman cuts work to see her child, she is disorganized, not devoted enough, and has the company's well being in the back of her mind. I remember my mother, who worked long hours as a nurse when I was a child, tell her coworker on the phone when I had strep throat at age four that she would rather have the illness than to have her young son have it. She cut work to attend to me, and she exerted the opposite of those traits with every move she made.McGrath does a fine job at getting his cast to demonstrate these circumstances with solid chemistry and a recognition that these problems exist outside in the middle class and upper middle class world. I Don't Know How She Does It is, however, a pretty simplistic iteration of it, but the film regards its subject matter with a sense of realism and maturity, never making Kate one to laugh at (maybe only if you've experienced something she went through, like having your friend's ultrasound appear in your PowerPoint slideshow) and never milking the screenplay for emotions. Kate is obviously a strong, mentally stable woman. She doesn't need your tears.Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, and Olivia Munn. Directed by: Douglas McGrath.

MLDinTN The movie should have premiered on the lifetime movie network. The story line seemed perfect for that channel, not a theater release movie. SJP plays, Kate, a working mom juggling a promising career and her family. Issues involve her spending time with her kids and hubby and having to travel to New York for business. Kate is such a great person, you know she's not going to screw over her family for her hot business partner. And of course, she even sets him up with one of her friends.FINAL VERDICT: A movie about a working mom isn't anything great. It's not really funny, but has a few cute moments. But don't go out of your way to watch it.

Rohan Tribhuwan Imagine this: The movie Jerry McGuire with a female lead. Geraldine McGuire, if you will. Exceedingly loves her job. Has a great spouse/boyfriend. Her male co-workers want to sleep with her because she is so strong, ambitious and charmingly assertive. Goofy sometimes. Works in a tyrannical environment. Juggles ceaselessly. Oh wait, she also has 2 kids (unlike Jerry).If you find Geraldine incredible to like, congrats. You just passed the test of suffering from male chauvinism (regardless of your gender).Why does a movie with a female lead who loves her job as much as her spouse does, can't bake a cake (yet tries to), healthily flirts with her colleague but in end makes the choice of being with family over her her big career break seem so unfathomably incredulous to people? Movies are fiction. Women don't run around in heels every minute of the day and men don't have zero dialogue with 19 year old nannies. But if one has to watch a woman protagonist, why do people suddenly seem to apply all the logic in their capacities on even the mildest humour.Whatever happened to going to movies with the prospect of transcending into a resort of surrealism? In this case, a woman who had a same 'problems' as Jerry McGuire did.We liked Jerry McQuire obsess over work, flirt around with females and find family's love in the end, didn't we? Then why not Geraldine?