HOW DO YOU KNOW (Sony, 2010) D: James L. Brooks, w/ Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNNN
Wit and complex characters make this one of the most likeable romantic comedies to come along in years.
Olympic softball player Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) gets dropped from the team and doesn’t know what to do with her life. Matty (Owen Wilson), the pro ball player and party boy she’s dating, thinks she may be his dream girl. Blind date George (Paul Rudd) is smitten with her, but he’s newly fired and under indictment for fraud.
Witherspoon gives Lisa an appealing mix of no-nonsense strength and vulnerability. Wilson provides a sunny disposition, while Rudd reveals surprising backbone beneath his over-eager surface. All three play it straight, letting the humour emerge from the situations and writer/director James L. Brooks’s unexpected dialogue.
Brooks’s commentary deals a little with dialogue, but more with tone. He also has revealing things to say about Jack Nicholson and Kathryn Hahn, who both shine in supporting roles.
EXTRAS Commentary, making-of doc, deleted scenes, outtakes. Widescreen. English, French audio. English, French, Spanish subtitles.
