"I Don't Know How She Does It"... Well, I Know, But I'm Not Telling!

Hectic doesn't begin to describe it.

The Story:

Kate (Sarah Jessica Parker) works in a financial firm.  She has two kids and a wonderful husband (Greg Kinnear) who has been trying to get his business off the ground.  A pitch that Kate made to the execs is approved, and she pitches it to Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) and it is approved, but it's going to require lots of extra travel and more hours than she's already putting in.  Couple this with the fact that her husband finally lands his dream gig at the same time...

Something's going to have to give.


Here is a nice, mostly likeable comedy about the perils of the working mother.

Naturally, as with any film, they will play up the exaggerations to the hilt, almost to the point of ridiculousness, which takes some of the charm out, and puts in some of the sting.

For example, any movie family with lots of kids, lots being often more than one, always makes me cringe because they make big families look bad.  Or stupid.  Or both.

So in this film, the mother is harried and hurried, often portrayed as disheveled and unorganized, but boy is she spunky and has a can-do attitude!

This again does a disservice to moms, whether they work outside of the home or not, because it is a difficult job to manage, and here the ability to get it done seems almost by accident more than design, and that just doesn't sit well with me.

I do try and give these movies the benefit of the doubt.  They aren't the real world, it's entertainment...  But sometimes it seems like the people in charge just can't conceive that people would want to have a few kids, and that their kids aren't evil.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

:)

Going in, you know there will be some sort of romantic entanglement between Kate and Abelhammer, but thankfully they decide not to wreck the family and Kate remains strong!   It could easily be a Lifetime movie, except for the star-studded cast.

The cast of course does a great job, they are all old pros who know how to make the movie work.  That includes bit players like Seth Meyers and Kelsey Grammar who make the most out of their minimal screen time.

Like I said, it's breezy and fun enough, and aside from the issues I had, there are worse chick flicks to endure...though I'm not sure this fully qualifies as a chick flick.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again, but I won't be rushing out to purchase it.