''How Do You Know'' is a 2010 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed, written and produced by James L. Brooks, and starring

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...

and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

in his final film role. It was the third film to feature Witherspoon and Rudd following '' Overnight Delivery'' and '' Monsters vs. Aliens''. The plot follows softball player Lisa (Witherspoon), who is caught in a love triangle between two men—the charming baseball player Matty (Wilson) and George (Rudd), a businessman who is charged for

stock fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodity market, commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequentl ...

. The film was shot in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and was released on December 17, 2010. It was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing $49 million against a $120 million budget, and received mixed reviews from critics. It was the final film directed by Brooks.

Plot

Softball player Lisa Jorgenson begins dating Matty Reynolds, a pitcher for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. She also receives an intriguing phone call from a young executive, George Madison, who was advised by a friend of Lisa's to give her a call. George calls out of politeness because he wants to explain that his relationship with his girlfriend has just become more serious. Life takes an abrupt turn for the worse for George when he suddenly finds himself the target of a federal criminal investigation for corporate

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

at a company run by his father, Charles Madison. He is fired from his job and abandoned by the company, with the exception of his father and his pregnant secretary, Annie. Still reeling from this blow, George goes to his girlfriend for sympathy and is stunned when she immediately breaks up with him. At the same time, Lisa is devastated when she is left off the

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

roster. On a whim, George calls again to invite Lisa to lunch and she accepts. It turns out to be a disaster; he is so overwhelmed with his troubles that she eventually asks that they just eat in silence, and they part ways not expecting to see one another again. Unsure what to do next, Lisa moves in with Matty, who has a penthouse in the same upscale building where George's father lives. Matty is rich, well-meaning and fun, but is also immature and insensitive, and continues to have casual affairs with other women. George is indicted and could face prison time. Annie is so loyal that she tries to give him inside information in advance, but he urges her not to lose her own job. George and Lisa bump into each other in Matty's building and he offers to help her carry her groceries home. Matty returns home and is upset to find Lisa at “his place” with an uninvited guest. Matty inadvertently offends her, so Lisa moves out and spends a pleasant, tipsy evening at George's modest new apartment. His father then drops one last bombshell on his son: It was he who committed the illegal act for which George is being charged. Due to a previous conviction, Charles would spend at least 25 years — basically, the rest of his life due to his advanced age — in prison, whereas George would only do three years at most. On the night Annie's baby is born and her boyfriend proposes, Lisa begins to reconsider her previous reluctance to settle down. George is clearly smitten with her, but Matty pleads for another chance and she accepts. George makes a proposition to his father: he will take one more shot at persuading Lisa to be with him. If she does, Charles must go to jail, and if she doesn't, George will take the rap for his dad. At a birthday party that Matty throws for Lisa, George confesses his feelings for her and asks her to meet him downstairs if she decides she reciprocates them. He then leaves the party and goes downstairs to give her time to think it over. Finally, Lisa says goodbye to Matty and joins George outside. Charles, looking on from above smiles at the sight, but his smile soon fades as he realises he has to go to jail. Lisa is confused about her feelings and tells George, "I thought you were this silly guy. Now it's like... everything but you seems silly." George suggests she had never felt the kind of overwhelming love where the guy is the whole deal, which helps her realise that she's in love with him. Lisa then reaches out and holds his hand and we see them board a bus together.

Cast

as Lisa Jorgenson ** Karsen Skinner and Kendel Skinner as young Lisa (uncredited) *

as Matty Reynolds *

as George Madison *

as Charles Madison *

Dean Norris Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off '' Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town council ...

as Tom *

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...

as Annie *

John Tormey ''Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' is a 1999 internationally co-produced martial arts crime thriller drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Forest Whitaker stars as the title character, the mysterious "Ghost Dog", a hitman in the e ...

as Doorman *

Yuki Matsuzaki is a Japanese actor who has appeared in movies and on television. Matsuzaki appeared in Clint Eastwood's '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and in ''The Pink Panther 2'' where he portrayed Kenji Mazuto, a technology "wiz-kid". He appeared in '' Pirate ...

as Tori * Andrew Wilson as Matty's Teammate * Shelley Conn as Terry *

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA N ...

as Psychiatrist *

Domenick Lombardozzi Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi (, ; born March 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Herc in ''The Wire'', and is also known for his roles in ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), '' Entourage'', and ''The Irishman'' (2019). Ca ...

as Bullpen Pitcher *

Ron McLarty Ronald William McLarty (April 26, 1947 – February 8, 2020) was an American actor, playwright, and novelist. He also worked as an audiobook narrator, in which role he recorded over 100 titles and received many Audie Awards. McLarty appeare ...

as George's Lawyer *

Lenny Venito Lenny Venito (born May 10, 1969) is an American actor, who has made appearances in movies such as '' Gigli'', '' Men in Black 3'', and '' War of the Worlds''. He also starred as Marty Weaver in the ABC comedy '' The Neighbors'' and James "Mur ...

as Al *

Mark Linn-Baker Mark Linn-Baker (born June 17, 1954) is an American actor and director who played Benjy Stone in the film ''My Favorite Year'' and Larry Appleton in the television sitcom '' Perfect Strangers''. Early life and education Mark Linn-Baker was bo ...

as Ron * Molly Price as Coach Sally

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

was Brooks' original choice for the role of Charles Madison.

Production

Brooks began work on the film in 2005, wishing to create a film about a young female athlete. While interviewing numerous women for hundreds of hours in his research for the film, he also became interested in "the dilemmas of contemporary business executives, who are sometimes held accountable by the law for corporate behavior of which they may not even be aware." He created

's and

's characters for this concept. Filming finished in November 2009, although Brooks later reshot the film's opening and ending. The total production cost of the film was $120 million, with the net budget at about $100 million after

tax rebate A tax refund or tax rebate is a payment to the taxpayer due to the taxpayer having paid more tax than they owed. By country United States According to the Internal Revenue Service, 77% of tax returns filed in 2004 resulted in a refund check ...

s from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and the District of Columbia. The combined

salaries A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

for the director Brooks (about $10 million) and the four major stars Witherspoon ($15 million), Nicholson ($12 million), Wilson ($10 million) and Rudd ($3 million) totaled about $50 million. Brooks' "slow and meticulous" production and post-production process have been given as reasons for the size of the budget.

Release

''How Do You Know'' opened at $7.6 million in the United States and Canada, making it eighth in the box office at its first weekend. The film fell off the chart by its third weekend. On its opening day, December 17, 2010, it debuted at No. 5 behind '' Tron: Legacy'', ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

'', ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Mi ...

'' and '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''. By December 22, it was No. 11 in the box office. ''How Do You Know'' grossed a total of $48.7 million worldwide. In 2014, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' listed the film as one of the biggest box office flops of all time.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 31% based on reviews from 150 critics, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''How Do You Know'' boasts a quartet of likeable leads – and they deserve better than this glib, overlong misfire from writer/director James L. Brooks." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

it has a score of 46 out of 100 based on reviews from 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' gave it a mixed review, and called it "A low-impact romantic comedy-drama from James L. Brooks in which the central characters are strangely disconnected from one another as well as from the audience." Peter Debruge of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

gave it a negative review, and wrote: "How do you know when the spark is gone? When your latest romantic comedy looks like TV, feels like greeting-card poetry and sounds like a self-help manual." Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' wrote: "Nothing heats up. The movie doesn't lead us, it simply stays in step."

Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

magazine, noted that the film had already received particularly negative reviews, but responded "Yeah, well, I still like the film."

References

External links

* * * {{Washington Nationals 2010 films 2010 comedy-drama films 2010 romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Columbia Pictures films 2010s English-language films Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Philadelphia Films shot in Washington, D.C. Films with screenplays by James L. Brooks Gracie Films films Films directed by James L. Brooks Films produced by James L. Brooks Films produced by Laurence Mark Films scored by Hans Zimmer 2010s American films