''I Don't Know How She Does It'' is a 2011 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

based on

Allison Pearson Judith Allison Pearson (née Lobbett; born 22 July 1960) is a British columnist and author. Pearson has worked for British newspapers such as the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Independent'', the ''Evening Standard'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and th ...

's 2002 novel of the same name. Directed by

Douglas McGrath Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 2, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Awar ...

, the film stars

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 ('' GoldenEye'', '' Tomorrow ...

and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including '' Sabrina'' (1 ...

. The film was released on September 16, 2011, and received generally negative reviews from critics. It was also 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 ...

, only grossing $31.4 million worldwide on a $24 million budget.

Plot

Kate (

) receives a reminder from her daughter, Emily's (

Emma Rayne Lyle Emma Rayne Lyle (born August 26, 2003) is an American actress best known for her role as Emily Reddy in the feature film ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' (2011), which earned her the Young Artist Award as Best Young Actress Age Ten and Under. ...

) kindergarten bake sale. Kate buys a store-baked pie and a glass pie holder. Back home, she is greeted by her husband, Richard (

). Kate and Richard attempt to have sex, but she falls asleep due to exhaustion. In the middle of the night, Kate goes to check on her children. The next morning, she is greeted with a hug by her 2-year-old son, Ben (Theodore and Julius Goldberg). Kate pleads for Richard to stay home as the babysitter, Paula, is not there to take over. Kate meets her friend, Allison (

Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

), a single mother working as a lawyer. They later encounter "the Momsters" – Wendy Best (

Busy Philipps Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), ''Dawson's Creek'' (2001–2003), ''Love, Inc.'' (2005–2006) and '' ER' ...

) and Janine LoPietro (

Sarah Shahi Aahoo Jahansouzshahi ( fa, آهو جهانسوز شاهی; born ), known professionally as Sarah Shahi (), is an American actress and former model. She played Carmen on ''The L Word'' in 2005, Kate Reed in the USA Network legal drama ''Fairly Leg ...

), who are both stay-at-home mothers. At work, Kate's boss, Clark Cooper (

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off '' Frasier'' (1993-2004) ...

) assigns a new project with Jack Abelhammer (

) to Kate. In the morning as Kate leaves her house with her children calling out to her, she cries from guilt towards her children. Later, Kate arrives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and meets Jack with Momo (

Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and former television host. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network ...

), her junior research analyst. Momo is opposed to Kate's lifestyle and is highly career-driven. Kate apologizes to Jack and later finds that she has lice. Throughout the meeting with Jack, Kate scratches her head profusely but manages to get through the meeting. Richard's mother, Marla (

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...

) displays dismay with how both Kate and Richard are working and hopes that Kate will spend more time with the children. Kate travels between

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and New York City, juggling her personal life and her major project with Jack. Kate is impressed by Jack's character. Jack begins to show admiration for Kate. Jack reveals that he was married once to someone he loved who became sick and passed away. Jack sends Kate home by getting her a cab. Kate becomes more conscious in her contact with Jack. After a meeting in Boston, Momo reveals to Kate that she is pregnant. That night, Kate and Richard have a fight over the new babysitter. After a meeting in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, Kate and Jack go to dinner. Jack brings Kate to a bowling alley. Kate reassures Allison that there is nothing romantic between them. Kate informs Momo that she will be taking five days off from work to spend time with her family in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Momo reveals to Kate that she is planning to keep the baby. Later, Bunce teases Kate for taking time off from work. While in Atlanta, Kate decides to silence her phone and be fully present during the week. All is going well as Kate prepares

Thanksgiving dinner The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and in Canada is Thanksgiving dinner (informally called turkey dinner), a large meal generally centered on a large roasted turkey. Thanksgiving could be considered the largest e ...

for the family. Before Kate leaves, Ben finally speaks his first words, "Bye Bye, Mama". Before the pitch, Momo experiences morning sickness. Despite her initial worries, Kate is reassured by Jack that the pitch went well. Jack informs Kate that he will be having lunch with the investor. The lunch goes well, but Jack later realizes he had many missed calls from Kate. The missed calls are from Richard, who could not get in touch with Kate. He calls to inform Kate that Ben has fallen down the stairs and hits his head. Kate rushes back to join them in the hospital, after which Kate and Richard have a fight. The next morning, Kate promises to build a snowman with the family. At work, Kate receives a phone call from Jack. He confesses his romantic feelings for her. Kate appreciates his feelings for her but states that she is very much in love with Richard and only wants to be with him. Kate bids Jack farewell and rushes off to Emily's kindergarten. Kate and Richard walk to each other and Kate apologizes for prioritizing work over family. Richard tells her that he will be taking on more responsibility. The Momsters then appear, with Kate proudly exclaiming that she indeed brought store-bought pie to the bake sale. Months later, Momo gives birth to a baby boy.

Cast

Release

''I Don't Know How She Does It'' was released for North American audiences on September 16, 2011.

Box office

''I Don't Know How She Does It'' opened at #6 on its opening weekend with $4,402,201. It earned $9,662,284 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

as well as $20,889,211 internationally for a worldwide total of $30,551,495.

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 Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 17% based on 112 reviews, with an average rating of 3.99/10. The site described the film as " limp comedy with a hopelessly outdated viewpoint on gender, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker in rote Carrie-mode." 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 ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Sarah Jessica Parker earned a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

nomination as Worst Actress for her performance in the film (also for ''

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

''), but "lost" to Adam Sandler for his performance in drag in '' Jack and Jill''.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Don't Know How She Does It 2011 films 2011 comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s feminist films American feminist comedy films Films about families Films about parenting Films based on British novels Films directed by Douglas McGrath Films scored by Aaron Zigman Films set in Boston Films set in Cleveland Films set in New York City Films shot in Boston Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Aline Brosh McKenna The Weinstein Company films 2010s American films