As screechy as it gets

Believe it or not, this screechy romantic comedy has been directed by Oscar-winner James L. Brooks who gave us such memorable movies as Terms of Endearment and As Good As it Gets.

Believe it or not, this screechy romantic comedy has been directed by Oscar-winner James L. Brooks who gave us such memorable movies as Terms of Endearment and As Good As it Gets.

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How Do You Know (and we don’t know why the question mark is missing from the title) has plenty of star power but not even celebrities of the order of Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson can overcome the film’s largely laugh-free screenplay.

It doesn’t take long for the clichés to pile up as the plot makes much ado about a softball player (Witherspoon) upset at being dropped from the national team.

Next: An affable lothario (Wilson) and an executive (Rudd) caught up in a corporate scandal both compete for the affections of our sporty heroine. Ho-hum.

By then it doesn’t matter much, for the story becomes strained as it pretends to give a damn about which of the two men she will eventually choose.

It is also quite disheartening to see Jack Nicholson reduced to mugging in the supporting role of a boorish father.

To put it plainly, How Do You Know leaves us with the impression that it could have done with more skilful direction than the normally bankable Brooks is able to provide. Sad