Sarah Jessica Parker proves that her cute, loveable city gal vibe can take her places beyond Carrie Bradshaw in I Don’t Know How She Does It. But Sex and the Cityfans will find much in common with Ms. Parker’s latest celluloid romp; luckily a spoonful of her warmth and vivacity makes the Superwoman clichés go down smooth.
Kate Reddy is just like her name; ready to take on everything the world throws at her. Bake sale at the last minute? No problem — fake-bake a storebought one with a little powdered sugar and some careful “wrecking”. Birthday party planning the week of the big meeting? There goes sleep! Kate wouldn’t be able to hold it together without her husband Richard (Greg Kinnear), assistant Momo (Olivia Munn) and nanny/surf betty Paula (Jessica Szohr). Boston is a fast-paced world, however, and when Kate and Richard’s careers take off at the exact same time, something’s gotta give. For Kate, the weak link is time spent at home, since her big break has her travelling to NYC several times a week to spend time with her client Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan). Would that every working woman had to choose between Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. Though if singing was a requirement…sorry Pierce. I’ve seen Mama Mia.
The story moves along thanks to asides from the female characters, each of whom has her own different take on Kate’s life. Besides Kate, Paula and Momo, there’s Kate’s bestie Allison (Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, looking fresh faced, friendly and most definitely anti-Joan) and “Momster” Wendy Best (Busy Philipps from Cougar Town), a stay-at-home gal who seems to do everything perfectly, while poor Kate walks around with pancake batter on her Armani. As things come to a head in Kate’s life, she has to learn to prioritize — the bane of all working women’s existence — and how to live with the decisions she makes, in work and at home.
Olivia Munn (Iron Man, Perfect Couples) gets to dust off her deadpan comedy chops she used so well on Attack of the Show as Momo Hahn, Kate’s “robot” of an junior assistant/Gal Friday. Momo shows us what Kate may have been like if she was single and sans-kids. Which is to say a working machine that checks sexual conquests off her to-do list like she does her boardroom meetings. Munn’s ability to telegraph an entire conversation with the audience with one spark of disgust from Momo’s judgemental eyes is the perfect counterpoint to Kate’s earth mother gone corporate. Which is to say that they’re opposite ends of a crazy-extreme spectrum. Kate tries to do it all, and she’s so friggin’ earnest in her need to be the perfect mom that just so happens to love her job. Momo is straight out of Wall Street — with one toe in American Psycho — she’s a gal that forgets holidays and thinks nothing of working all day and night, every day and night. Meanwhile, Busy Philipps gets the snobby “Mom-er Than Thou” vibe down pat as Wendy, never realizing that all the time she spends at the gym/pilates/yoga class leaves her more distant from her kids than Kate has ever been.
Sound clichéd? Of course it is. I Don’t Know How She Does It doesn’t claim to take a new approach to the chick film, it’s here to entertain and maybe impart a Very Important Lesson to people who aren’t XX chromosomed with kids. Kate is head over heels in love with her man, and he’s a doll that rolls up his sleeves and does his part around the house. Jack is a guy that knows he’s spent too much time working but so far has liked it that way. Allison is a total sweetie that is always there for Kate, even though Allison is a high-powered attorney (or at least we assume she is; her asides are in a law office where she works.) Hot nanny Paula is a lovable flake that is always there when the chips are down. In fact,outside of Momo and the Momsters, the entire cast is so lovable you’re forced to root for a happy ending. Well, except for Kelsey Grammer, who plays Kate’s boss Clark. But that’s less about his brief but competent performance and more about how I think he’s a douchenozzle after The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
The storyline moves along at such a clip viewers are whisked away on Kate’s madcap race to blend family and work, but you’re laughing all the way. Sara Jessica Parker didn’t have to look outside her own home for inspiration on how to play Kate; she’s said that in her home she’s an “air-traffic controller” when it comes to her kids schedules. Parker’s real-life and her love of this material make Kate a gal you really wan to root for. More than that, viewers see through her eyes how desperate she is to hold on to everything she has. Kate-The-Mom is nothing without her job, and Kate-The-Corprate Gal is nothing without her kids. On the surface it’s trite, but this film shows the cracks and patches everyone who decides to do it all must live with in order to find “balance”. Plus, we get to see Pierce Brosnan bowl, and that is awesome.
The highest compliment I can give this movie is that I forgot about my snackies. No, I didn’t decide not to munch, or think that all that candy was a bad idea. I had completely forgotten about everything else in the theater except for this movie. Any film that can pull me into it’s world so completely and totally that nothing else exists gets a big thumbs up from me. And a big thank you; I really didn’t need all that candy anyway.
Atomic Fangirl 