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Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn ... see more see more... , Greg Kinnear , Robbie Sublett , Seth Meyers , Jane Curtin , Mark Blum , Busy Philipps , Sarah Shahi , Jessica Szohr , Emma Rayne Lyle , Julius Goldberg , Theodore Goldberg , James Murtaugh , Mika Brzezinski , Eugenia Yuan , Joseph Amato , Michelle Hurst , Beth Fowler , Michael Hogan , Marceline Hugot , Steve Routman , Raymond McNally , Katie Hyde Lewars , Natalie Gold , Lorna Pruce , Jacob Alexander

Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Munn and Christina Hendricks star in I Don't Know How She Does It, a comedy from director Douglas McGrath (Emma, Infamous) and producer Donna... read more read more... Gigliotti (The Reader, Let Me In). Based on the critically acclaimed bestseller by Allison Pearson, I Don't Know How She Does It follows a Boston-based working mother trying desperately to juggle marriage, children, and a high-stress job. -- (C) Weinstein

Flixster Users

32% liked it

17,264 ratings

Critics

17% liked it

107 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Douglas McGrath

Release Date: September 16, 2011

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DVD Release Date: January 3, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (806)

  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    February 21, 2012
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    A comedy centered on the life of Kate Reddy, a finance executive who is the breadwinner for her husband and two kids.

    Not bad yet not that great either. The movie really doesn't bore you it's just that the theme and plot of the story is not so great or intriguing. This is proba... read morebly strictly for girls since the main idea of the story is to show that woman can do it all and they can.

    Kate Reddy (Parker) devotes her days to her job with a Boston-based financial management firm. At night she goes home to her adoring, recently-downsized architect husband Richard (Kinnear) and their two young children. It's a non-stop balancing act, the same one that Kate's acerbic best friend and fellow working mother Allison (Christina Hendricks) performs on a daily basis, and that Kate's super-brainy, child-phobic young junior associate Momo (Olivia Munn) fully intends to avoid. When Kate gets handed a major new account that will require frequent trips to New York, Richard also wins the new job he's been hoping for--and both will be spreading themselves even thinner. Complicating matters is Kate's charming new business associate Jack Abelhammer (Brosnan), who begins to prove an unexpected source of temptation.
  • fb100000145236770
    December 22, 2011
    fb100000145236770
    Short, sweet, frantic, and to the point. "I Don't Know How She Does It" is a pretty typical chick flick. It's about a woman named Kate(Sarah Jessica Parker) juggling marriage, kids, and a high stress job. Parker does a good job, as does the rest of the cast. The problem I had... read more with the movie wasn't the acting, it was the way it was presented. First each character is constantly giving a testimony about Kate. Almost like the movie is a documentary. While it works sometimes, other times it is kind of annoying and ruins the flow of the movie. At an hour and ninety minutes it flies by pretty quick, and comes off just like Kate's life. All over the place, disorganized, and very frantic. By the end you'll say to yourself "I don't know how she did it". I'm not huge on chick flicks, so really this movie isn't for me. But up until she passed out, I think my wife enjoyed it. So as long as women enjoy it, then it accomplishes it's goal.
  • romy861
    November 11, 2011
    romy861
    So glad I didn't pay money to see this one. Kind of found the whole movie insulting. All the cliches are there including the hardened career girl who doesn't want children, but suddenly does. Give me a break.
    Sarah Jessica does a voice over which makes you feel like its an episo... read morede of Sex & the City. I wish it was.
    Actually making me so cross I just downgraded it another half a star. I don't think this movie does any women any favors, quite frankly, not the mum's either. . More spreading of the BS that you can do and have it all.
    I can remember reading the book a few years back, and I don't think I especially liked that either, but hoped the movie would be better as it has a decent cast and I do like a good chick flick. Give it a miss.
  • panta2
    January 3, 2012
    panta2
    This story of Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) who works for a Boston-based financial management firm is somehow all around the place but manages to be a real chick-flick... of course, as a super woman, by night, she's a devoted mother to two adoring children and the happily mar... read moreried wife of Richard (Greg Kinnear).

    The only bright spots in this movie are some of the actors' performances: I liked Allison (Christina Hendricks), Momo (Olivia Munn) and Jack (Pierce Brosnan).

    It's not spectacularly unfunny or appallingly made movie - it's just a rote treatment of a familiar subject. That's why we'll find some of the movie's scenes truncated, sometimes looking just as repetitive vignettes... at the end what was presented was just as hurried as Kate but this time juggling only the same few issues rather than an entire life.
  • jeffboam
    September 14, 2011
    jeffboam
    When it comes to easy peasie lemon squeezy resolutions to life's complicated problems, I Don't Know How She Does It does that thing it does very well. The problem is, what you end up knowing could very well kill you. Yes, the movie may focus on an important and often neglected un... read moresung hero of society (working mothers of the world-unite!). No, it really doesn't do this sect any justice by telling their tale with connect-the-dots storytelling. Despite the ridiculously chipper and chirpy Sarah Jessica Parker blowing some sunny optimism up the audience's patoot, this soft-serve comedy is as standard issue as it gets.

    In this PG-13-rated adaptation of Allison Pearson's comedy novel I Just Don't Know How She Does It, Sarah Jessica Parker plays an over-stressed financial exec who must struggle with balancing demanding client Pierce Brosnan, downsized architect husband Greg Kinnear, and two young kids.

    If this flick had been a sequel to a certain whip-smart Melanie Griffith dramedy, it would've been called Working Mom. Of course, if this color-by-numbers fluff was a sequel to Working Girl, it would've been more intelligently plotted. The movie plays out like Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the adult set with Parker breaking the fourth wall and scribbling her thoughts across the screen like grocery lists. Unfortunately, the easy-clean mop-up of her heroine's toils and troubles is deceptively simple. A great cast, however, nearly distracts moviegoers from such shortcomings. Brosnan, Kinnear, Kelsey Grammer, Olivia Munn, and Christina Hendricks all provide fine support for the eternally sunny Parker.

    Bottom line: Sacked in the city.
  • helwigs
    May 19, 2012
    helwigs
    It's a pretty funny film. Mostly for girls though. Definately not a date movie, guys would most likely get bored seeing as then entire movie is pretty much from a female persective and deals with mostly female issues. It was more of a dramady than I really expected from the pr... read moreeviews. Slightly mroe serious than I had originally though it would be, but it was still pretty good.
  • emilybonner2
    April 14, 2012
    emilybonner2
    I really enjoyed this movie. It is funny with a decent story line, and the cast is well-suited (except for the kids who come across older than they are meant to be). It is a great perspective of a working mom's hectic life, and the commentary added in by both Sarah Jessica Parker... read more and some of the characters really added to the humor and interest. But the best thing about the movie is the ending. *Spoiler Alert* The fact that she stays with her husband despite the powerful and sexy businessman's interest in her makes the movie. Many times these types of movies that are "preaching" female equality bring it out as the woman having the right and independence to do whatever she wants, including leaving her family to make herself happy. It was refreshing to have a movie show that the life isn't perfect, but it's worth fighting for.
  • ash6986
    March 17, 2012
    ash6986
    Another movie that shows how a women trys to make it in a mans world and is treated differently and it just makes you mad!
  • moviegirl50
    March 9, 2012
    moviegirl50
    I see this did not get good reviews...don't know why, I liked it and enjoyed the watch. Sarah, Greg, and Pierce were good and believable in their respective roles. It wasn't fall down funny but got a couple giggles from me, I more thought of it as a look at trying to live the imp... read moreossible life of mom, wife and career woman. I Really liked how she stuck to her guns and was faithful to her husband and family even though there were other temptations...a good lesson this world could learn!
  • psyclock7
    February 29, 2012
    psyclock7
    This one wasn't on my to see list or my don't see list at any price. Not even sure how I feel about this one...It was slow, not boring and definitely not a comedy. I don't care how it is billed it, it did have some cute moments but it was what it was. I didn't hate it and I wa... read moretched the whole thing...I also got it for free so phew!!! Dodge a huge bullit there...If you watch this one, all eyes on Momo. That was an interesting character...

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Critic Reviews

Ella Taylor
September 16, 2011
Ella Taylor, NPR

In the chick-flick world, hell is other women, and here specifically it's the stay-at-home wife and mother. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
September 16, 2011
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

How nice it would have been had McKenna penned a couple of those audience-addressing interludes for Richard or Jack. What would these modern, succesful men tell us of themselves? Full Review

Dana Stevens
September 16, 2011
Dana Stevens, Slate

I Don't Know How She Does It purports to be about the difficult choices of modern motherhood, but it's too prim and cautious a movie to dip a pedicured toe into the murky waters of real choice. Full Review

Jennie Punter
September 16, 2011
Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail

The main problem is that this Boston-set flick quite unselfconsciously presents itself as if it were a pop-culture first to express ideas about the working-mom balancing act. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
September 16, 2011
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

A lot more watchable than its awful trailer indicates. Full Review

Kyle Smith
September 16, 2011
Kyle Smith, New York Post

A meager one-joke comedy peopled by stereotypes. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
September 16, 2011
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

The film is so bad it's hard to imagine anything saving it. Full Review

Eric D. Snider
September 16, 2011
Eric D. Snider, Film.com

Any working mother is bound to see herself in this. Provided she is also a fictional character on a sitcom, that is. Full Review

Claudia Puig
September 15, 2011
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Though it aims to be a sharply humorous look at the mommy wars, I Don't Know How She Does It has nothing remotely new or comical in its arsenal. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
September 15, 2011
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Spiffy-looking, well-intentioned but ultimately witless. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Kate Reddy: [from trailer] I love my work. Although sometimes I wish I didn't love it so much.
    • Kate Reddy: Instead of sleeping, I do the list.
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