At first glance, a movie that includes names like Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, and Kelsey Grammar, probably got your attention; but before you get in line to buy your ticket, I highly recommend you rethink your decision. Sarah Jessica Parker gives her latest chic-flick “I Don’t Know How She Does It” her all; which in her case includes a big smile of faux charisma and a knowing half head tilt, half nod that screams “I am a great actress, please believe me”.
After her last movie “Meet the Morgans”, I came to the conclusion that she was destined to be a one-hit wonder. I mean she made a movie with Hugh Grant seem boring and unwatchable, something I believed to be impossible; but when “I Don’t Know How She Does It” was released I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, she deserved a second chance. I was wrong. It has become apparent to me that Sarah Jessica Parker’s range as an actress is very limited. This does not mean that her movies won’t be successful as I believe she has found the perfect movie-making formula, which goes something like this: a pointless plotline with no more than one range of emotion and two facial expressions at most will equal mediocre box office success and millions of dollars.
Her latest movie borders on fantasy as the main character, a mother of two, balances her motherly duties, her marriage (to an extremely understanding husband, so much so that his character alone would guarantee this movie to fall under the category of science fiction), and her job as a hedge-fund manager at a firm filled with ambitious men plotting to steal her job. All this juggling is done with such ease and grace and without a single complaint from Sarah Jessica Parker’s character that when you realize she’s also wearing six-inch heels while city hopping you want to scream “enough!” To be honest it is a slap in the face to mothers everywhere who genuinely struggle with family and career and end up sacrificing a lot, while Sarah Jessica Parker prances around making it seem like a piece of cake.
Yet, what this movie lacks in conflict and story line, it makes up for in comedy with co-stars and comedians, Olivia Munn and Seth Meyers (whom you may know from SNL). Both play employees at the investment firm, and are the only two actors that will have you laughing out loud. True professionals in the art of comedy, Munn and Meyers do not disappoint and will keep you in anticipation of their next scene throughout the movie.
Verdict: 2 out of 5. Wait for it to be released on DVD and then watch it in the background while doing something else.
– Jawa Al-Ahmad
Images: IMDb.com
