HOW DO YOU KNOW

RYAN: We were both very much looking forward to seeing How Do You Know because we love romantic comedies and Reese Witherspoon.

CAROLINE: Also because it’s directed by James L. Brooks who has a history of making good movies that co-star Jack Nicholson, as this one does. Add one Paul Rudd to the cast and you have a movie we’re dying to see!

RYAN: Sadly, however, this is another rom com that slapped us across the face with a cold, hard hand. Can you believe that with this fabulous cast Owen Wilson was actually our favorite character? He had the best lines.

CAROLINE: I really don’t like him much, but he was easily the most winning of the group in this train wreck of a movie. The best thing I can say about Reese Witherspoon is that she looked fab. Her skin and makeup were flawless, and I liked her hair and her cute outfits. But other than that, I didn’t respond to her character at all.

RYAN: This film is rife with technical problems like bad editing. The pacing is so slow and many cuts were awkward. And the script is absolutely atrocious. There are lines they have that would never be uttered by any person in a normal, human conversation. It’s truly incredible.

CAROLINE: I couldn’t believe how bad the dialogue was. So many scenes could have been cut in half. It took them forever to get to the point. And it was even hard to follow at times; but that may have been because I fell asleep. This movie is beyond dull. This is not the kind of movie I should have fallen asleep in. It’s my genre!

RYAN: Reese is one of my favorite actresses and I’ll see anything she’s in, but I’m embarrassed for her in this movie. Her performance was stilted and weird to the point that I thought, “This from an Oscar winning actress?!?” And Jack Nicholson should have his Oscars revoked! I felt like he was just trying to recreate his character from A Few Good Men.

CAROLINE: He was a little over the top but didn’t bother me that much. I just couldn’t believe how little I cared about the plot. I so wanted to love the romance between Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon, but his character was so cheesy and his lines were so lame that I never got into it. Basically, this movie made no sense.

RYAN: I kinda hate this movie and it bums me out how bad the genre of romantic comedy has become lately.

CAROLINE: I wouldn’t even call this movie a comedy. I think I laughed once. I don’t even know how to categorize this movie because it’s not a drama either. It’s a weak attempt at romance.

RYAN: It was so melodramatic and cheesy. And then toward the end, this secondary character has a major scene that I so didn’t care about. That whole scene could have been cut.

CAROLINE: Oh my God, I thought I might shoot myself during that scene. By then I was just praying for the movie to end. It’s full two hours and it should have only been 90 minutes. It still wouldn’t have been a good movie, but at least we wouldn’t have had to suffer for so long.

RYAN: And how much did we hear about how Reese learning to play softball for this movie, and how she trained her butt off? It was all for naught.

CAROLINE: Seriously. I think she had one scene where she played softball. This movie is such a joke. And an unfunny one at that.

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: I’m sorry to say this movie is a complete waste of time. I can’t even say rent it. I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t agree.

CAROLINE: I know it seems strange for us to say we hated this movie because the cast is so up our alley, but I can honestly say this movie isn’t worth seeing. If you must rent it in the future, fine, but don’t you dare spend your hard earned money to see this on the big screen.

RYAN: Especially with so many Oscar worthy movies in theaters right now.

— RATING —