How Do You Know

Tonight I saw How Do You Know, starring Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd.

George (Rudd) is a financial something-or-other in hot water because of his father's illegal dealings in the family business. As a result, his girlfriend leaves him, which allows him to pursue a woman by the name of Lisa (Witherspoon) who another friend attempted to set him up with.

Lisa, a professional softball player just cut from the team, is currently in a relationship with Matty (Owen Wilson), a pitcher living the high life and enjoying the perks that come with it.

Once she realizes that Matty isn't the most honorable of men, she treats their union with equal respect and goes out on a date with George. But the timing is bad—he's just been indicted and she's just lost her career, so neither of them is really in the mood for good conversation. They decide it would just be best to remain silent throughout the meal and that's how their entire date is spent—enjoying the peace and quiet.

Lisa decides to try to work things out with Matty and George's self-esteem convinces him to leave her alone (though he thinks about her constantly after their weird evening together).

What's interesting about this somewhat conventional romantic comedy is that the only person worth rooting for here is George.

His life has been turned upside down through no fault of his own and now he's falling for an unavailable girl who frankly isn't much fun to be around. Poor thing!

Witherspoon does a great job of communicating a neurotic, selfish, spoiled brat who appears to leave any situation she doesn't find totally hospitable. Sure, she's pretty; yeah, she's in great shape (though, oddly enough, we never see her on the softball field), but what about this woman's personality is so enticing? Nothing.

Matty is cute, rich and clueless. He has redeeming qualities in that he truly seems to care about Lisa, but a truer-to-life version of him would surely cheat on her.

Though the cast here is predictably great, the screenplay falls short of delivering any real romance or spark, and the laughs are too few and far between to be satisfying.

How do you know when you're in love? This movie won't provide the answer.

~~~

Night At The Museum

Saturday evening I saw Night at the Museum starring Ben Stiller and Robin Williams.

The best way to evaluate this one is to say that it is what it is.

Is it silly? Yes. Is it funny? Sure. Is it a pleasant option for holiday movie watching? Absolutely.

Basically, Ben Stiller is a deadbeat dad that has trouble staying employed, so in desperation he accepts a position as a night guard at New York's Museum of Natural History. The catch? Due to an ancient Egyptian tablet, everything in the museum comes to life after dark.

The adventures that Ben's "Larry" endures are predictable and formulaic, but cute and easy to watch nonetheless. Robin Williams as the wax Teddy Roosevelt and Owen Wilson as a miniature cowboy round out this somewhat all-star cast and make for a good couple hours of laughs.

Take the kids, sit back and enjoy.