James L. Brooks’ upcoming ‘dramedy’ How Do You Know has been scheduled for a December 17th release, with new plot details emerging in The New York Times.
How Do You Know stars Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson (reuniting with his As Good As It Gets director Brooks). Previous details on the film were scarce, and earlier reports simply described the film as a romantic comedy set in the world of baseball.
Brooks last directorial offering was 2004’s Spanglish, which almost disappeared without trace on it’s release. It appears that he has spent the time since doing a vast amount of research on his subject material. The basic concept is still a love-triangle involving Lisa (Witherspoon), business executive George (Rudd) and professional baseball pitcher Manny (Wilson), however Brooks had spent hundreds of hours interviewing various female athletes as research, and even delved into the world of corporate business, and the people held accountable by the law for its behaviour. Baseball itself is very much secondary, with the main plot revolving around two characters who meet on “the worst night of their lives” and is about “people trying to find out what matters to them most”.
The film is reported to have been five years in the making. With Brooks’ penchant for character-heavy material and the effort he has personally invested, the end result would appear to be far removed from the usual lightweight ‘rom-coms’.
What do you make of the plot of How Do You Know?