凱特的慾望日記 (I Don't Know How She Does It )

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 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

Storyline
A comedy centered on the life of Kate Reddy, a finance executive who is the breadwinner for her husband and two kids.

Taglines
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.

Review
If anyone out there is desperate for another "Sex and the City" sequel (anyone?), fear not: In "I Don't Know How She Does It," Carrie Bradshaw finally settles down and raises a family.
Well, not technically.
Sarah Jessica Parker is actually playing a character named Kate Reddy, who originated in a best-selling novel by Allison Pearson. But from the wry narration to the girlish mannerisms, Parker really does turn this film into "Sex and the Kiddies."
On the bright side, it's a lot more watchable than its awful trailer indicates. Director Douglas McGrath ("Emma") and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada") are both pros, with a crucial sense of empathy toward their hapless heroine.
A mother of two, Kate is an investment manager whose demanding job perpetually requires impossible decisions: Does she please her husband, Richard (Greg Kinnear), or her bosses, Clark (Kelsey Grammer) and Jack (Pierce Brosnan)? Can she buy a deli pie for her daughter's bake sale, or does she have to make one from scratch?
While Olivia Munn, Christina Hendricks and Jane Curtin nail their roles as Kate's assistant, best friend and disapproving mother-in-law, the male actors – including Seth Meyers as her competitor - are afterthoughts. Only the always-reliable Brosnan finds some depth in his underwritten role.
Then again, this is very much Kate's story, and much to their credit the filmmakers refuse to judge any of her choices.
They do wrap things up with superficial ease, but they also find plenty of humor and poignancy in parenthood.
At the same time, they never shy away from the worry, guilt and criticisms so many working mothers experience. (If anything, they're too hard on stay-at-home moms, as represented by a vapid Busy Philipps.)
Unfortunately, Parker infuses Kate - a nonstop mess who's constantly apologizing - with such frantic insecurity that she comes across more as an anxious twentysomething than a 40-year-old mother. It's Hendricks who provides the welcome maturity, and I couldn't help wishing she had been given the lead.
But as Richard reminds his harried wife, "Sometimes okay has to be good enough."
Magic Moment: Any parent who's ever sung a lullaby over the phone will connect when Kate serenades her daughter with "A Bushel and a Peck."
-Elizabeth Weitzman