Meet Kate (Sex and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker) a stressed-out working Mom juggling home, career and hubby while moving up the corporate ladder. It's a bumpy financial ride for Kate, since architect husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a recently downsized professional who's boot-strapping a business from the breakfast nook.
Every day is filled with impossible demands and schedules that aren't ever quite kept. Kate flies in and out of her home and life with a passion for being perfect. That means bake sale goodies are improvised after 2 a.m., the next-day's schedules are analyzed during sleepless nights and there's never any time for S E X.
Into this complicated life comes - well, more complications. Richard lands the big architectural job he's been praying for and Kate's pet project gets the green light. The success is welcome, but it means a family already running on fumes is about out of gas. Kate's travel schedule gets crazier and making matters worse is her new boss Jack (Pierce Brosnan) who demands dedication and provides some unexpected temptation.
Kate's world teeters on the brink of disaster, but stays upright just long enough to impart some wry observations on 21st Century working families (at least the semi-affluent ones) and gender inequality in the workplace. Director Douglas McGrath (Emma) keeps a tight rein on the potential pathos by using Kate's best friend Allison (Drive's (reviewed here 4/26) Christina Hendricks) and her assistant Momo (Olivia Munn) for comedic relief. Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) and Seth Meyers (Saturday Night Live) are wickedly funny in their roles as the respective boss and boot-licker.
I Don't Know How She Does It is a breezy charmer of a movie. It's a head's up to all the "Carrie's" out there. Yeah, life after Sex in the City may be a bit more challenging, but it can also be a lot of fun.