How Do You Know? (2010)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A professional softball player finds herself caught in a complex love triangle involving a charming baseball player and a businessman facing a federal investigation.
The story
Professional softball player Lisa Jorgenson begins dating Matty Reynolds, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals. Simultaneously, she receives an intriguing phone call from George Madison, a young executive whose life takes an abrupt turn for the worse when he becomes the target of a federal criminal investigation for corporate malfeasance at his father's company. After being fired and abandoned by his girlfriend, George reaches out to Lisa. Their initial meeting is a disaster, but the two continue to cross paths as Lisa navigates her complicated feelings between the fun but immature Matty and the troubled George.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Professional softball player Lisa Jorgenson begins dating Matty Reynolds, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals. She also receives an intriguing phone call from George Madison, a young executive who is suddenly targeted by a federal criminal investigation for corporate malfeasance at his father Charles Madison's company. After being fired and dumped by his girlfriend, George invites Lisa to lunch, which is a disaster. Lisa eventually moves in with Matty, a wealthy but immature man who has casual affairs. George and Lisa bump into each other again, and Matty becomes upset to find Lisa at his place with an uninvited guest. Lisa eventually moves out and spends an evening at George's modest apartment. George's father reveals he committed the illegal act for which George is being charged; Charles faces 25 years in prison while George faces only three. On the night Annie's baby is born, Lisa considers settling down. George offers to take the rap for his father if Lisa chooses to be with him. At a birthday party, George declares his feelings. Lisa realizes she is in love with George and they board a bus together, leaving Charles to face prison.
- First release year
- 2010
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- James L. Brooks
- Writers
- James L. Brooks · writer
- Cast and characters
- Reese Witherspoon · Lisa Jorgenson; Owen Wilson · Matty Reynolds; Paul Rudd · George Madison; Jack Nicholson · Charles Madison; Kathryn Hahn · Annie; Mark Linn-Baker · Ron; Lenny Venito · Al; Molly Price · Coach Sally
- Genres
- romantic comedy; drama
- Themes
- Love triangles; Corporate malfeasance; Family loyalty; Sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- Mixed-to-negative; Glib; Low-impact
- Premise and plot tags
- Romantic Comedy; Drama; Sports; Crime
- Reception
- The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $48.7 million against a $120 million budget, and received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. It was listed as one of the biggest box office flops of all time in 2014.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 32% · review count: 149; Metacritic · score: 46 · scale: 100 · review count: 38
- Production trivia
- Bill Murray was the original choice for the role of Charles Madison.; The film was the third to feature Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd together.; The production cost was $120 million, with the net budget at about $100 million after tax rebates.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…