THE PLOT THUS FAR
A comedy centered on the life of Kate Reddy, a finance executive who is the breadwinner for her husband and two kids.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Kate Reddy seemed to have it all figured out, on the outside at least when others look at her, the perfect formula to keep everything together, although folks on the inside, and by that I mean family members with husband Richard and kids Emily and Ben disappointment and the lack of quantity time become very evident and frequent, and goes to a certain extent of reminding us of the things that actually matter and the importance of that balance and difficulty to achieve so, because it isn’t a zero sum game, but definitely something’s gotta give, and the crux of this film is how Kate slowly erodes what should be held dear, for career progress and reputation to upkeep.
Which is not a bad thing, but calls for very discerning time management, and knowing when to call it quits. Director Douglas McGrath weaves a very punchy narrative that relies a fair bit of comedy, even employing things like hair lice and other quite unladylike behaviour to send the message across, be it presenting the challenges Kate faced, or to try and present the narrative in a fairly novel manner with the use of talking heads interviews that makes it become like a mockumentary, even having Kate break the fourth wall and communicate directly with the audience more than once. It also offers keen insights into the modern day career woman, and if you remove gender from the equation, the many issues on display can apply to any working adult with similar responsibilities, where life may mean a constant juggle of roles and the apportioning of one’s time against activities.
The Blu-Ray comes with a featurette that lets the author talk about the translation to film. Other than that, it’s a passable 1080p transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track. For a film that was in theaters less than five months ago, this quite a sad turnaround. Well, it’s not that sad when you consider that it’s a terrible movie. In the end, I’d recommend a rental only for the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 01/03/2012
