Maybe the smile I’m wearing after watching the trailer for How Do You Know shows that I’m a 36 year-old man in the midst of reevaluating his life and where he is, but from a strict cinematic perspective, there isn’t much in the way of negative coming from this December 17, 2010 release.

Written and directed by James L. Brooks, the genius behind Spanglish, As Good as It Gets, Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment, the movie centers around a love triangle between a professional softball player (Reese Witherspoon), a corporate executive (Paul Rudd) and a professional baseball player (Owen Wilson). It looks like Jack Nicholson shows up as Paul Rudd’s father and that should make for some interesting chemistry.

From what I gather in the trailer, Witherspoon isn’t really sure where her life is taking her and either is Paul Rudd. Like much of Brooks’ writing, a strong theme in the movie will be love and finding the person that makes you happy and that doesn’t always mean a happy ending necessarily. One thing I admire about Brooks’ writing is the honesty and raw, honest characters – full of flaws and problems – he brings to the screen in a charming but uncensored fashion.

This is definitely on my must-see holiday film list.