HOW DO YOU KNOW: from the stink, that's how

It's been a bad week for film watching. THE TOURIST was a dud but HOW DO YOU KNOW really stinks.
How did I know?
The clunky dialogue, the listless, uninspired acting, and a story which never really gets started.
When did I know?
Within the first thirty minutes it's obvious that this is very slowly going absolutely nowhere interesting.
Reese Witherspoon is the squishy-faced former softball star who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle with oafish baseball player Owen Wilson and harassed, hesitant Paul Rudd. Coaching from the sidelines like a man who's completely run out of steam is a portly, raspy Jack Nicholson, giving his worst performance since his last film, the lazy sloppy 'The Bucket List.'
The big name quartet plays out this dreary relationship drama with all the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy presented with a plate of sprouts and told he can't leave the table til he's eaten them all.
Writer-director James L.Brooks should be ashamed of the shapeless mess he's created. How it's possible for the same man to make this and 'Terms of Endearment', 'Broadcast News,' 'As Good as It Gets' and write numerous episodes of 'The Simpsons' is a conundrum worthy of an episode of tv's 'Unsolved Mysteries.'