A colleague and girlfriend saw this movie in-theater and urged me to see it. However, I seldom get to the movies much less to see what I want; I just caught it on cable.

I heart this movie.

Talk about hitting the issues of working women and mothers… maternal guilt, separation anxiety, exhaustion, career mommy-tracking, work-life “balance”, resentful spouse/partner/co-parent, gender discrimination, overwork, stay-at-home vs work, judgmental co-workers…whew!

There is a scene where the main character talks about a study which found that mother get much less sleep than they should and the research couldn’t account for it. She says she could tell them why. Ditto. LISTS. The next scene shows her in bed, in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling adding items to the imagined to-do list. I thought it was just me…

Two criticisms: one, when Pierce Brosnan professed his unrequited feelings, many women would have lost the account or their job (been there…); two, the script began to back peddle. Let me explain. Sarah Jessica Parker, working mom, apologizes to her husband for traveling too much, letting things slip and putting work first. Why? This was short-term and for a project to catapult her career. Because he recently won a major contract? It’s called compromise people. She wouldn’t have asked him not to do what was necessary for his contract. You work together and figure it out. The kids will be fine!

Despite my gripes, I truly enjoyed the movie. It addressed timely issues that frequently get swept under the rug and hopefully sparked discussion in some households.