Why was she SUCH a mess?
I get it. She had a lot of stuff to juggle and her husband didn't seem to be the most help with some of it but she seemed to be lacking the most basic organizational and logic skills.
Her kids
Yes, they are a handful but she had two of them and neither were still infants. One was already in Kindergarten and the other was two. My parents had three and often took in foster children during the summers. We still managed to get to school on time, maintain our relationships together, learn responsibilities, etc.
As far as the job/home life went, my parents had something similar going on. My dad went on long business trips and had to devote several weeks at a time to his work as well. My mom cared for the domestic responsibilities and all of us by herself during those times. My dad did the same later on when my mom was focusing more time on her career. And yet, there was never that kind of chaos in our house. Neither of my parents would have stood for it and we all knew that.
They managed to make time for us and didn't blow up at each other doing what they needed to do to cover the bases (like the scene where she gets irrationally angry at him for bringing in a different babysitter when she was the one who was late)
Her Job
Seriously? We never saw much that proved she was brilliant at her job. Competent, sure? Brilliant? Not so much. Seth Meyers' character was a smug jerk, but he at least appeared to be good at his job and didn't fall for his coworker.
Her Nanny
I don't understand how she could have a spouse who stayed at home a lot of the time AND a nanny and still couldn't pull it off. What did her nanny even do? Unless she was having some torrid affair with the husband (that's a plot twist I'd have been interested in) I just don't see how neither she or the husband could pick up the slack.
Her Assistant
She had an assistant that seemed to be obsessed with work. She clearly picked up the slack for SJP's character. She managed to keep all the ducks in a row and I'm pretty sure she would've taken care of some of those "crucial" situations for her.
So like... why did she still seem to lack the basic organization skills that most people learn while they're still in high school?
I wanted to like this film so much! I liked the cast, the cinematography was pretty, along with the set, wardrobe, and other details. And yet, this was all just unrealistic. On like every level.
Also, as others have said, they should've cast Munn or Hendricks as the lead and maybe had SJP as the older, funny friend. It would have made things more relatable and changed the dynamic.