Stars of new film shot scenes in Philly

Nobody's saying the new romantic comedy How Do You Know will make anyone forget such Philadelphia-filmed classics as Trading Places, Rocky and Sixth Sense.

But locals like to see the city getting a bit of the national spotlight - even when no star athletes like Michael Vick or Cliff Lee are involved.

In this case, the big names were actors Reese Witherspoon, Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson (who plays a major-league pitcher) and Paul Rudd, as well as director James L. Brooks, all of whom were caught in photos around town during the summer and fall of 2009.

The city actually stands in for Washington, D.C., where the story is fictionally set and where an assortment of scenes were shot.

But filming was also done at the armory at Drexel University, the restaurant Table 31 at the Comcast Center, the Union Trust steakhouse, Philadelphia International Airport, the Phoenix condominium on the Parkway, and the Widener Building near City Hall, according to various sources.

Wilson joked in a TV interview that his baseball-player character is on the Washington Nationals because no one would ever believe he could make the Phillies.

Witherspoon, whose character is torn between guys played by Owen and Rudd, was photographed enjoying some free time at Citizens Bank Park - attending a Billy Joel-Elton John concert with then-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. (He's now dating just-turned-21 songstress Taylor Swift, who was born and raised in Wyomissing, near Reading.)

Nicholson played a round at Merion Golf Club with actor-pal Joe Pesci, according to apolloscred.com.

For more about movies shot in the Philadelphia area, see photo gallery at http://go.philly.com/filmedinphilly.