It's Complicated

It's Complicated

Maybe we've finally grown used to the idea of romance among the over-50s, maybe there simply aren't any young actresses who can compete with the likes of Meryl Streep - but it seems that we're seeing more and more movies about old-aged lovers at the moment. From Last Chance Harvey to Sex And The City, the romantic focus is no longer on the under-20s.

It's Complicated is perhaps the most complete expression to date of this new subgenre, although that doesn't mean it's without its problems. It's admirable that it focuses so clearly on the difficulties of late-life romance, but it isn't entirely plain sailing.

Jane Adler (Meryl Streep) has been divorced for ten years, and despite the fact that she has a successful business and a ridiculously nice house she still misses the excitement of a romantic dalliance. So she takes the simplest - if not the most sensible - route to satisfaction, and begins an affair with her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin).

Except, of course, Jake now has a new wife to sneak away from, and a stepson to care for. Plus Jane has just embarked on a simpler, but less exciting, romance with divorced architect Adam Schaffer (Steve Martin).

Given the title, you just know that their love lives will get hopelessly entangled before they finally find the path to happiness - and not everyone is going to get what they want.

And herein lies the problem with It's Complicated, because it's hard to know who to root for among its constellation of stars. Streep clearly plays the lead, but Martin really does look a little vanilla next to Baldwin's boyish charms - and while he offers the movie's most sensible outcome, it's not necessarily the one you'll be hoping for.

As writer-director Nancy Meyers attempts to manipulate us towards her ending, the machinery of her plot becomes worryingly visible, and we can't help feeling that we're watching pieces being moved around on a chessboard. After all, it's just a little too convenient that Jake's new son was conceived by another man, and that his wife is about as romantic as a Great White. We're not left to draw our own conclusions, so much as pushed in the right direction by the screenplay's giant cattleprod.

Still, it's hard to imagine a better cast than this: Streep is the liveliest we've seen her since Mamma Mia!; Baldwin cements the new comic turn his career has taken with an irresistably bubbly performance; while Steve Martin does his best work in years as the surprisingly down-to-earth architect. The Office's John Krasinski makes the most of his brief appearance too, although his talents are wasted on such a disappointingly slight role.

At the end of the day, though, It's Complicated isn't quite as clever - or as complicated - as it likes to think. It takes more than a generational shift to breathe life into an old formula, and Meyers' hand is sometimes a little too heavy for her material. Fun and frothy, but lacking the bite it so clearly wants to have.

3/5

Booze Revooze: A Drinker's Skewed View of IT'S COMPLICATED

Final Proof: 1 Shot

You  know how you go over to your best friend’s house and he’s not there but his mother is and she’s been sipping white wine most of the afternoon so she encourages you to wait on the living room sofa? She’s not all that attractive but you want to be polite and plus you got nothing else going on so you plop yourself down. She doesn’t offer you anything to drink and, fortunately, she doesn’t hit on you, which is also kind of a drag because all she does is keep refilling her glass and get all maudlin while she goes over the details of her divorce and the drunker she gets the more detail she goes into. You start to think maybe you shouldn’t have sat down because there’s not a whole hell of a lot to do and you could head off to the bar or hook up with another friend or pick up a six-pack and a couple Taco Bell Value Menus and hang out in a park. Anything’s gotta be better than listening to her maniacal giggling, right? That’s kinda the way it is with It’s Complicated.

i agreed to see It’s Complicated with Miss D because the reviews weren’t so bad, i thought i could use it as a bargainning chip to see Orphan with her (but she told me, after we saw  the movie, that she’s ditching me for Orphan to hang out with a friend of hers) and i love trashing romantic-comedies.

It’s Complicated was no exception. i mean, we’re talking the same director who did The Holiday for chrissakes. There was some originality in the idea of it being a divorced couple, but that’s not enough to break the framework of romantic cronies that Nancy Meyers herself helped construct with Something’s Got To Give. Like rom-coms aren’t boring enough, they gotta make them with old people as well. Just because they got tons of money to spend and no old fart movies to spend it on.

Man, just give me a six-pack and Taco Bell.

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: 0 Shots

It goes without saying that Maryl Streep does a solid job, but maybe the limitations of the role, or of the director, keep her from shining as brightly as she usually does.

Thankfully, the only partially undressed scene we get of her is a shot with her dress off her shoulder and one cup of her geriatric bra.  Sure, she’s still handsome for a woman her age (60) but let’s get real.

On the brighter side, we get Lake Bell (30). Lake is cool. i liked how in some scenes it looked like god, after perfecting her boobs, got tired making her face halfway through and cut corners on her chin. It adds charm.

Zoe Kazan has a couple brief appearances as Gabby, the youngest daughter. Which means we got a 26-year-old playing an 18-year-old.

In the role of the oldest daughter, Lauren, we’re treated to a relative newcomer. Caitlin Fitzgerald has done a couple spots on series and minor roles (like “Young Woman” in Taking Woodstock) and though her role here is heftier, she carries it off with talent and grace, proving she’s ready to move onward and upward.

To finish off, we get a couple Silken Butterflies, those beautiful visions that flit briefly across the screen in the break of a heart. A  toast to their future successes.

Rosalie Ward as “Biltmore Reception Clerk”.

Here’s Marina Squerciati:

For Miss Demeanor (and the other babes in the Bar None), i came up with a couple shots for you, too.

Traditional sex symbol: Hunter Parrish (22)

Alternative sex symbol: John Krasinkski (30)

Drink: 2 Shots

Quite  a few drink references, actually. For example, they couldn’t eat a freakin’ meal without corking at least one bottle of wine, usually  white.

Also, the movie opens with a party and a champagne toast to anniversaries, plus there’s more champagne at a graduation lunch.

The reason i went all the way up to two shots, though, is because the pivotal moment of the movie is based in booze. Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin), a divorced couple, get back together again because they meet in a hotel bar and get trashed together. Jane starts off with a dry Tanqueray martini with twist before she and Jake pound at least three bottles of wine and top it off with a cognac. After they do the deed, and we get to see Alec Baldwin’s gorilla hairy chest in bed, Jane leans over and pukes in the nightstand. Then she goes to the bathroom to finish the recycling.

Rock & Roll: 0 Shots

There are a couple parties with some real music (like the Bowie up  top) and then we get stuff like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers,  “Don’t Do Me Like That”.

i’m not sure how much this qualifies as ‘rock’, but i know Miss  Demeanor likes it and so someone else may, too.
Fine Young Cannibals – Good Thing

Boring Technical Crap

Written by: Nancy Meyers

Directed by: Nancy Meyers

Starring

Meryl Streep - Jane

Lake Bell – Agness

Caitlin Fitzgerald – Lauren

Zoe Kazan – Gabby

Rosalie Ward – Biltmore Reception Clerk

Marina Squerciati – Melanie

John Krasinski – Harley

Hunter Parrish – Luke

Alec Baldwin – Jake

Steve Martin – Adam

Bottom Line

Don’t see it. You might get chick flick points if you take a date, though.

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Al K Hall<br />
Functional Alcoholic Slurperson<br />
(No, REALLY. Google &amp;quot;Slurperson&amp;quot; if you don't believe me.)

Last updated: 2010-03-31 20:29:46 by user08

It's Complicated

If you have a bigger problem with adultery than with the absurdity of your President receiving the Nobel Peace Prize while waging war in 3 countries, you obviously won't like this movie. If, however, you're into people: what their needs are, their feelings and what makes them tic, instead of religious dogmas that artificially make you feel better than your fellowmen, you might enjoy it as thoroughly as we did.

Granted, the movie has a few moments that come across as a little less than real or even right. For instance, you might catch yourself thinking, "Gee, I never thought I'd ever have to watch Steve Martin kissing Meryl Streep." But latest by the time they both light up a joint, you'll know why he was chosen for this role, and the laughs and brilliant "people moments" in the film will rapidly make up for any of its flaws.

For anyone who has ever been divorced and knows that these things indeed are complicated, this should be quite enjoyable, although the ultimate lesson to be gleaned from it may be nothing more than a reminder of the way Joni Mitchell once put it: "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"

Recommendations: The Matrix , Fratello sole, sorella luna , The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John

There IS no spoon!

Last updated: 2010-03-09 08:43:49 by user05

It's Complicated

I give the movie: 2.5/5

This movie is about two 50-year-olds canoodling each other again after a decade of divorcing one another. Such a first impression usually puts off many viewers - or to put it in a nicer way, there is only a certain targeted demographic for this film. Let's just hope this movie was at least appealing to them, because for me, it was about a complicated relationship, and that's about it.

SYNOPSIS:

After a quick overnight affair in New York, Jane (a delightfully desperate Meryl Streep) hooks up with her ex-husband, Jake (a hilariously lusty Alec Baldwin), and they rediscover their love and concern for each other. Meanwhile back at home, an infatuation blossoms between Jane and her kitchen architect, Adam (a rather miscast Steve Martin), and you're right, things get complicated.

PLUS POINTS:

The film highlights Jane's lonely plights rather accurately. Writer/director Nancy Meyers (of mature chick flicks like What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give) gives her lead actress ample space to emote as a busy mother of three, dealing with a decade-old divorce. Baldwin's role was also well-written and we identify with his dilemma of leaving his current feisty wife and a hyper-active son who already depends on him.

FLAWS:

But for a film that leads us into a territory where it concerns a touchy subject such as divorce (where three grown-up kids are embroiled in this case), I do not necessarily agree with the ending, which was honestly hastily put as well. As much as I can understand the direction in the end, Martin's underdeveloped character hurt the ultimate outcome of the story.

FINAL SAY: 

It does have its fair share of hilarity, and Streep does deserve her comedic award at the Golden Globes. But other than that, a weakly-written supporting cast could not lift this film to its potential aim of moving its target audience.

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Wilson Ng - http://wilsoniscurious.blogspot.com/

Last updated: 2010-03-14 04:32:31 by wilsoniscurious

Adultery vs. Absurdity

If you have a bigger problem with adultery than with the absurdity of your President receiving the Nobel Peace Prize while waging war in 3 countries, you obviously won't like this movie. If, however, you're into people: what their needs are, their feelings and what makes them tic, instead of religious dogmas that artificially make you feel better than your fellowmen, you might enjoy it as thoroughly as we did.

Granted, the movie has a few moments that come across as a little less than real or even right. For instance, you might catch yourself thinking, "Gee, I never thought I'd ever have to watch Steve Martin kissing Meryl Streep." But latest by the time they both light up a joint, you'll know why he was chosen for this role, and the laughs and brilliant "people moments" in the film will rapidly make up for any of its flaws.

For anyone who has ever been divorced and knows that these things indeed are complicated, this should be quite enjoyable, although the ultimate lesson to be gleaned from it may be nothing more than a reminder of the way Joni Mitchell once put it: "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"

Recommendations: The Matrix , Fratello sole, sorella luna , The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John

There IS no spoon!

It's Complicated

"It's Complicated" is written and directed by Nancy Meyers. It stars Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin.

This movie comes from the romantic comedy factory known as Nancy Meyers. It's basically all she does and she makes a living off it. This time around she uses the ever popular love triangle as the plot piece for her newest endeavor. Jane and Jake have been divorced for 10 years. Jane (Meryl Streep) is still single and Jake (Alec Baldwin) is married to the younger woman he cheated on Jane with. After 10 years they decide it might be a good idea to have an affair...since Jane did have Jake first. The two of them most likely have made better decisions in their lives. Throw in Jane's architect, Adam (Steve Martin) who Jane becomes romantically involved with for a time and you have "It's Complicated."

The strong points of this movie can be summed up in two words...Meryl Streep. If it weren't for her I would have never gone to see the movie....especially after all the mediocre to horrible reviews it has gotten. She is, as I have said before, probably the greatest actress currently working in Hollywood. Meryl Streep can do absolutely any role that she is given. She is great here, but not as good as she was as Julia Child in "Julie & Julia." That was just amazing and I bet she'll get an Oscar nomination for it. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are also good to watch. They both have pretty good chemistry with Meryl Streep...although I gotta say nothing beats her and Clint Eastwood in "The Bridges of Madison County." Steve Martin also wasn't used to his fullest potential. His character just was not that interesting. So basically "It's Complicated" has three great actors trying to work with a mediocre script.

The movie is a bit too long and toward the end it just seemed to drag on. The movie was not as funny as I had hoped. There are definitely some funny lines, they are just very infrequent. This movie had the potential to be a very smart, funny, ensemble comedy. I personally blame Nancy Meyers for this not being the result...the also great cast of "What Women Want" got a better script out of her. But in Nancy Meyers's defense, Meryl Streep and Steve Martin's characters smoking pot is really funny and probably the highlight of the movie...not quite sure what that says about the movie.

The movie wasn't horrible...it also wasn't great like it should have and could have been. The three main actors are very talented and have impressive resumes and I know they are funnier than this movie would lead many movie-goers to believe. The script, besides a few funny scenes/lines was pretty weak. "Julie and Julia" was actually the funnier Meryl Streep movie. This movie doesn't need to be seen in theaters...unless you love the cast or something...but at the very least it's worth a rental...and if you end up hating it...then so what - it only cost you a dollar. 2 out of 4 stars.

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It's Complicated

Conventional wisdom says you've got to make movies for teenagers.

Conventional wisdom's mostly right. But "mostly" is a qualifier large enough for writer/director Nancy Myers to have made a career of.

As a writer, she broke in with "Private Benjamin" way back in 1980. She went on to write a handful of typical 80's comedies like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" before doing something interesting.

She aged.

More remarkably, her writing aged with her, and more remarkably still, it only made her more successful.

1991 was the turning point when she wrote "Father of the Bride," the Steve Martin starrer aimed at -- gasp -- middle-aged folks with grown children of their own.

And we all know those people don't see movies.

But they saw that one. And they saw her directorial debut in 1998, "The Parent Trap," a remake of a 1961 movie that baby boomer audiences -- and, evidently, Myers, a boomer herself (born in '49) -- remembered fondly.

They saw her next writer/director effort too, the Mel Gibson/Helen Hunt comedy "What Women Want," and they saw the one after that, the Diane Keaton/Jack Nicholson comedy "Something's Gotta Give."

Now Myers has written and directed "It's Complicated," a story of sectagenarian divorce and reunion starring Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep.

Streep is our protagonist. She runs a french bakery, has three darling young adult children and one darling child-in-law (played by John Krasinski of "The Office.") These children are the offspring of both Streep and Baldwin, who split up ten years prior.

Our story begins with Streep and Baldwin crossing paths at a family function.

Because they don't just cross paths. They "cross paths," if you take my meaning.

The catch is, Baldwin is married to thirty-something sex bomb Lake Bell. The other catch is, he's not the most noble guy in the world. Even at fifty-eight, the Alec Baldwin character is a bad boy, proving that women's attraction to bad boys never really goes away.

Further complicating things is the presence of Steve Martin, a nice guy architect who presses suit with Streep in all the right ways. Naturally he loses out to Baldwin's sleazy advances.

But there's lots of twists and turns and some great set pieces, some of which feature lots of alarming nudity from Alec Baldwin.

Overall, "It's Complicated" is a good movie. It's funny, it's familiar and despite the moral complexity the movie dabbles in, it has a kind heart.

I hope that doesn't sound condescending, but the truth is, you baby boomers are getting old. And the world's a different place than it used to be.

If Nancy Myers doesn't give up this relationship nonsense and start writing about robot wars and boy wizards, I worry for her future.

Nahhhhhhh...

She'll be all right.

SCORE

How Accomplished: 66/100

How Much I Enjoyed: 62/100

How Impressed I Am by Nancy Myers' Career: 93/100

(thanks to Joni Gaughan for getting me to see this movie)

(Happy New Year's, everyone.)

It's Complicated

Meryl Streep and Nancy Myers have this thing down pat and have perfected it more successfully then most. That "it" is the romantic comedy geared towards an older crowd with Nancy Myers writing strong stories for adults. Also Meryl Streep is now perfecting a great second career proving that actresses over 40 can still have a great later career with great roles and money making hits. Nancy Myers has written "Something's Gotta Give" with the radiant Diane Keaton (also proving she still has got it) and Jack Nicholson and it was fresh, funny and romantic. "It's Complicated" has the same charm and three great roles for three great actors. Meryl Streep is on a role lately with smart choices in one blockbuster after another. "The Devil Wears Prada", "Mama Mia" and "Julie and Julia", all hits and all films I liked. It is a given that there is always Oscar talk with Streep but in "It's Complicated" she does give a great comic performance with great timing and facial expressions. I like her work here more than Julia because it is more in the moment. Alec Baldwin is carving out a good comedy career what with "30 Rock" and this role. He works off Streep very well and his comic timing is sharp. Steve Martin has always been likable on screen and he is charming here and subtly funny. Some critics think he was miscast as a too nice guy here but he is perfect to me. I think it is an insult to typecast him as the wild, crazy guy when he has done this kind of role before.

The movie's plot could have easily been sitcom time but with the three leads making it deeper it doesn't fall into that trap. The characters are real and going through real life situations. The plot revolves around the Streep and Baldwin characters being divorced for ten years. Baldwin is married again to a younger woman (Lake Bell) with a terror of a five year old kid and the scenes with Baldwin and the child are very funny. Well Baldwin feels that he is falling back in love with Streep just as she has become interested in her architect played by Steve Martin. The movie has very funny dialogue and a few scenes that made me laugh out loud. One concerns a party where some kind of drugs are involved and Streep and Martin play this scene brilliantly. There is also a very funny few scenes as the kids realize something strange is going on and it involves hotel rooms. I also must mention that John Krasinski form the television show "The Office" has some great double takes and has some priceless moments. He is very good here (as equal as Streep, Baldwin and Martin) and just might have a good movie career ahead of him and I mean leading roles. Nancy Myers has written a smart, charming crowd pleaser and I guarantee a good time had by all. If you want to see an adult comedy with some of the best acting around then see this and have a good time. Again I am amazed at what Streep can do and she always surprises me every time.

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Vincent Snavely

IT'S COMPLICATED (2009)

BOTTOM LINE: Rich performances from a fantastic cast and a down to earth, realistic portrayal of the subject matter of divorce and relationships do not make up for the fact that this is an average, “wait for DVD” film.

THE GOOD: Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) are divorced. Jane has to endure watching her ex-husband with a younger woman while being alone. One night, fate brings Jane and Jake together in a hotel bar in New York where after a drunken night of fun they rekindle their desire for each other. Jane is reluctant to continue, but after a while, she gives in and pursues the relationship to see what is there. To add to the confusion is Jane’s architect Adam (Steve Martin), a really nice guy who likes Jane, and eventually something starts sparking between them as well. Given the light-hearted but earthy approach taken by director Nancy Meyers to the material, and these great actors who give well rounded performances with their characters, the film works as a fairly realistic portrayal of an older generation of people working through the complications of marriage, divorce and moving on. The charm of the film lies in the various scenes of interaction between the characters, with Meryl Streep being her usual excellent self in expressing fear, doubt, confusion and excitement all at the same time. Alec Baldwin exudes an incredible likeability with his character, despite not only cheating on Jane but his current wife. Steve Martin is fantastic with his surprisingly subtle performance, portraying a vulnerable yet very nice guy. “It’s Complicated” will undoubtedly appeal to any one who has gone through complications in their marriage and/or relationships, and is quite a nice, fun film.

THE BAD: Aside from the stellar cast, there is not much about the film that leaps out as being cinematic. It plays better as a TV movie or straight-to-DVD effort. Much of the problem lies in the fact that there are no real stakes for any of the characters in the scenario presented. The relationship at the heart of the film between the divorced couple was never going to eventuate in to anything long lasting, and Jane was always going to end up with Adam otherwise the whole tone of the film would have left a bad after taste. The only loser here is Jake who does not really have a happy ending but this is never shown, only implied. Subplots presented in the first half, such as Jane’s discussions with her gal-pals, are never brought forward to fruition or conclusion. As a result, there are sequences in the film that are misguided and do not serve the useful purpose that they should, with the subplot involving the reaction of Jane’s children to the whole situation being an excellent example of clumsy direction. As strange as it is to say, the film’s authentic portrayal of the three main characters and the scenario is both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because it feels real and a curse because it does not give the film the dramatic punch or comedic narrative it requires. “It’s Complicated” is good, just nothing special.

RATING: 7/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

It's Complicated [2009] --- 10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414/



Now this one caught me completely by surprise. I knew going into it that I was going to love it before it even started. Something I should always be wary of. It seems to be in my case that if I love a movie before I see it, I end up hating it. This was completely not true of this film.

It was one of those movies that seemed like it was never going to end, however not in a bad way. It was on the contrary something that I didn’t want to end it was so good.

Honestly though, what do you expect when you mix Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in the same film? FUCKING GOLD! Whoever was the casting person thingy did such an amazing job that I want to give them a blowjob. No joke. There is really no way you can ever get a better cast than this. I have never been so convinced in my life that this was not a true story and someone was following a family around with a camera. It was that real. I have been so convinced of it in my whole life.

The only actor that actually caught me off guard on how good he was, not to mention essential to the film itself was John Krasinski. I laughed and cried and was gleeful almost the entire time that he was on stage. His part came straight out of nowhere and I am so glad that they put him in.

The plot is well, I hate to use the title of the film, but it was complicated. It’s not at all complicated when you are watching the movie because it flows well from one event to the next. It’s extremely easy to follow, but when you try to explain it to someone else it’s nearly impossible. Any attempt to actually try and explain it would just make it sound terrible. Just know that it is awesome. I never expected it to be that good.

I may be cutting this short, but I’m telling you that it was well worth you time to watch this. I wouldn’t exactly call it a chick flick either. It was well enjoyed by me and what seemed like every other guy in the theatre.

Base score = 8
+1 for Meryl Streep
+1 for Alec Baldwin
+1 for Steve Martin
+1 for John Krasinski
+1 for amazing acting all around
+1 for “Home Sweet Home”
=14/10

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Last updated: 2010-01-21 13:33:59 by Tolll

It’s Complicated (Movie Review)

It’s Complicated, written and directed by Nancy Meyers, stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and the most fabulous kitchen in the history of moviedom. Bottom line—this movie is very good, very funny and has much more depth to it than I expected. Streep plays bakery owner extraordinaire Jane Adler, amicably divorced for about 10 years from lawyer Jake (Alec Baldwin). Steve Martin (Adam) is the architect designing Jane’s new kitchen. The film is basically the story of a woman in her mid-to-late fifties (Streep) who suddenly finds herself pursued by and attracted to two very different men…her ex-husband with whom she had three children and who left her for a much younger woman and is still married to her, albeit not happily… and her soft spoken architect. The leads are great and have terrific chemistry, particularly that of Streep and Baldwin. Pig that his character might be, Baldwin plays him with such relish, fearlessness and good-will that you can’t help but root for him despite his flaws.

The past year had many attempts at romantic comedies and only two of them worked…500 Days of Summer and now It’s Complicated.

Last updated: 2010-01-22 06:02:56 by jfuchsman

it's Complicated

I’m just back from the local cineplex where I was a part of a packed house for the 11:00 AM showing of it’s Complicated. When you are in Florida, and the temps are in the 40’s, that sort of precludes the beach or the pool from one’s agenda, so the movies are a good bet.

With the kids back in school, and the holidays diminishing into the past with each tick of the clock, plus the aforementioned temp drops, the movie audience was a neat mix of the geriatric set, the baby boomers, and those who have to look back towards their 40th birthday rather than looking ahead.

It’s Complicated stars the ‘above the title’ A-listers, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin as the threesome who were recruited by Director/Writer Nancy Meyers for this laugh-out-loud rom-com.

It really isn’t a complicated movie. Streep as Jane Adler, was married to Alec Baldwin’s Jake Adler for 20 years, and they’ve now been divorced for 10 years. They had three children who are now all adults.

Jake wasn’t true blue – way back when, pre-divorce, he had cheated on Jane with a far younger woman who is now his wife. Anyway, Jane and Jake meet at a party and we learn that the whole family, the two ex’s, and their children plus a fiance of the oldest daughter, will all meet in New York to celebrate Luke’s college graduation. He’s their youngest son.

Jake and Jane are conveniently both booked into the fictional Park Regency Hotel on NY’s Park Avenue. Also conveniently – Jake’s wife is a no-show. They independently arrived at the hotel bar. Jane has a very dry Tanqueray Martini with a twist – and Jake has…whatever.

A few drinks turn into dinner, dinner leads to a few bottles of wine, and after a fadeout, it’s the next morning. Jane and Jake awaken in bed having spent a very passionate night between the sheets.



Okay, now that I’ve given you the bare bones set-up, now the complications begin to arrive like one train after another on New York’s Lexington Avenue subway line:

Was their affair a one-night stand in far away NY? They’re Californians from the ultra-posh Santa Barbara area. She runs a successful bakery slash restaurant. He’s a partner in a law firm.



Will it resume anew back home? Jane has gone without it (sex) for quite sometime, and her body ‘ain’t what it used to be’. Streep looks radiant even with her few wrinkles and some added pounds.

Baldwin has become a guy with that middle-aged paunch, make that f-a-t. But he revels in it.

So both of them really enjoy the sex…it’s written all over their faces, and expressed eloquently in Meyers script. At one point Jake says…I thought it was smokin’ hot!

Can they keep it from the kids? Maybe, maybe not.

Will it last or is it a phase they’re going through to finally flush whatever remnants of a once wonderful marriage out of their systems?



And finally, Streep is having an addition built on to her to-die-for-home. The architect is Steve Martin’s Adam. Conveniently, he too is immediately smitten by the now positively glowing Jane. And just as conveniently Jane likes Adam as well.



And there you have it. Meyers will trot out some tried and true, sure-fire laugh-getters like a pot-smoking scene (which the audience loved), a few scenes when either Adam or Jake show up at the wrong time. Nothing special in those but trust me, you definitely will laugh out loud.

There’s more than a few memorable and quotable lines that will stick with you, but it would be kind of like spoilers to quote any more of them here. Meyers stays true to her usual M.O. – a dislike of philandering men and having her heroines be lovable and vulnerable as well as being on the wrong side of 50.

Only in Meyer’s world, if you're over fifty, it isn’t the wrong side of 50.



Alec  Baldwin steals every scene he’s in. Watch for the future son-in-law Harley, played by John Krasinski. He’s given a lot of great lines and he hits a home run every time.  Steve Martin is wonderful as the earnest good guy that you want to root for.



As for Streep – it is kind of complicated seeing her in this kind of role because she hasn’t done that many rom-coms. I’m not saying sexy and funny aren’t what Streep can do best. What I am saying is that she’s  so superb in this one, that men of any age will be attracted to her.

My summary for It’s Complicated is totally uncomplicated. I only need two words: Must see!

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Recommendations: Chak De! India

Last updated: 2010-01-06 20:00:26 by JustMeMike

It's complicated

Can you make a romantic movie without believing in love?
Let’s face it, whenever we’re dealing with love on the screen (and off), it feels like high school. Later it feels like high school with better cars, bank accounts and shrinks, but it still boils down to, and I am sorry for repeating myself, high school.
And when you get to be a certain age it is like that, only with flabby skin, family ties and a targeted shot of tranquilizers. It is still complicated, but much slower.
This is the story: Jane (Meryl Streep) hooks up with her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin), who is married to a much younger woman. Jane is also drawn to Adam (Steve Martin), her architect, which makes things complicated. Streep, Baldwin and Martin are a great cast, obviously. Streep is fantastic in anything she does and it is refreshing that she still has all of her facial muscles intact and operating. Kudos to you! I worship you, Goddess of the Screen.
Baldwin and Martin do their thing and make you wonder what outstanding stuff they could do in a different genre.
Nancy Meyers knows what she is doing. She has clearly established that. In a recent NY Times article, there was a question whether anybody can make a movie for women. Much of this movie’s advertising likes to allude to the fact that it is a movie “for women”. But it seemed to me that this woman didn’t care what she wanted. And she was too, forgive me, old and wise to really give a damn. “It’s complicated” misses the magic of “The Holiday” and the female prison break of “Something’s gotta give” and the sassiness of “What women want”. It is too much of what women want and that is not a holiday, in fact it is so complicated that something’s gotta give. And that might be a romantic nerve. I will not go as far as saying “heart”. Funny and charming and likeable, well-crafted, but clearly not whole.
I think one reason this movie might be for women is, that the men sound nothing like you expect them to. Much of Alec Baldwin’s dialogue sounded like it was supposed to sound for a movie for women. Or as Merly Streep puts it in the movie: “So this is how grown-ups talk”.
And much of Steve Martin’s sounded like what women want to hear. But I am sad to say that this is just as cliché as women wearing high heels all the time and falling over and being cute simultaneously. It made me seriously wonder whether Nancy Meyers actually subscribes to the concept of love anymore. As biased as it is. It resounded more with life than it is sensible to do. For what it was originally aiming at. It will make you laugh, but it will also make you uneasy.
I would have liked (and I hope I am not spoiling this for you) to see Alec Baldwin run off with Steve Martin at the end. Now that would have been really complicated! But I guess I am going to have to wait until the 2010 Oscars to see that bromance happen. Can’t wait!

Last updated: 2009-12-26 04:34:16 by cometkowalski

It was a little complicated seeing It's Complicated

For me, it was an aptly complicated experience seeing Nancy Meyer's It's Complicated. Being a long time fan of Meyer's work, starting with Father of the Bride (for me that is, her screenwriting career officially started with Private Benjamin in 1980) I did not hesitate in seeing her latest on screen venture. I shall get onto the actual film itself in a second, but before I do so, I do have to chronicle the experience of a 21 year-old male (albeit cinema studies graduate) attending such a screening.

So naturally, going up to the ticket box is a nervy and testing time when seeing a film that possibly questions your sanity, sexuality and chances of ever getting with the box office girl. And this time proved to be no exception. There was of course a pretty girl standing there waiting for patrons. Up I came, and then uttered the words "Could I get a ticket to It's Complicated at 3.30?" I'll give the girl credit, as she hid her amusement, disappointment, and or general humiliation on my part fairly well, but I could still see that air of "..."

Thinking that this was the height of the embarrassment when seeing a film that is marketed and mostly attended by the middle aged women category, I entered the cinema with slight trepidation, but with thoughts that it's not like it could get any worse. I was wrong. I entered the cinema fairly early (probably the first mistake) to which I see a moderately populated sea of mostly 60+ women. As I walk across the front of the cinema (second mistake) almost parading in front of them to get to the furthest place from the door in which I entered (third mistake). I am noticed and it was not my paranoid neurotic brain that was imagining this, because as I ascended the stairs I am loudly greeted with "Oh, he's back again!" The first place my mind goes is "Shit, they've seen me come into a similarly older aged marketed film alone, and they haven't forgotten me!" Naturally, this was not the case, as it turns out I was mistaken for a cinema usher. One who they thought had returned to come and chat to them (because that's what teenage cinema ushers love to do in their spare time).

As I positioned myself in the furthest reaches of the galaxy (or the theatre) I could hear little mutterings from the previous encounter of old ladies that went something along the lines of "Oh, isn't he cute...."

Emotionally unstable and feeling partly dejected from my youth, manhood and general sensibilities, I was probably in the most appropriate mood for seeing a Nancy Meyers film. Vulnerability is something that is so central to most of her leading characters, so naturally, I was in the right place.

In her latest piece, Meyer's has Meryl Streep playing Jane, a baker who after 10 years of being a divorcee has taken control of her life, is about to start major renovations to her house, and then out of the blue, has an affair with her ex husband Jake (played to perfection by Alec Baldwin). But at the same time, she starts to fall for her divorced architect (played also to perfection by Steve Martin) and thus is born the decision of who to pick.

It's Meyer's characters that are of particular interest. She creates perfectly flawed, vulnerable and detailed people. What's also interesting about these characters is that we see the reasoning behind their affluence. Similar to Father of the Bride, Baby Boom, What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give, the main characters are successful people. But in these films, we see their workplaces, thus establishing a plausible logic behind the rather large affluent surroundings that the characters exist in. In It's Complicated, Jane is a baker. We learn that Jane went to Paris in her early 20s for a short cooking course and ended up staying on as an apprentice baker. We see Jane make copious amounts of food, including the start to finish process of the makings of a chocolate croissant. This placement of food, which could possibly be a character of the film itself, features a commonality with Streep's other 2009 release, Nora Ephron's Julie and Julia. And the food looks delectable and irresistible too!

The three stars of the film shine. There are scenes that remind me of this 180 degree turn of the feminist film "male triple gaze" theory, with Baldwin being the one who is gazed upon, and not necessarily as a sex symbol, but at a point of amusement and comic relief. Diane Keaton's nude 3 second appearance in Something's Gotta Give can slightly be compared, in so far as the comic relief idea, but the difference is that she looked great, whereas Baldwin's character is shown to be the result of 10 years without Meryl Streep's character. Steve Martin for the most part of the film plays the straight guy, with the exception of one hilarious drug induced scene, and it is wonderful to see Martin almost playing against type. Both he and Baldwin bravely show such deep unexpected vulnerability, and thus create the decision of Streep's character seem all the more challenging. Streep herself, is a powerhouse too and proves why she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the performance (where she faces stiff competition from Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Marion Cotillard and of course....herself in Julie and Julia.)

So while it was a complicated experience seeing It's Complicated, there were no complications at all in sitting back and being entertained by the best.

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