"IT'S COMPLICATED" (2009) (Meryl Streep, Steve Martin) (R)
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QUICK TAKE:
Romantic Dramedy: A middle-aged woman ends up having an affair with her remarried ex-husband, an unexpected development that complicates her budding attraction to a divorced architect who's redesigning her home.
PLOT:
Jane (MERYL STREEP) is a middle-aged woman who feels that she's finally come into her own. Yet, while her professional life has been a success owning and running a popular bakery, her love life hasn't actually been terribly active, a point discussed with her best friends including Joanne (MARY KAY PLACE), Trish (RITA WILSON) and Diane (ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH). They're concerned that ever since her divorce from her lawyer husband, Jake (ALEC BALDWIN), a decade earlier, she hasn't dated many men.
Then again, she's been busy raising their three kids. Lauren (CAITLIN FITZGERALD) is engaged to Harley (JOHN KRASINSKI), while Gabby (ZOE KAZAN) is now moving out on her own. And Luke (HUNTER PARRISH) is about to graduate from college, meaning the family, including Jake, have gathered at a hotel for the big ceremony. It's there that Jane and Jake, after a few too many drinks and some dancing, end up in bed together.
She's horrified, but he's ecstatic, not only because he's grown tired of fertility treatments as his younger wife, Agness (LAKE BELL), wants another child to join Pedro (EMJAY ANTHONY) who was fathered by another man, but also because he never really stopped being in love with Jane.
The only problem is, she's developed a newfound attraction toward Adam (STEVE MARTIN), a mild-mannered and divorced architect who's working on redesigning and expanding her house. From that point on, and as she carries on her fling with Jake, Jane must decide if she wants to go back with him or start something fresh and new with Adam.
OUR TAKE: 6 out of 10
It's often been said by those outside the demographic and just as regularly complained about by those who fall within it, that Hollywood doesn't appreciate middle-aged to older actresses. Male actors of course, can enjoy a wide variety of roles throughout their careers, with age giving many of them a dignified or rugged look that works well with the lawyers, politicians, cowboys and other such character types from which they can choose to play.
While young (and especially those who are uber attractive) women are a dime a dozen in Tinseltown and have a plethora of roles waiting for them, those who've once enjoyed that sort of acting lifestyle find the pickings slim to none as they age. That is, unless they want to play the stereotypical grandmother, spinster and/or scary old lady characters offered to them.
All of which is surprising, considering that middle-aged and older women are one of the fastest growing demographics in the U.S. and one for which there's a similarly depressing lack of general product geared for and/or targeted at them. Aside from foreign flicks and other art house fair, Hollywood seems to be cutting off its nose to spite its face, as they say, by ignoring such viewers who want to see people like themselves in the movies.
Writer/producer turned writer/director Nancy Meyers tapped into that feeling and filled the void back in 2003 with "Something's Gotta Give." Featuring the then 57-year old Diane Keaton and 66-year-old Jack Nicholson in the lead roles, the pic was hit with viewers in the same age range (as well as younger ones who salivated over the fashionable lifestyle and prominently featured home) and grossed a decent $260 million plus worldwide.
The filmmaker's now mining the same vein and hoping lightning will strike twice with "It's Complicated," a romantic dramedy that features not two but three older baby boomer leads and a number of others in ancillary roles. Besides simply offering some rare Hollywood mainstream product for the demographic, it also features a delicious part for 60-year-old Meryl Streep and, as luck and talented work would have it, comes off as quite enjoyable and entertaining.
Joining the most Oscar-nominated actress in history (15 times, with 2 wins and possibly another for this year's "Julie & Julia") is 51-year-old Alec Baldwin (who's really coming into his own as a comedic performer) and 64-year-old Steve Martin (no stranger to comedy, but thankfully going more subdued here, which is when he's at his best, although he is given one sequence in which he gets to cut up a bit).
The three form an unlikely romantic triangle in Meyers' script. It isn't improbable due to the ages of the participants, but rather that two of the characters (Streep and Baldwin), divorced for 10 years, have unexpectedly now allowed their previous animosity turned geniality to segue back into romance. And, of course, that happens when another man and seemingly the perfect catch (Martin) enters the picture.
Throw in the circle of tell-all friends (Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson and Alexandra Wentworth playing the best friends), adult children of the previously failed marriage, and John Krasinski as the future son-in-law who's the only one who's spotted the shocking parental reunion, and the films plays out in a pleasing, somewhat insightful and often amusing and occasionally downright hilarious fashion.
Some may complain that parts of or even the entire pic plays out like nothing more than a gussied up, big budget sitcom. While there's some truth to that in general terms of characterization, dialogue and comedic situations, some sitcoms have been as good as or even better than similarly themed and/or plotted feature films. Besides, there are enough smart and creative nuances peppering such material that it all goes down in a pleasing and delectable fashion. And there's nothing complicated to understand about that. "It's Complicated" rates as a 6 out of 10.
Reviewed December 15, 2009 / Posted December 25, 2009
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