Here's a hint for director/writer Nancy Myers: If you're going to make a movie about love, affairs, middle age, and family, go ahead and try and make at least one of your characters relatable, you know, so we have someone to root for and care about. Oh, and while you're at it, go ahead and develop some dimensions for your characters too!
The latest schlockfest from Myers is this Christmas's release of It's Complicated, which follows around wildly successful baker, Jane, (Meryl Streep) as she prances around her wildly successful bakery, upscale New York hotels, and her Pottery Barn porn house. Jane has been divorced for ten years, and one fateful night falls drunkenly into her ex-husband's, Jake (Alec Baldwin), arms for a one night shag-a-thon. Jake, who is now unhappily remarried, couldn't be more happy and in love with his ex-wife, and Jane couldn't be more guilt stricken. Couple this with the fact that Jane is potentially falling for the architect (Steve Martin) who is redesigning her (already huge) kitchen for more space, and you've got yourself a recipe for complication--and by complication, I mean stereotypical characters and predictable story.
The latest schlockfest from Myers is this Christmas's release of It's Complicated, which follows around wildly successful baker, Jane, (Meryl Streep) as she prances around her wildly successful bakery, upscale New York hotels, and her Pottery Barn porn house. Jane has been divorced for ten years, and one fateful night falls drunkenly into her ex-husband's, Jake (Alec Baldwin), arms for a one night shag-a-thon. Jake, who is now unhappily remarried, couldn't be more happy and in love with his ex-wife, and Jane couldn't be more guilt stricken. Couple this with the fact that Jane is potentially falling for the architect (Steve Martin) who is redesigning her (already huge) kitchen for more space, and you've got yourself a recipe for complication--and by complication, I mean stereotypical characters and predictable story.
Myers has been more successful with her male/female observations and humor with What Women Want and Father of the Bride (part II too!). She certainly has a knack for pulling all the charm out of her leading men, Alec Baldwin, Mel Gibson, Jack Nicholson and the '80s Steve Martin. (I say '80s Steve Martin because while Baldwin carries the story propelling forward with his charm and humor, Martin couldn't seem more vacant or bored in this outing with Myers.) The problem for me lays within the complete unbelievability of almost all the circumstances involved. Streep's gaggle of friends couldn't seem more different, yet they all gather for what seems like nightly meetings around Streep's gorgeous house eating and drinking decadent things while discussing topics that make the 50-year-old divorcee in you scream out, "Go on Girl!" The capper for disbelief popped when her kids discover she is having an affair with their dad, and her 24-year-old son weepily asks, "Are you two getting back together?" When he hears mom say "no," he and his two sisters retire to one of their houses and cuddle up in a three way snuggle in one bed. Really? While Streep does pull off Jane rather effortlessly, it is getting a little tiring to see her always playing Mrs. Nice Lady with a smile on her face in front of a beautiful background. And as was mentioned, it seems like a such a terrible waste to cast Martin in a role that could have been just as easily played by wallpaper. The only other noteworthy actor seems to be Mr. John Krasinski who shows up periodically throughout the film to keep you from hating everyone.
Every so often a children's film is made that has such a dramatic crossover appeal that everyone, both young and old, falls in love with it because of its universal themes. And sometimes a parent sits through a movie, watching animals make fart noises because the film has been tailored made to please children and only children. It's Complicated is that cat pooping in a hat children's film, only this one involves fancy houses, high class living, and old people making it.
--Greg MacLennan
Every so often a children's film is made that has such a dramatic crossover appeal that everyone, both young and old, falls in love with it because of its universal themes. And sometimes a parent sits through a movie, watching animals make fart noises because the film has been tailored made to please children and only children. It's Complicated is that cat pooping in a hat children's film, only this one involves fancy houses, high class living, and old people making it.
--Greg MacLennan
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