It's Complicated • in.Movies
December 29, 2009
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It's emotionally complicated and it hurts. While some reviewers are calling Nancy Meyers's new pic about a divorcée who has a fling with her ex not very complicated at all because of its straightforward plot line, the film is less about circumstantial complications (although there's plenty of situation comedy) and more about the internal struggles of damaged people who were once in love.
Meryl Streep, who plays the beleaguered heroine Jane, is on a rollercoaster ride crossed with a bronco as she tries to wrestle with uncontrollable feelings for her f*cked up ex-husband, Jake, played by a lovable Alec Baldwin. Living out the cliché of middle-aged men everywhere, horny Jake has his hands full putting up with his high-maintenance wife #2, a young hottie with flat abs, while hanging onto his crown jewels with the low sperm count. His efforts drain, forcing him to drink and dally, as he's reminded on a daily basis that he's no longer the young stud he used to be. He's a porky dude with a Porsche.
Just when the romantic comedy genre keeps churning out movies that are still essentially Pretty Woman meets Save the Last Dance with two paramours from opposite ends of the track hooking up, Meyers explores the issue of longevity in love. Is it possible to keep experiencing beauty and to keep replenishing a longtime love when you're on the inside of the barrel licking its bottom? Can a stale bagel ever taste like a freshly baked croissant?
Jane and Jake's soon-to-be son-in-law, Harley, is a one-man show named John Krasinski. Best known for his turn as Jim Halpert on The Office, Krasinski's hilarious Greek chorus spins spot-on comic timing and collective sighs as we watch the action through his mystified eyes while Jane and Jake perfect the art of making grownup messes.
The painful part of having to watch this film is seeing how some of the most heartbreaking truths about detonating a family with divorce become fodder for entertainment. But I suppose that's the part that helps to make it all bearable. We're never alone in our efforts to screw things up.
Whether it's physical insecurities or creature comforts or both that drive Jake back into the arms of the menopausal woman he once dumped for something shiny and new, it's clear that they share a history that includes three children, one of whom is played by the ever sparkling Zoe Kazan, and that it's their longstanding backstory that makes letting go and moving on, even though they've let go and moved on, seem impossible. Meyers suggests that it's those subtle, nagging emotions that scar the exes and leave them forever wondering whether they've made the right choice. But knowing that those nagging emotions are loaded with every negative shade of guilt, doubt, fear and all the rest, Meyers delivers perfectly flawed characters who intuitively know it doesn't feel good. So maybe their biggest flaw is having trouble acknowledging the truth — that the best move is to move forward and never look back.
It's Complicated Credits
Nancy Meyers Director/Writer/Producer
Scott Rudin Producer
Jon Toll Cinematographer
Hans Zimmer Composer
Heitor Pereira Composer
Meryl Streep Jane
Alec Baldwin Jake
Steve Martin Adam
John Krasinski Harley
Lake Bell Agness
Zoe Kazan Abbey
Caitlin Fitzgerald Lauren
Hunter Parrish Luke
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Photo Credit: Movie Night - Fernando de Sousa, Cinema, Victoria, Australia
