Director Nancy Meyers has cornered the market in romantic comedies exploring the love lives of older women and the flawed men who love them. She created the template with her “Something’s Gotta Give.” Now with “It’s Complicated” starring the radiant Meryl Streep, Meyers has perfected her easygoing formula romance.
Streep stars as Jane, a 50-something divorcee preparing for her last child to leave the nest. Meanwhile, she is still dealing with her divorce some ten years later. Her ex-husband Jerry (Alec Baldwin) left her for a much younger woman (Lake Bell in a thankless, under-written villain role) but remains a part of her life.
On a trip to New York for the graduation of her son, Jane finds herself alone in a bar with Jerry when some of the old sparks flare up. The two end up in bed together and at the beginning of, no kidding, an affair. Jane is cheered on in the affair by her circle of girlfriends, including Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place and Alexandra Wentworth, who love the idea of her getting a little revenge on the younger woman.
As the affair heats up Jane finds another opportunity for romance in Allan (Steve Martin). He is her architect, planning a new kitchen for her already fabulous home. The way he seems to know everything she wants sparks first a friendship and then a romance that is threatened by her dalliance with Jerry and Jerry’s growing new love for his old flame.
The title offers the idea that these two romances will offer something ‘complicated’ but there is nothing much complicated at all in Nancy Meyers’ very simple, straight-forward narrative that sets characters on very particular paths and leads them to easy conclusions and warm, easygoing laughs.
“It’s Complicated” is formula romance in the best possible fashion. It does not reinvent the genre but it does deliver the formula in such a charming fashion that you eagerly forgive the familiarity. The goodwill stems from a cast filled with charmers and led by the legendary Meryl Streep.
It is one of the more remarkable stories of the decade; how Meryl Streep has evolved from respected actress to respected box office superstar. At an age where other actresses are searching for work, Streep has become a bigger star than she was when she was repeatedly being nominated for the industry’s highest awards.
“It’s Complicated” will likely join “Mamma Mia” and “The Devil Wears Prada” as massive hits and it is due to Streep’s wonderfully relaxed star power. Her ease with every role allows audiences to settle in with her, their sympathies won over by Streep’s mere presence. While the appeal is fairly limited to women in her age range, it is quite a thing that she has brought so many of them to the box office.
Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin provide ideal foils for Ms. Streep’s radiance. Baldwin hasn’t been this winning on the big screen since his role as a fallen star in David Mamet’s “State and Main.” As for Martin, he continues to cultivate the sensitive good guy persona he copped in the otherwise execrable “Shopgirl.”
“It’s Complicated” is formula romance done right. Played out with style and professionalism by a terrific set of leads, “It’s Complicated” is the perfect balance of romance and comedy for empty nesters searching for a movie just for them.
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Sean Patrick Kernan is a film critic. Check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/number1ramjamfan.
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