Movie Review - It's Complicated (2009)

It's Complicated (2009)

Starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and John Krasinski

Directed by Nancy Meyers

I'm going to quote my Adventureland review here for a moment (and let me tell you, that's something that I never thought I'd ever do):

Any movie where all the characters pretty much sit around and smoke pot all day never really does a thing for me. Life's so bad, let's smoke pot. Life's so boring, let's smoke pot. Let's smoke pot and giggle a lot.

Now, It's Complicated certainly isn't all about smoking pot, but there's an extended twenty-minute scene where Streep, Martin, and Baldwin's characters smoke some weed and act all kooky.  Let me just say that the "smoking pot to humorous effect" is a tired movie staple that isn't funny and always comes off incredibly forced to me.  If I never see this "scene" in any film again it'll be too soon.

That being said, the pot isn't really what It's Complicated focuses on in the slightest.  Instead, we get Jane (Streep) and Jake (Baldwin) as a divorced couple with three grown kids.  Jake has remarried a much younger woman, while Jane hasn't slept with anyone since their divorce (which leads to talks with her girlfriends about her vagina closing up which was as incredibly unappealing as it sounds).  At their son's college graduation in NYC, Jane and Jake sleep together.  And that's when things get complicated (aah...there's the title connection).  For, you see, Jane is actually enjoying being with Jake despite the fact that she has now turned into the mistress.  Jake's changed a bit...and they've both grown and matured.  But Jane remembers the past and perhaps sees a nice future with Adam (Martin), the nice divorced architect guy who's working on renovating her house.  What's Jane to do?

Honestly, the only problem with this movie lies in the story.  It doesn't feel like there's anything new being presented here and, in the end, it's really just not all that funny.  There were a couple times when I laughed out loud, but it felt like Jane's internal struggle went on for far too long.  Writer-director Nancy Meyers just can't seem to wrap things up quick enough and feels the need to drag things out.  I will say, though, that with the exception of the pot smoking scene, Jane, Jake, and Adam all felt like very real people.  They weren't caricatures or presented in over-the-top manners, so I will give credit to Meyers there.

But credit also must go to Meryl Streep, Steve Martin (who makes the most of his character who is essentially a boring old lump with zero personality), and Alec Baldwin.  Baldwin is really the one who comes off the best.  His Jake begins as a older ladies' man, but soon morphs into a guy who you genuinely are rooting for to win back his former wife.  He plays Jake with just a little bit of his trademark "30 Rock" Jack Donaghy mannerisms, but knows when to back off of them and play the nice guy.

And I've said it before, but Meryl Streep is...well, she's MERYL STREEP for a reason.  She's so goshdarn good in everything.  I try and try to dislike the woman, but when she's onscreen, she's really great.  Even in these throwaway roles (and this is certainly a throwaway "I need to make money" kind of role), she puts such soul into her characters that you can't help but admire what she does.

The RyMickey Rating:  C