It’s Complicated
I've seen most of writer-director Nancy Myer's oevre including her holiday smash, It's Complicated http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414/. Most of the time it was against my will as she, along with Nora Ephron, makes movies that are in no way to my taste. Yet, I enjoy watching them immensely. I love the remake to The Parent Trap. I laughed throughout Something's Gotta Give. I enjoyed my time in the theatre watching It's Complicated.The premise of It's Complicated is that Meryl Streep's character has an affair with her ex who is married to a young woman. She is also courted by her architect. Hijinks ensue.The first impression I had was this movie has those roles that are well written for women. Streep's character is well rounded. She's not the screachy ex-wife, but has enough contempt towards her ex even though they fall back into bed. She's not a caricature. Her motivations are many: vengence, remind her she's sexy, nostalgia. She's got it all and Streep plays the character with conviction expressing each motive in subtle ways.The only fault of the movie is that it plays the "will they or won't they" theme between the ex-es. Will they renew their relationship as husband and wife? It wasn't hard to tell where that plot thread was going so that Alec Baldwin's plea at the end seemed hollow and forced — like Myers couldn't write for a man. Always move forward never backward and spinning, spinning towards the future.The dude from the Office was a distraction as they should've used someone less famous. I thought he was going to do something, but ended up doing nothing.The real star is Streep. The real story revolves around her. She makes it all look so effortless. And why is she so old.3 of 5 stars.
