Review: It’s Complicated

What’s more annoying than watching Meryl Steep sing and dance in Mamma Mia? Watching her try to be a comedian in It’s Complicated. Streep’s fabulous portrayal of Julia Child in Julie & Julia earlier this year finally made me see what the fuss over her was about. Up until that role, I never saw the appeal and thought she was one of the most overrated actresses in the business. For her to follow-up her sensational role as Julia for this puts her back on my most overrated actresses list. Why she got a Golden Globe nomination for this is beyond me (her Julie & Julia nom is deserved but this is a joke).

It’s been 10 years since bakery owner Jane (Streep) and hotshot lawyer Jake (Alec Baldwin) got a divorce. While Jane hasn’t moved on, Jake has married Agness (Lake Bell) — the younger woman he left Jane for. While in New York City for their son’s graduation, Jane and Jake find themselves at a hotel bar together and spend the night drinking and reminiscing and end up sleeping together. This leads to a full-blown affair when they get back to California. Bring in Jane’s architect, Adam (Steve Martin), the first man to be interested in Jane since the divorce, and now it’s…complicated.

Baldwin is funny for half the movie and then just becomes gross to watch. Martin’s character is timid for most of the film but delivers the biggest laughs in a scene where he gets stoned at a party. He switches from boring “Mr. Serious” to a wild and crazy guy so beautifully it had me in tears. John Krasinski, who plays Jane’s and Jake’s daughter’s fiancee, Harley, is his typical funny self but seems very out-of-place and nervous.

One of the biggest problems I had with the film was the way Jane’s and Jake’s adult children were so stupid about their parents’ potential reconciliation. If my parents were divorced for 10 years, I would not curl up in bed with my siblings to mope over whether mom or dad were patching things up. Suck it up, you bunch of spoiled, annoying wusses, and realize that your dad’s a sleaze and your mom needs a wake-up call.

Writer-director Nancy Meyers makes mediocre films for middle-aged woman and they usually do the job. The reason It’s Complicated doesn’t work is because it’s attempting to make a joke out of divorce, which isn’t funny to middle-aged women, likely because many of them have experienced it. At one point in the screening, I heard a woman behind me sobbing and disgusted. This is a real reaction and no amount of stupid humour can change that feeling.

If you’re looking for a fun rom-com to see on Christmas Day, It’s Complicated might disappoint. At least I did laugh at one point, which is more than I can say about Did You Hear About the Morgans?

** out of 5 stars

Rated R
Cast: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: Nine, Sherlock Holmes, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Top image: Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated. Courtesy Universal Pictures.