It’s Complicated (Movie Review)
Movie Review
It’s Complicated
2009
Starring: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
There are times when you watch a movie and you need to think about it after the viewing to know if what you had just watched made any sense. It’s Complicated is one of those movies. The movie is riddled with problems that even a first-year film student would have been disgusted with. It’s not like Nancy Meyers is new to directing or anything. Despite the problems, the movie is worthwatching solely for Meryl Streep and John Krasinski.
The movie stars Streep as Jane Adler; a fifty-something divorcee who is in the midst of her youngest child graduate from college and faces the prospect of an empty nest. She keeps running into her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin) much to her frustration. She still acts cold towards Jake ever since he left her for a woman half her age. During a impromptu rendez-vous at their son’s graduation ceremony in New York City, they get drunk and have a one night stand.
Jane feels ashamed while Jake is thrilled. His new life has been less than he hoped and the night with Jane has rekindled his lost feelings for her. He continues to pursue her to restart their broken relationship. She refuses at first but eventually relents. Now the shoe is on the other foot since she is the mistress in the triangle. However, as she questions Jake’s sincerity, she begins to develop a close relationship with her architect, Adam Schaffer (Steve Martin).
Let’s start of with the good. Streep is excellent as an aging woman who rebounded herself well after a depressing divorce only to have it all come full circle after ten years. She’s beautiful and charming and you want her character to be happy despite the fact that she’s about to deal out the same pain that she felt all those years ago. Krasinski is excellent as the outsider who is close to Jane’s family. His character, Harley, tries to keep all the secrets from ripping up the family to amusing results. For the most part, the script allows for all the actors to truly make the characters their own as the main players slip right into their roles comfortably.
Not all the performances were perfect. Jane’s children are unlikable people and the people portraying them decided to phone in their roles. Their performances feel fake and all could have been replaced with inanimate objects. The scene with all of them in the same bed pouting not only feels lame but also unnatural in that it would never have happened in real life. That whole scene hurts the entire movie which, up until then, felt like a natural retelling of a bizarre situation.
Alec Baldwin isn’t much better. Even though he’s given the best comedic lines of the movie, he never bothers to do any acting. Granted, he delivers his lines well and nails the punchlines, there’s no difference between the various emotions he’s supposed to be doing outside of the odd grimace. Too many times he leaves Streep to carry the scene. It hard to say whether Baldwin decided to phone it in or Meyers didn’t want to push him, but his poor performance resonates through the film.
It’s all about the details and this movie skimps on them quite a bit. The movie only acknowledges Harley’s relationship with one of Jane’s daughters halfway through the movie even though he was introduced early on in the movie and had been played a role in several scenes before the film actually reveals why he’s there. The audience should not have to assume anything about the importance of a secondary character because there may be other possible reasons why he’s around (stepson, best friend, etc.).
The ending feels botched mainly due to the writer scribbling herself into a corner. Not to spoil the movie ending but the movie traps itself into lose-lose scenario for everyone involved. As bad as that is, the final resolution before the end credits feels like it was created to offer hope to both the characters in the fictional world and to the audience. It doesn’t work well and the movie would have been better served by eliminating the moments of despair towards the end. It’s as if Meyers wrote the movie as she went and didn’t have an ending in mind; only the plan to deal with it when the story got there.
Meyer’s It’s Complicated feels amateurish but is saved by Streep and Krasinski and some pretty funny dialogue. It’s too bad because, had there been some refining, we would have had a better final product. Instead, we have this perfectly adequate movie. It is what it is and not much else.
☆☆☆
Posted on January 3, 2010, in Movie Review and tagged Alec Baldwin, It's Complicated, John Krasinski, Meryl Streep, Nancy Meyers, Steve Martin. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Well done review – I don’t agree with all your points but the review is sharp and pointed.
I liked Baldwin’s performance. Yes he had some great lines – but his face is weathered, jowly, and flabby – I’m not sure what you wanted to see from him.
Jane and Jakes children were all considered adults – so your point about the three of them hunkered down like three peas in a pod (bed) was right on.
Maybe Meyers left the ending as she did – because she has a plan for a sequel like in “It’s Still Complicated”. I’m guessing not stating a fact..
Anyway my own comments on the film are here:
http://jmmnewaov2.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/its-complicated/
This is one of those movies where I had trouble giving it a two or a three rating because I thought it was trying to get a lot of milage out of little substance but overall, it was an enjoyable experience that I think would make for a good DVD rental.
There was one scene in particular where Baldwin is supposed to look sad (or at least a little upset) towards the end of the film. Instead, he just looks like some guy sitting next to Meryl Streep. He didn’t have to tear up and start bawling but the least he could have done was made me believe his character actually cared. Meryl Streep carried him in that scene (among others) and really was the only reason why one would be emotionally vested in the movie.
I doubt there will be a sequel since movies of this type don’t usually have sequels. The movie is having trouble making its budget. It’s projected budget is in the neighbourhood of $75-85 million which is incredibly expensive (and probably double what it should have been) considering that the only guaranteed draw in the film is Streep. Meyers isn’t know for developing franchises even though her movies usually carry the same mood and, sometimes, theme. In fact, if you look at her last couple of films, the typography is identical. But it usually comes down to economics and this movie was too expensive to make and didn’t carry enough of a return for the studio to want to make another. At least it’ll make some money on DVD.
I think I’ll look into Meryl Streep films to see how’s she’s doing. I’m surprised after looking into it how this movie almost lost money.
Well the money went into that home they rented -
That restaurant they rented (her bakery) -
and the salary for the three leads.
Plus Meyers’ triple fees – Director/Writer/Producer.
maybe all the food and booze consumed in the film as well….ran up the budget.
and she had the misfortune to with Cameron’s Avatar still pulling them in.
I saw this at an 11:00 AM showing in Sarasota, FL – and the house was 75% filled. Maybe if this cold weather in Florida continues – she’ll get a better return on her money.
Renting buildings for a production is relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things. Usually, if the owner won’t settle for a cheap price, the studio will offer extra incentives to spice up the deal but when they scout locations, they usually pick several spots they’d like to shoot from and settle on the one with the best price/look combination. We’re talking thousands here, not millions.
The only person I would think that made a sizeable salary on the movie is Streep because generally her films are critical successes in that there is a good chance they’ll be up for an award of some sort. In this decade alone, she’s been nominated for eight Golden Globes (including a nomination for this movie). You’d be surprised just how much better a movie does, especially in the home market, when a movie is Golden Globe or Oscar nominated.
Which is probably a good thing for this movie to have been released so close to the awards season. Even though it’s in the shadow of Avatar, it’s two different audiences. Plus, around this time of year, people don’t go see one movie; they go and see several movies in a short period of time.
Steve Martin should not have been that expensive to sign; and if he was, he was overpaid considering the amount of the work he has done recently and its quality. The last movie that he was in that grossed over $100 million was The Pink Panther in 2006 (which would have made that much money without him). Same goes for Alec Baldwin even though he’s on an award-winning TV series. Although Baldwin has been in several movies that have grossed over $100 million (most recently Madagascar 2 in 2008), he usually plays smaller roles and not the main attraction. The last time one of the films he headlined banked over $100 million was back in 1990 with The Hunt for Red October.
Let’s put it this way, even the people that who generate a lot of buzz in the entertainment industry don’t usually get paid well for their roles. Very rarely do actors get paid over $10 million for a starring role unless they are proven box office draws. Supporting acts may make a few million, but again, they need to be draws. I’m not saying you’re wrong that the Baldwin and Martin didn’t get paid a lot for their performances; in fact, there’s a good chance you’re right. I’m just saying it’s not normal and the budget for the film is incredibly inflated.
As of last weekend, it had taken in about $60 million domestically. It didn’t drop off much from the previous weekend but that’s because there were no new movies last weekend. The test will be to see how much it drops this weekend. Although it will most likely need to rely on the home video market to make its money back.