It's Complicated: Funny, Interesting, And Yet, Something's Missing

As per usual, I don't like to ruin to a movie, so I'll give you a brief overview and my opinions of the film. This is the new film from Nancy Meyers who was the writer/director of such movies as Father of the Bride (only written by), The Holiday, and Something's Gotta Give. Honestly, I haven't seen many of her movies, but I expected an excellent film just because of the cast. The stars are Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and there is a notable appearance by John Krasinski. The story centers around a divorced couple, Jane (Streep) and Jake (Baldwin). They have three grown up children and the youngest is graduating from college. In the past, Jake has cheated on Jane with a much younger woman which lead to their divorce. Jake is now married to this woman who has an interesting past. While in New York for their son's graduation, Jane and Jake sleep together and begin an affair. However, they both go back to their lives in California where Jake is a trial lawyer and Jane runs a restaurant. Soon, the affair continues. Yet, Jane meets Adam (Martin) who is an architect working on her home. There is an attraction between the two which is innocent, but it soon builds. Still, Jake continues to push the affair with Jane, and they continue seeing each other. This continues to the utter joy of Jake but extreme guilt and torture for Jane. Things become difficult when Harley (Krasinski) finds out about the affair. Harley is the soon-to-be son in law of Jane and Jake. At this point, it becomes complicated. I will not wreck any more of this film, but I will tell you what I did and didn't like.

Overall, I thought it was good. It was funny, but it wasn't consistently funny. So, I wouldn't expect to be rolling in the aisles, but Alec Baldwin is hilarious for about two thirds of the film. Steve Martin is also kind of funny, but Meryl didn't have as much humor as I would have thought. She, of course, is an amazing actress. It felt like Steve Martin was underused, but he still had some great moments. Like most romantic comedies, the humor tends to fall off for the third act, and the ending is fairly predictable which didn't bother me. The actors who play the children seem like characters which have little value except to insert emotion into scenes. I think they are a necessary component, but something more should have occurred with them. A few one liners from them would have been nice. Interestingly, John Krasinski doesn't really seem to fit into this film. He is usually really funny (if you like the Office), but his character is uncomfortably close to the rest of the family (I feel like something was cut which would explain his character in more detail). He seems closer to Jane than the kids and seems more like a sibling. While he's there to drive the plot and move the story ahead, he doesn't quite pull it off. Now, I should also mention that I am a guy which jades my opinion, but the women who watched seemed to really enjoy it. Some would probably consider parts to be cheesy, but those are difficult to avoid. Overall, it was a good movie, and it surprised me a little. I give it a 6/10.

All information retrieved from www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414.