Movie Review: It's Complicated - Starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin

I couldn't keep the smile off my face for the 2+ hours I watched this movie. Casting Meryl Streep with Alec Baldwin was pure genius.

Meryl Streep - Sixty years old - Can you believe it? Meryl can do anything - comedy, drama, musicals, you name it. Her comedic role in "It's Complicated" is one of her best and I believe I have seen all of her movies. She is flawless in this one. Her rendition of a successful business woman - she owns and runs a bakery/restaurant - in her post-divorce years is a wake-up call to all women to get off their duffs and do something with their lives. Is there any wonder why, in this script, her character attracts two men - to wit, Alec and Steve? Of course not. She is happy in her own skin and sure of herself - a definite turn-on for men of her age. The secret here is that the character she plays is herself - Meryl Streep.

Alec Baldwin - What a delightful part for Alec. And he plays it to the hilt. A husband who strays with a younger woman, marries her, then ten years later when he is thrown together with his ex-wife - Meryl - at their son's graduation, realizes that he loves the woman to whom he was once married. A common plot, perhaps, but nobody does it justice like these two. It is amusing to see Alec not caring that he has gained weight and appears older than he really is - both as his character and as his actual self. Alec has endeared his public as Jack Donaghy in 30 Rock - he had nothing to lose with this one - which makes him all the more believable and loveable as the conflicted husband and ex-husband.

Enter Steve Martin - his sad sack image shines through in this one also. As the architect whom Meryl's character hires to put an addition on her house, he of course falls for his client - which we surmise right from the start. However, he is present to see the scenario that develops between the exes and realizes that his chances are slim. It doesn't stop him from trying. Steve Martin is a handsome man with a checkered background - a stand-up comedian, an actor, a writer, and a musician - he plays the banjo well enough to play at Carnegie Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London.

It is a certainty that these two men were more than flattered to be cast with the great Meryl Streep. What a feather in their caps! Meryl Streep has been nominated 15 times for an Academy Award and 23 times for a Golden Globe Award. This year, "It's Complicated" has garnered three Golden Globe Award nominations - for Best Motion Picture Comedy, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy. Two out of three seems a reasonable outcome. We shall see - on January 17, 2010 when the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards show will be presented.

Sources:

http://www.moviefone.com
http://www.imdb.com
http://www.eonline.com
Wikipedia