IT'S BLAND: a review of "It's Complicated"

“IT’S COMPLICATED” Written and Directed by Nancy Meyers
**1/2 (two and a half stars)

Dear readers, forgive me, but I just have to begin this latest review by taking the gloves off to go after the film’s title. I hate it. I loathe it. I despise it. It is precisely the type of bland, generic, under thought, lazy titles that would actually keep me away from seeing the film the title had been ascribed towards. The Hollywood pedigree of filmmaker Nancy Meyers is long and legendary as she wrote the screenplay for the Goldie Hawn classic “Private Benjamin” (1980). Along with Writer/Director Charles Shyer (to whom she was once married), she co-wrote and produced 1987’s “Baby Boom,” the 1991 and 1995 remakes of “Father Of The Bride” and its sequel and the charming 1998 remake of “The Parent Trap” starring a delightful, pre-Hollywood cautionary tale Lindsey Lohan. I just don’t know what it is, but ever since Meyers branched out and claimed her own cinematic turf as a Director, after ceasing her professional (and personal) relationship with Shyer, her ability to find strong titles for her movies has been just this short of abominable. Perhaps I am being a little harsh as the title of her last film, “The Holiday” (2006) was simply a title so unmemorable that I had forgotten I had actually seen that film. But, her film before that, “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003) did carry a moniker that is equally as horrifically tossed off as “It’s Complicated,” which is unfortunate as that film was actually a surprisingly good and perceptive romantic comedy featuring Jack Nicholson and the radiant Diane Keaton, who just certainly gets better with age! It is just a shame that the lousy title almost stopped me from seeing it in the first place. It was akin to being presenting a visually unappetizing meal and then upon trying it, you are surprised with its succulent richness.

Now that I have gotten that out of my system, I am here to review the remainder of her latest film,…here it is again…”It’s Complicated,” a film that earns essentially all of its good fortunes through the performances from the film’s acting trio of Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. In a cinematic world where the pleasures of the romantic comedy have nearly been killed off due to painfully contrived plots set in worlds completely unrecognizable to our own starring characters who do and say the very things that would never happen in anything resembling reality, Meyers’ new film does offer a sense of refreshment. Meyers has given us a decent yet extremely bland film, which admittedly and ultimately does go down easily and leave you with a sweet aftertaste.

“It’s Complicated” introduces us to Jane and Jake Adler (Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin). Married for 19 years, divorced for 10 and parents to three young adult children, Jane and Jake are reunited once again in celebration of their son’s college graduation. Jake is currently married to the much younger Agness (played by the strangely attractive Lake Bell), with whom he had committed marital infidelity with while married to Jane. Jake is also the parent to Agness’ young son, obtained through an affair she had while with Jake. Jane, however is single, finally becoming adjusted to her life without a romantic partner and facing an empty nest, while she also flourishes as the owner of a catering business and bakery—from the looks of which, is the only business this side of Goldman Sachs earning an astronomical fortune in our current economy.

On the eve of their son’s graduation, Jane and Jake (flying solo due to Agness’ son’s stomach flu) amicably meet for drinks in a hotel bar. One drink leads to several and before you can say, “It’s Complicated,” the two are dancing the night away, spending the rest of in the sack having volcanically incredible sex and embarking upon their own secretive extramarital affair. Things become even more “complicated” with the entrance of Adam (Steve Martin) a shy, recently divorced architect, who is assigned to Jane for some massively expensive remodeling on her home. He is instantly attracted to Jane, who is also won over by his calm, mature and tender hearted demeanor. The two begin to date, much to the chagrin of Jake, who is also falling in love with Jane all over again and questioning the trajectory of his life with Agness, who is feverishly attempting to become pregnant. Will Jane and Jake reunite for good or will she choose Adam? And will Adam and Agness discover the secret relationship, leaving everyone in a world of romantic comedy heartbreak?

In the world of "It's Complicated," hearts bloom, break and mend in all of the ways you would expect if you have ever seen a romantic comedy in your life. Yet, for most of the film’s first hour, I was subject to more than a fair amount of uncomfortable seat shifting due to the over-familiarity and predictableness of the material. The pace of that first hour tended to sag due to too many repetitive scenes of Streep expressing her awkwardness at having an affair with a man she was once married to while Baldwin pours on that rogue-ish charm he utilizes so well. And then, there were other and more pressing problems...

The casting of John Krasinski was a strong misfire, as he seems to only be in the film to let everyone know that he’s John Krasinski from television’s “The Office.” It is hardly a performance at all as he is solely required to do nothing more than what he seems to do on the television show: make wry facial expressions while muttering self-consciously dry sarcastic remarks in a dry, sarcastic fashion. Meyers also poorly handled describing exactly who his character even was! In fact, it was midway through the movie, where I realized that his character was, in fact, the fiancée of one of the story’s adult children and not just another one of Jane and Jake’s kids. It was one character too many and Krasinski’s presence, at worst, felt like a weakly handled ploy and shameless concession to bring in younger audience members to a movie geared towards an older audience.

A larger issue I had with the film was of a more aesthetic quality which did indeed affect the tone of the entire production. In addition to the film’s terribly generic “we’re having a good time” film score, the film’s catalog ready set design felt plastic to the point of anti-septic. No bed pillow, piece of furniture down to a picture frame or expensive foliage is out of place and absolutely nothing gives you the sense of it ever feeling lived in. The overly decorated, overly fussed with production design was actually more than a little oft putting as you can practically smell the wealth emanating from the screen as we see the world these characters exist in. Certainly, there are locations and neighborhoods like these all across the country and my complaint isn't a launch of class warfare on my part. But, the presentation of a world where money is no object and has no ends, and credit cards are casually tossed aside, contributed to the emotional falseness of the material as a whole.

Streep’s insufferable “girl talk” sessions with her wealthy entourage (which includes Mary Kay Place and Rita Wilson) seemed completely phony and worse than any cackling you could witness on “The View.” An aggravating scene late in the film where Streep consoles her adult children once her secret had been revealed is even worse. I didn’t buy the dialogue, the tone, or the motivations. Sadly and again, the characters were always taking a back seat to the stylish blankets, dishware, clothing, jewelry and so on and especially during the film’s first hour, no one registered as a real person. And come on, could the casting, down to the extras and background actors be any more “vanilla”?! You mean to tell me that there aren’t any monolithically rich people of color ANYWHERE?! Of course, I do realize that these elements contribute to the fantasy “It’s Complicated” is attempting to weave but quite often, it almost felt like a deeply arrogantly smug peek as well as a view of classism into a gated community of which you and I, the poor common folk in the movie theater, are allotted a two-hour window.

By the time I had had nearly enough and when I was just at about the point I was ready to essentially give up, Meryl Streep smokes a joint.

Aside from all of the above mentioned flaws, “It’s Complicated” does indeed have quite a few good qualities going for it, which did endear this film to me even as much as I was resisting it. For me, these qualities all came together in the best possible ways for during an extended and very lovely party sequence where Streep and Martin arrive blissfully under the influence. It is here where the film is allowed to open up and breathe. All of the formulaic aspects of the romantic comedy converge in this sequence where the character’s true emotions are first revealed and secrets are silently discovered. Meyers’ directorial skills are strongest in this section as there is much humor and unearthed romantic pain on display in a collective of mostly wordless moments. What was once a passing thought or a seductive race through a romantic red light becomes real and true and all of the actors seem to be reveling in the opportunity to play notes beyond the film’s established artifice. As the characters flirt, drink and dance and through those motions, Baldwin finally gets to show the sudden heartbreak that the woman, who is quite possibly the love of his life, is indeed moving onwards to another…and potentially much better suitor. He is faced, more than ever, with the consequences of his actions so many years before and is now confronted with the mounting regret it brings. Lake Bell, in a couple of quick shots, is able to fully see Baldwin’s infidelity with the woman to whom he was once married and her obvious anger is palpable. The blossoming love affair between Streep and Martin exudes charm and continues onwards during a sequence set at Streep’s bakery where the twosome engage in a late evening pastry cooking courtship.

It was during these point where I think “It’s Complicated” not only works best but also suggests the better film it could have been if it weren’t so busy focusing on its own glitzy sheen and probed even deeper and more knowingly into the character’s emotional worlds. That said, Meyers should be given much credit for again placing people of late middle age at the forefront of a film, especially in our increasingly youth obsessed culture. Meyers again gives viability to the sexual vitality and desirability of older women and Meryl Streep is completely game for it through a friskiness that is not often on display in her roles. She drives the story and has two men pursuing her affections (a repeated theme from “Something’s Gotta Give”), and it goes a long way in showing that love and passion in the cinema can indeed extend far beyond the overwrought teen melodramas of “Twilight.”

The jewel of this film is Steve Martin and I cannot say enough good things about him as the film elevates in quality every single time he appears on the screen. I cannot remember the last time Martin seemed so relaxed and open hearted in a role. His tenderness, his romanticism, his awkwardness, his tentativeness and fear of opening himself up to more romantic wounds were the piercing core of this film. He was absolutely wonderful and created a character whom I not only rooted for but feared seeing damaged. I wanted to see more of his life, past and present, and Martin’s performance was so genuine and rich that I wondered if we were catching a glimpse of the real man inside of the performance.

Overall, I wanted Steve Martin’s character to find happiness and I wanted the opportunity to travel with him on his quest. To think this film could have been a lighter version of the brilliant television program "Once And Again" which starred Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as two divorced people finding love again in their 40s. It was a simple conceit told elegantly as it revealed the very real complications relationships endure. As I continue to ponder this movie, I think I would have preferred if the film featured Steve Martin in the leading role, thus relegating Streep to a supporting one and eschewing with the so-called “complicated” plot all together.

While I applaud Meyers for presenting a romantic comedy that features people that could exist in its approximation of a real world during a time where convoluted and stupid escapades rule the day, I greatly suggest she tone down the formula or at least, make it a little more invisible. The truth of the piece is complicated enough without throwing contrivance and the luxurious furniture into the mix.