It's Complicated (2009)

After seeing the trailer, I thought that I knew everything about this movie before walking in, but I was wrong. Amy, Jack, and I laughed out loud many times all the way through this story of a divorced couple who have an affair even though the man has remarried. This is the fifth feature directed by Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998), What Women Want (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006); she wrote the screenplays for all 5) and I enjoyed them all. Before those, she co-wrote with her then-husband Charles Shyer, who directed their scripts for Father of the Bride I-II (1987, 1991), Baby Boom (1987), and, a personal favorite of mine, with reservations (loved the Shelly Long-Ryan O'Neal parts, didn't like the Drew Barrymore parts), Irreconcilable Differences (1984). Meyers knows comedy and her timing is excellent. There was only one line that bugged me (ask me and I'll tell you privately--it's near the end). Meryl Streep, about whom I wrote many words for Julie & Julia, can be funny, and she is here. Alec Baldwin is just a good actor; comedy, drama, he's got it (my faves are listed in Lymelife), and, apart from a few too many cuts back to him glowering with pursed lips, he is perfect in this role. Steve Martin is best known for comedy (from writing for the Smothers Brothers TV show, to The Jerk (1979), to Saturday Night Live in the 70s, to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Father of the Bride I-II, Bowfinger (1999, which he wrote and I also loved), Parenthood (1989), and much more), but he can do dramatic as well (Grand Canyon (1991), David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Novocaine (2001), Shopgirl (2005, adapted by Martin from his own novel)). He gives his character warmth and depth and only really cuts loose in one sequence, which is a favorite of many. John Krasinski's (Away We Go) part was particularly well-written. Many have said it's too much like his character Jim from The Office, but we had no problem with that. Krasinski is going to have a hard time shedding that one, and we're in no hurry for him to quit the series to see if he can.

Next, the music was great, soundtrack by my hero Hans Zimmer, this time with guitarist Heitor Periera, and the nice use of songs (we really liked Gladys Knight's version of Since I Fell for You). There's a music cue called iSight Surprise--after you see the movie, you'll get it. Cinematographer John Toll (won Oscars for Legends of the Fall (1994) and Braveheart (1995), also shot The Last Samurai (2003)) made beautiful pictures with sweeping Santa Barbara vistas and luscious interiors.

My post about Away We Go brings up the chick flick issue. As always, Jack attended of his own free will. He now says it is, indeed, a chick flick, but he did, indeed, enjoy it (what a guy!). Baldwin and David Letterman had fun with that discussion the other night, with Letterman pretending to be outraged that something he liked was thought to be only for women.

All in all, this is an entertaining bit of fluff, worth seeing on date night (if you have/are a great guy), girls' night out, or with your family and grown children (rated R for the infidelity/adultery plot, and Baldwin's rear end--he told Letterman he had a "butt double"). Jack said "It's no Zombieland [our pick for funniest of 2009], but still..." ...it's got a lot of laughs.