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Visual:		6.0
Audio:		6.0
Acting:		8.0
Writing:		4.0
Score:		6.0

Director(s):	Nancy Meyers
Writer(s):	Nancy Meyers
Starring:	Alec Baldwin • Hunter Parrish • John Krasinski • Meryl Streep • Steve Martin • Caitlin Fitzgerald
Genre:	Comedy • Drama
Website:	http://www.itscomplicatedmovie.com/
Release Date:	December 25, 2009
Rated:

There's no doubt that It's Complicated strongly resembles the past work of Nancy Meyers; the emphases on strained relationships, a target demographic slightly older than the traditional romantic comedy and a knack for finding the comedic in the lives of an aging generation echo the themes of her past films. It's Complicated takes the traditional love triangle concept and stands it up in the light of the nation's current divorce-rate. What does divorce mean? Can emotion really be turned off and on? Or does some of the light linger, waiting to be rediscovered later on? Superb performances by Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and a severely understated Steve Martin bolster this romantic comedy about the golden years (or the lack thereof) and how three "grown-ups" find an impromptu fountain of youth when they just let it all go. It will certainly sate the oft neglected funny bones of older crowds tired of comedies about drunken buffoons or college shenanigans, but most others will find it a few steps backward compared to the better comedies of the last few years.

Jane (Streep) has finally collected herself after a painful divorce wherein her ex-husband Jake (Baldwin) found a younger woman (with a child) and took off, leaving their marriage and family of five worse for wear. Her life features hours spent working in her bakery and visits from her oldest daughter Lauren (Caitlin Fitzgerald), Caitlin’s beau Harley (John Krasinski), her estrogen junta and the potential love interest in the form of her newly-hired architect Adam (Martin). Jane’s life seems to have recovered. The recovery, however, turns out to be temporary. Upon the graduation of her son (Hunter Parrish), the entire family treks to New York for the ceremony where Jane and Jake have the opportunity to “reacquaint” themselves. Suddenly the feelings both had long buried come screaming from the grave like some sort of zombified romance. They begin a series of secretive rendezvous and Jane’s romantic interests sway steadily between Jake and Adam.

There’s no surprise ending here, folks. If you can imagine, between Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, which would be painted as the “nice guy” in the love triangle, then you won’t be too shocked. “Let sleeping dogs lie” or “nice guys finish last”, they're the two themes and they’re both used in a rather plain and all too obvious manner. The who-will-she-choose suspense, which was supposed to play a part in the first half, never really materializes; it’s a problem due in equal part to the capabilities of the three actors as it is the weakness of the writing. In the hands of a less talented cast (one without Streep’s charisma, Baldwin’s sleazy charm, and Martin’s sheepish smile), the film would have attempted an air of subtlety in the caricatures of the three lovers and would have lost the comedy in lieu of sappy sentimentality. As is, the comedy comes to the foreground and the sentimentality never feels too forced, just unbalanced and too straightforward. For a film about a love triangle, even one starring sexagenerians, it’s surprisingly banal.

If you need a healthy serving of comedy-lite then It’s Complicated might just suffice, but it’s really a question of how raunchy you like your comedy. If Judd Apatow’s last five films are on your “Top 5 Movies of the Decade” list, then you really want nothing to do with this one; but if you’re exasperated at the current state of comedy, with all its jokes about flatulence and male genitalia, then you just might be in this film’s target demographic.

In our current male-dominated blockbusters film culture, romantic comedies have become exceedingly rare, and those aimed at an older audience even more so. Those looking for the latter have to take what they can get, and It’s Complicated gives them a decent treat.

One last thought, I think it would be a fair and suitable trade if It's Complicated and He's Just Not That Into You were to exchange titles (with "He's Just" becoming "She's Just").