It’s Complicated (**)

Directed by: Nancy Meyers

Starring: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Rita Wilson

Seen: March 7^th 2010

** Out of ****

It’s Complicated starts with Jane (Streep) and Jake (Baldwin) Adler in conversation with friends of theirs at a party for their 30^th anniversary. It seems that these 4 people are two old-friend happy couples chatting, but then Jane looks towards the house from where a much younger woman in a very liberal outfit is walking towards them. Agness Adler (Bell) joins her husband, Jake, and just like that Jane looks lost. Jane and Jake have been separated for 10 years, in which time Jake has married his then mistress, and Jane has remained single while raising their 3 children. It is also clearly evident that she has not quite dealt with it and is pretty lonely.

Over the next approximately 20 minutes the movie shows us that Agness is trying to get pregnant with Jake, and that they are going to a fertility clinic for this. We are also introduced to the rest of the families, Jane and Jake’s three children Luke, Gabby, Lauren, Lauren’s fiancée Harley (Krasinski), and Agness’ son Pedro. The whole family goes to New York for Luke’s college graduation where they are all booked into the same hotel. The first night there Agness can’t go out with Jake, who ends up at the hotel bar next to Jane. The two start talking and eating and drinking and before you know it they are in bed together. Jane feels guilty while Jake feels romantically charged. Jane’s friends relish the fact that she has now effectively turned the tables on Agness, and convinces her that it’s “not that wrong”.

The affair continues, but as is the case with secrets like these, they are sure to come out sooner rather than later causing their fair amount of hurt and other troubles, and Harley is the one to start uncovering things – even though he keeps quiet about it. While all of this comes to light Jane is also in the process of remodelling her home, and she starts a very tentative relationship, first only professionally, later more romantically, with Adam (Martin) her architect. And of course this triangle must at some point come to the boil, as if just the affair wasn’t enough.

So yes, It’s Complicated, but not because Jane and Jake don’t make it that way for themselves. I find it rather alarming that such demonstrable infidelity has now become our supposed high-brow entertainment, as this movie is a rather high profile one. The main theme of the movie (at least for its first three quarters) is that adultery is okay as long as it is to get back at someone who did the same to you. Coupled with that there is not one really strong male character in this movie: Jake is a cheating adulterer; Adam is decent, but avoids conflict to a point of insanity and even confesses to not being macho; Luke (an approximately 21 year old man) ends up crying in bed with his sisters when the children find out about the affair; and while Harley is a decent man, he is emancipated in subtle ways: making him seem like one of the girls at one stage, and actually dressing him up in his fiancée’s tight pink clothing in another scene.

It’s Complicated surely is funny, the situational humour at some stages is actually brilliant, and Alec Baldwin shines in these moments. There is unfortunately only really one moment (at most two) where Steve Martin is used to his comedic potential, in a mostly forgettable scene, as mainly he comes across as a true softy with no spine. John Krasinski is good at everything, even his own emancipation; and Meryl Streep is her usual excellent self, disappearing into the role of the wronged woman trying to get her own back. It’s Complicated is over-rated, actually not really all that complicated, and boy, did it feel to be about 4 hours long…