IT’S COMPLICATED
CAROLINE: The much anticipated Nancy Meyers movie “It’s Complicated” comes out on Christmas, and it’s the second good Meryl Streep movie of the year. It co-stars Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who will be co-hosting the Oscars this year, along with John Krasinski and Lake Bell.
RYAN: I love a movie with a good love triangle, and this movie has a great one. It’s very funny to boot.
CAROLINE: I laughed out loud several times even though it’s a little goofy. There’s a lot of stuff in it that would never happen in real life, but if you want cute, funny escapism, this movie fits the bill. It’s not as good as “Something’s Gotta Give,” an earlier Nancy Meyers flick, but I still totally enjoyed it.
RYAN: I can only imagine what it must have been like to be Alec Baldwin reading this script, seeing certain lines and thinking, “I can nail this.” Nobody could do this role like he can. All the main characters are so well cast; except for Steve Martin who I found a little flat and stiff.
CAROLINE: His character was a little staid, but I thought he got better as he went along. My main concern was the eye job he seems to have gotten. His face looks very strange.
RYAN: He must have gone to Burt Reynolds’s plastic surgeon.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ It’s fun to see a movie about the love lives of older folk, especially with these actors. They had great chemistry. Sure, some scenes are hokey and unrealistic, but I was totally along for the ride.
RYAN: It was also funny to see Meryl play a baker/bakery owner given that she played Julia Child just a few months ago. She was nominated for Golden Globes for both this and “Julie & Julia” by the way.
CAROLINE: No big shock there. She’s ridonkulously amazing in this movie as usual. She captures the role so well. I love that she looks her age and how natural and easy her acting is. She’s a national treasure.
RYAN: She really is. This is also such a beautiful movie in terms of set design and location and costumes.
CAROLINE: Nancy Meyers has a way with that. She always dresses her leading ladies really well, and their houses are always enviable and immaculate. Remember Diane Keaton’s beach house in “Something’s Gotta Give”?
RYAN: How could I forget?
CAROLINE: This movie is a very honest look at relationships, which I always appreciate. It portrays all the ups and downs of several different stages of a relationships very well.
RYAN: John Krasinski plays Meryl’s future son-in-law, and then there are her three blond kids, all of whom are relative nobodies. And I love how we spent the first hour of the film debating whether the oldest daughter was pregnant. She’s not.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ I know! Well, one of them is on TV’s “Weeds.” And they all looked so much alike they could pass for real-life siblings.
RYAN: They must have been so psyched when they found out they were cast in a movie with Meryl Streep. I also want to give a shout-out to Lake Bell who I loved on “Boston Legal.” She takes her shirt off in one scene, and her body is just outstanding.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: I really liked this movie. I’d heard mixed things about it so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s very sweet, touching and even heartbreaking at times. Everyone will relate to something in it even if you’re not in the target age range of this movie. It’s certainly no masterpiece, but it’s fun and it made me laugh.
RYAN: I went in with low expectations and I liked it too. I was engaged and entertained the whole time. It’s a good dramedy.
— RATING —
