It’s Complicated

Nancy Meyers is not a perfect writer or director. She’s certainly no Jane Campion but her defence she’s no Nora Ephron either. I suppose she would fall somewhere in the middle. I remarked last year that I didn’t expect her latest comedy [of sorts] about the lives of the middle aged to trump her other comedy about the middle aged; and I believe I was correct.

                 

It’s Complicated is not a film that suffers from bad writing, as much as it’s a film that suffers from too much writing. This is a story that despite all it claims to be is quite thin on plot, and after 100 minutes it becomes so indulgent that it doesn’t know when to excise the extraneous and the make it’s point as quick [and effective] as possible. There isn’t a scene that particularly rings false, but Nancy Meyers seems to have missed that particular screenwriting class that insisted on murdering your darling. Her dialogue is good, but at times it’s dialogue for the sake of dialogue and doesn’t readily lead to the denouement of the film. The therapy sessions adds nothing new to the fabric, neither does that brief and quickly forgotten mulling over plastic surgery, the conference call she shares with her friends are surely filled with some interesting one-liners but what exactly do they do that makes them necessary? And that weed scene? Don’t even get me started. It’s Complicated is the type of film that could have benefited from some crisp script modifications.

[Minor Spoilers]

I can’t help wishing that Streep’s Jane would have just stayed single in the end instead of reiterating that tired old stereotyping of needing a man – regardless of age. I’ll be honest – I’m no Streep lover myself; but she’s thoroughly luminous here. But, I fear it’s more a luminosity from Streep being Streep than Streep being Jane. She’s just not as unmannered a comedienne as that other old broad; but It’s Complicated works because of her; not in spite of her. She’s the most effective of the adults actually, although Alec Baldwin seemed heading for that prize in the first half – by the end his character seemed so eviscerated that there wasn’t much for him to do. Still, the adults are commendable. But the actor that comes out guns blazing [as far as I’m concerned] is Jon Krazinski. I found myself waiting for him to appear on screen. It’s not that he steamrolls the other actors. Everyone’s [save for Kazan who almost spoils The Adventures of Pippa Lee too] is on an even keel; but Krazinski’s subtle comedic abilities are a definite plus to Meyer’s comedy.

                

In the end though, I go easy on It’s Complicated. It mucks up some things along the way but when it comes down to the essentials it’s strangely on point. The relationship of the siblings particularly felt so authentic to me [just like me and my two older sisters and divorced parents] and though I’d have liked a more vociferous response from at the end when it came to the state of affairs with their parents, the affiliation was there, even if the dreadful Zoe Kazan was getting on my nerves. It’s Complicated is not going to be remembered as a quality addition to cinema, it’s a trifle in some ways. But it’s a pleasant one.

         

C+, that's almost a B- [although Streep and Krasinski are B+]

COMING SOON: Whip It, Three Blind Mice, The Road