Encore’s Birthday Marathon: Day Three

This is part of the 20 day series of commentary commemorating random cinematic moments leading up to my birthday. It’s hardly an auspicious moment, but it’s as a good a reason as any for an arbitrary blogging event.
         

One of my sisters has this strange fixation with the number. Her birthday happens to be a 3rd of the year, so it’s probably not that weird. It’s interesting, though, because I’m part of a three sibling family and three always seems like the go-to number for cinematic families. Maybe I overstress, it’s probably not an overwhelming majority but I’m almost certain that it is the majority. The thing about siblings, on the big or small screen, though is that oftentimes the honesty of any filial bond is difficult to establish. Think of the trio of sisters in Gosford Park. I adore the film, but there’s little ostensible cinematic rapport to be found between Kristin Scott Thomas, Natasha Wightman and Geraldine Sommerville. It doesn’t destroy the film (it’s still excellent), but it’s notable.

I’ve found that the small screen is a more accurate purveyor of believable sibling relationships. There’s little about David Schwimmer and Courtney Cox in the Friends pilot that makes their relation to each other striking, but just like meeting actual siblings overtime the bond is revealed to be a strong one. Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall seem to hit it off immediately in Six Feet Under but it’s some time before Claire seems like a real part of their relationship (Krause’s current drama, Parenthood. is still trying to address chemistry issues.)

For the cinema, when I think of sibling rapport I immediately turn to Howards End – not only because of my affinity for Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson but because I vicariously enjoy it as a paradigm for my own sibling situation (two older sisters). Tibby is sort of incidental to the drama in the film, which isn’t exactly regrettable (the film functions finely without him) but I love those little moments when all three are together like that first meeting with Leonard where Tibby is exasperating stolid or the first meeting with Mrs. Leonard Bast where he’s more voluble.

And if Howards End represents my sibling relationship in the Edwardian period, then It’s Complicated would be it in contemporary times. Not that I’m grossly invested in the film (and I do have a loathing for Zoe Kazan who plays the middle daughter) but the fact that the trio not only has strong chemistry but their relationship actually seems unforced despite the more obtrusive “cutesy” bits is impressive. (I always do think there’s a better movie trying to fight its way out of It’s Complicated). I couldn't only imagine the therapy my siblings would need if my parents decided to remarry - or have an affair. Yikes.
         

Any cinematic siblings remind you of yours?

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