The one and only thing that grabbed my attention about It’s Complicated was the fact that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin would be sharing the screen. These two have had some really funny moments in the past on SNL as they both go back and forth taking the lead for the most hosting gigs. While those big names did translate to a few good laughs, it wasn’t all good.
As always, we’ll skim the top of the details here and jump in a bit more after the jump, plot points brought to you courtesy of Wikipedia. It’s Complicated was released in theaters on December 25, 2009, and was then released on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 27, 2010. With big names aplenty (Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Meryl Streep, and John Krasinski) you’d think they’d deliver some big laughs… well…
Jane (Meryl Streep) is a self-reliant divorcée who owns a successful bakery in Santa Barbara, California. After 10 years of separation and three grown children, she finally achieves a good relationship with her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin), a successful attorney who has remarried the much-younger Agness.
Jane and Jake attend their son Luke’s college graduation in New York. A dinner together develops into an affair, making Jane “the other woman”. Part of Jane knows it is wrong, since Jake and Agness are still married and trying to have a baby; the other part of Jane relishes being “the other woman” and continues the affair with Jake in Santa Barbara.
Jake and Jane’s children know nothing of their parents’ affair, although Harley (John Krasinski), who is engaged to their daughter Lauren, spots them in a hotel and keeps silent. Agness knows nothing, as Jake still has sex with her on demand; her five-year-old son Pedro suspects something when Jake makes phone calls from the bathroom.
Complicating matters is Adam (Steve Martin), an architect hired to remodel Jane’s home, who is himself healing from a divorce of his own, and who has begun to fall in love with Jane. He spends time getting to know her as a person. On the night of Luke’s graduation party, Jane invites Adam to the party, but is high when he picks her up because she has smoked a joint that Jake had given her earlier. Later, at the party, Adam also smokes the joint and becomes high as well. Jake becomes jealous observing them, but with some cajoling by Jane, he gets high as well. Harley confronts Jake and Jane, stressed from keeping their secret, and eventually agrees to smoke some pot as well.
This honestly was the best scene of the movie. It’s really the only opportunity Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are given a chance to cut loose and really act crazy… which is what the two of the do so well, especially acting off of each other. It’s a shame they weren’t given more opportunities to cash in on their expertise. It felt like all of these great comedic actors were stuffed into a box and told to stay inside of the box, instead of just getting them in front of the camera and then letting the jokes fly off the cuff. I think there were alot of possibilities with this movie, but it falls far short of them all.
Dave’s Quick Hits: With this good of a cast, there were bound to be at least 1 or 2 good scenes, the problem was it never rose above that, 3 out of 10
Thoughts From The Better Half: Not the most fantastic movie I’ve seen, good actors… which was probably the only reason I enjoyed it, 3 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65% – Despite fine work by an appealing cast, It’s Complicated is predictable romantic comedy fare, going for broad laughs instead of subtlety and nuance.
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