Review: It's Complicated

Grade: C+

Ten years ago, Jane and Jake Addler got divorced and Jake is now married to a much younger woman. Now as the last of their three kids is moving out of Jane's house and their son, Luke, is graduating from college in New York, Jane is experiencing a little bit of empty nest syndrome. When the family flies out to New York to attend Luke's graduation, Jane and Jake run into each other at a restaurant and, with the help of some alcohol, reignite some old feelings. Jane is content with leaving the affair on the other end of the country but Jake insists on continuing it as he is no longer completely happy with his current marriage and convinces Jane to continue it as well. Jane, however, is being pursued by a smitten architect, Adam, and is worried about her kids finding out.

This movie was better than I thought it was going to be but it wasn't that great either. Most of the performances were very good. It was actually pretty funny at times. It is very interesting seeing a romantic comedy using a different formula than most. It deals with an older couple, they are in their mid to late fifties, and it deals with a divorced couple, which was very interesting to watch. Now, there were many great jokes that made me laugh but there were also a bunch that I feel writer/director Nancy Meyers put in to try to be raunchy but it just came off as awkward to me. I know this sounds weird, but I had a slight problem with the fact that all of the main characters were filthy rich. Specifically Jane, she has a big gorgeous house with a big gorgeous kitchen (that she's unhappy with and is therefore putting an addition on the house with a new larger kitchen) and a very successful business. This makes some parts towards the end of the movie very awkward to me because it seems like Nancy Meyers was trying to have a strong female lead but then Jane kind of gets screwed over the most.

The movie is rated R but it should only be PG-13. Yes, the movie has some raunchy jokes and some slight sexuality, but nothing you wouldn't see in many of the PG-13 comedies coming out. There's not much language throughout either. In fact, the only reason the movie is rated R (as stated by the MPAA) is for one scene where two of the characters smoke pot. This is ridiculous. I don't know why the MPAA is now so severely joining the fight against marijuana, but they've decided that two people enjoying a joint is worse than portraying underage drinking (Whip It and many other movies that only have PG-13 ratings), sex and nudity (Titanic and several others) or even strong violence (Terminator Salvation, The Dark Knight or many other recent PG-13 movies). Just had to get that out, sorry.

Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia, Doubt) played Jane, the central character of the movie throughout. I like Meryl Streep a lot actually, but I didn't care for her much in this movie. She seemed very giggly and weird through most of her scenes and I don't know, I just didn't like her as much as I normally do. Alec Baldwin (The Departed, TV's 30 Rock) plays Jane's ex-husband, Jake. Alec Baldwin was hilarious in this movie as he seemed to bring some of his wit from 30 Rock to this role, his characters determination to be with Jane was sweet and very funny at times. Steve Martin (The Pink Panther, Bowfinger) plays Jane's architect and new love interest, Adam. Steve Martin was good and he had his funny moments but not as many as one would normally expect from him as he seemed really toned down in this movie. John Krasinski (Away We Go, TV's The Office) plays Harley, Jane's daughter's fiancé. John Krasinski stole every scene that he was in. His role alone made the movie worth seeing. I don't think that there was one second that he was on screen that I wasn't laughing, I'm not sure what this all says about the movie but it's true, Krasinski is hands down the best part of the movie. Lake Bell (Pride and Glory, TV's Boston Legal) is also in it as Jake's new wife. She's not in it much but she seems to mostly be in it to be really hot, which she does well. The movie also features Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson, Hunter Parrish, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Zoe Kazan and Nora Dunn.

If you like romantic comedies I suggest checking this movie out. If you really want, go ahead and see it in theaters but I feel that it's perfectly ok to wait until DVD to rent this one. As I said before, it's far from terrible but I really didn't find it to be all that great either.

Great quote: "Yes, I prefer a lot of semen."