Film review: It’s Complicated - (15) Rating: lll

Jan 8 2010 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

WRITER-DIRECTOR Nancy Meyers has forged a reputation with smart, insightful comedies that reveal myriad potholes in the road to true love.

In her latest, she skips through the emotions of post-divorce relationships, as seen through the eyes of a mother played by Meryl Streep, who embarks on a tempestuous affair . . . with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin). The tumble beneath the sheets ignites old desires, but Jane feels guilty since Jake is now married to a younger woman.

Ignoring her moral compass, Jane continues the affair with Jake, only to develop feelings for the divorced architect Adam (Steve Martin), whom she has hired to remodel her kitchen.

It’s Complicated is a delightful two hours of laughter and self-reflection.

Streep affirms her credentials as one of the best comic actresses working today. A sequence in which Jane lets her hair down with a joint is hysterical.

Baldwin is irresistible as the bullish alpha male determined to turn back time, while Martin delivers a tender and funny performance that leaves a lump in the throat.