Movie Review: It’s Complicated

LITTLE ROCK — Somebody must have told Meryl Streep that she has a charming chortle. She uses it, instead of her superb acting abilities, to get by in It’s Complicated, a romantic comedy that, despite its bright premise and superlative cast, isn’t as smart as it should be.

Writer/director Nancy Meyers, who just turned 60, knows how to portray 50-something women. Her heroine, restaurateur Jane Adler (Streep), has just the right touches of aging female anxiety - Do I need an eyebrow lift? Can I get away with wearing these purple suede boots? - that you’d expect in a woman who, after 19 years of marriage and three children, loses her husband to a much younger woman.

Streep’s got the depth to make this character memorable, but instead we get a giggly cardboard cutout of a woman when we’d much rather know what motivates her to begin an affair with Jake (Alec Baldwin), herself-assured if self-admittedly too-fat former husband, 10 years after they’ve split.

It’s pretty clear what’s motivating Jake. He’s married to Agness (Lake Bell). Shrill and strident, Agness is in command of their household despite having departed their marriage for a brief fling that resulted in Pedro (Emjay Anthony), a snotty 5-year-old who treats Jake with remarkable disdain. Watching Jake’s smugness transform into wonder when he finds himself in his ex-wife’s arms at the end of a boozy, blissful evening is among the film’s more successful moments.

“I think this is very French of us - I have a young wife, but I’m having sex with my old wife,” he exclaims to Jane, who forgives him for the “old wife” references.

And she, in turn, announces to her gal pals (among them Mary Kay Place and Rita Wilson) during a wine-soaked supper at Jane’s gorgeous Santa Barbara home, “I’m now the other woman - I’m the one we hate!”

That beautiful tile-roofed home - complete with a serene pool and a perfect garden that produces supermodel tomatoes - is about to undergo a transformation as well with the help of reserved, self-effacing architect Adam (Steve Martin). His gentle demeanor helps disguise his post-divorce angst, which is eased when he’s in the company of ever-chortling Jane. Their relationship develops apace. Complications, as the film’s title suggest, ensue.

The film nearly redeems itself with a hilariously accurate portrayal of a mature couple’s experiences while revisiting the effects of marijuana. But even getting stoned can’t make up for cliched dialogue, and a strangely stiff atmosphere that doesn’t fit in coastal California. It’s Complicated ends up being lead-footed when it’s got the potential to fly.