Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in "It's Complicated"
courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment
“Merry Meryl”

We use to see Meryl Streep in only heavily dramatic roles. Then she lightened up with “Mamma Mia” and to some extent “Julie and Julia.” Now we get the merriest Meryl of all in the romantic comedy “It’s Complicated,” which is new to DVD this week.

In this film you have Streep co-starring with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. When you have that triumvirate you should have a movie that is special in every sense of the word. It should at least be witty to the extreme, and warm-hearted to boot. These actors are the crème de la crème of Hollywood and Meyers is the director who brought us the charming “Something’s Got To Give” and the heart warming “Father of the Bride” series. But the plot doesn’t quite work, and the stars don’t shine as brightly as they should, and ……….well it’s complicated.

Streep plays Jane, a woman who has been divorced for ten years. She has become adjusted to her single life and is relatively happy. She has almost gotten over the fact her husband Jake cheated on her and left her for a younger woman. Now Jake is married to Agness (Lake Bell) and is miserable. She wants a child of their own and so she is making demands of Jake.

Jane and Jake’s son Luke (Hunter Parrish) is graduating from college. She, her two daughters, and her future son in law (John Krasinski) go up for the ceremony. Jake is there too, and during the weekend Jake and Jane get together. Now Jane is “the other woman” in an adulterous relationship. To further complicate things, upon returning home she meets an attractive architect named Adam (Martin) and he starts work on remodeling her house.

Seeing that Adam wants Jane only makes Jake want her more. It finally boils down to Jane having to choose between Jake and Adam and that gets complicated. Very complicated, but not very funny.

For some reason the chemistry in the movie is off. Streep is light and airy but also silly and stupid acting. Baldwin is chunky and charming but also aggravating and irritating. Martin is so bland he almost blends into the woodwork with his white hair and white teeth.

Meyers direction is heavy handed and charmless. She appears to think audiences will love a cheating couple, but they don’t. It is one thing to be cheated on, but another thing altogether when you are the cheater. Jane has no remorse and the audience never totally warms up to her.

It is a treat to see a movie about love and sex concerning people over fifty. But just because they are adult in age does not mean these folks are adult in actions. They act like kids with their hormones in full gear and that is not an appealing sight.

All the ingredients are present in this movie to make it a DVD full of fun but somehow the participants strike out. “It’s Complicated” goes from being a highly anticipated DVD experience to one that leaves a bad taste.

Also out on DVD this week is “Georgia O’Keefe.” O’Keefe is one of America’s most outstanding painters but very little has been revealed of her personal life. This new DVD, which stars Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, gives some insight into her life. The film does not deal with the totality of O’Keefe’s life but instead focuses on the days and years after she meets famed photographer and art impresario Alfred Stieglitz.

The movie gets off to an abrupt starts when O’Keefe (Allen) goes to an art display which was put together by Stieglitz. She accuses him of displaying her work without her permission and he does not deny it. He does however try to justify it. From this point their relationship proceeds fairly quickly to a full fledged love affair.

O’Keefe and Stieglitz are the best thing that ever happened to each other and the worst. She is a truly talented artist and he is a genius at promotion. He makes her a star and she makes him feel needed and important. Still even as they are growing in celebrity there is a serpent in their garden and that is jealousy. Stieglitz can not abide feeling less important than O’Keefe, and O’Keefe can not tolerate Stieglitz’ unfaithfulness.

Allen and Irons convey all the right facets of these two people’s personalities. They are both talented actors and you accept they are these characters from the very start. Still they never appear to actually get into their hearts or their passions. Stieglitz as played by Irons is quirky and irritable, and Allen’s O’Keefe is cool and serene for the most part. These two had a decades long love affair but the intensity of their relationship is never revealed by their actions.

There is also a question of the age of these two people at various times in the story. At one time we are introduced to Stieglitz’ mother and she seems to be the same age as her son – or younger. O’Keefe’s age is also unknown. Supposedly she is in her late twenties when she first meets Stieglitz but she looks the same at this point as she does years later.

“Georgia O’Keefe” presents an interesting story but not a triumphant one. The interweaving of Stieglitz and O’Keefe’s lives keeps the plot moving but it never is a story that touches the heart or even the mind of the viewer. You can appreciate its meaning but the impact is dulled by Michael Cristofer’s talky script and Bob Balaban’s stiff directing. 

For fans of Allen and Irons any chance to see these actors ply their trade is enough. Sadly “Georgia O’Keefe” is not the best use of their talents. They bring their characters to life but don’t inhabit them in a way that wins us over. The viewer gets a surface picture but never an inner one which is what the story needs to be complete.
 

 

 

 

 

©2010 Jackie K. Cooper

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