This quote from one of my new favorite shows says it all when it comes to my opinion of the greatest living and most versatile actress working in movies. I don't usually speak in such superlative hyperbole, but it's Meryl freakin' Streep, so I'm giving myself a pass. She makes bad movies worth checking out, makes good movies better, and makes great movies classics. I love Meryl Streep. And while I am not prepared to dethrone Katharine Hepburn as my most favorite actress (that's two superlatives), I am always ready to declare Meryl Streep one of the greatest actresses of all time. Not only does she star in one of my top ten favorite movies, Out of Africa, she also starred in two movies in 2009. And it just so happens that, while one of those two movies was not exactly a romantic comedy*, the one that I saw this weekend in the theaters was. So I thought it would be a perfect crossover from last week's post to this week's to discuss It's Complicated.
I did not go into It's Complicated with the highest of expectations. While I was intrigued by the top-notch cast of Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and of course Meryl Streep, some of the TV promos had me worried that the best parts were all in the trailers. I have not always liked Nancy Meyers as a writer/director either. What Women Want was interested in the gimmick of Mel Gibson's ability to hear women's thoughts first, interested in his relationship with Helen Hunt second. Her Jack Nicholson/Diane Keaton comedy Something's Gotta Give was a huge improvement, however, namely because she reversed these priorities. The plot device of Nicholson's character dating the daughter and then falling for the mother is only a jumping off point to the terrific relationship development between Nicholson and Keaton that takes up the majority of the film. Keaton also gives one of her best performances in it.
What Meyers succeeded at with Something's Gotta Give (making an endearing movie about mature people) she improved on with It's Complicated, a better movie. I loved this movie. It is funny without being cynical. It is endearing without being overly saccharine. It may be stating the obvious, and you may consider me biased after the preceding paragraph, but Meryl Streep is absolutely wonderful. Alec Baldwin is hilarious. Steve Martin is better than I've seen him in a long time. And Meyers, through her script, has brought up an interesting idea, the weight of which I was surprised to find in a romantic comedy. A divorce, no matter what the lawyers and judges say, or what the two parties may think or feel, is never completely final. However, a romantic comedy this mature and this well developed can handle a heavier topic, and does handle it perfectly, making it the better movie for risking the inclusion.
There is terrific poignancy to be seen here. There is some great comedy, by actors who understand what that really is. And there is a very romantic scene in a bakery that almost does for chocolate croissants what Ghost did for pottery...almost. This is a romantic comedy people. This is a romantic comedy and you should see it.
For those The Office fans reading, John Krasinsky has a fun part in the movie playing the future son-in-law of Streep's character. Some of the funniest scenes come from his character knowing something that none of the other characters knows, and trying to keep it that way, often ending up more involved than he'd like to be.
And speaking of John Krasinsky, he also starred in a movie last year that is one of the two great romantic comedies from 2009 I promised to mention this week. I had intended to say more about these, but Meryl Streep, well...Meryl Streep. Anyway, for now suffice it to say that I highly recommend Away We Go and 500 Days of Summer.
Until next week, have fun at the movies...
* Meryl Streep's performance in last year's Julie and Julia could earn her a 16th Academy Award nomination. I wonder how long before they just start calling them " The Meryls."
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