IT’S COMPLICATED

US, 2009, 120 minutes, Colour.
Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson, Alexandra Wentworth, Hunter Parrish, Zoe Kazan, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Nora Dunn, Bruce Altman.
Directed by Nancy Meyers.

It certainly is. Complicated to review as well. It's the tangled relationships that cause the problems in the film and it's the tangled relationships and what they mean that make it complicated to review.

The film raises the issues of divorced husband and wife (ten years on) encountering one another and beginning a new relationship. Why would they do this? Are the reasons and motives the same for the man as for the woman? Does it mean that the divorce process was not finally concluded emotionally, only legally? Since the husband has remarried and has a step-child and his younger wife wants to become pregnant and hauls him off frequently to a fertility clinic does this mean that he is weary of and questioning his marriage? Does the wife (unmarried now) wonder what her life might be like with a relationship (and is being egged on by her middle-aged girlfriends? And what do the three children, close to their mother, think and how they should react? You get the picture. And that is what It's Complicated shows us.

So, a lot of ethical and moral issues that we need to sort out as do the characters themselves, Nancy Meyers' screenplay getting the characters themselves to ask and puzzle over the questions and their behaviour.

The strength of the film is in having Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin (surprisingly effective) as the ex-wife and husband. They bring depth and skills to roles that might otherwise just have been situation comedy performances. In comparison, Steve Martin as the wife's architect plays a somewhat self-effacing role.

With an American serious comedy like this, the characters tend to be all 'out there', a very extroverted display of the issues. Which means that too much exposure runs the risk of their being irritating at times rather than ingratiating. This is a companion piece to Nancy Meyers' other more recent explorations of relationships, What Women Want, Somethings Gotta Give and The Holiday.

1.A romantic comedy for those in mid-life, ageing?

2.The US style, upfront and out there?

3.The title, the perspective, on marriage, separation, divorce, relationships? The perspective on moral and ethical issues? On psychological issues and dealing with these problems?

4.Los Angeles’ affluent suburbia, homes, the building of extensions, the bakery shops, the offices? New York, hotels, college? A glossy world? The musical score?

5.The introduction to Jane, Meryl Streep, her running the bakery, loving to cook, extending the kitchen, at home, having her children round her, her mothering them, their breaking away? Her visits with her girlfriends, the chatter, the talk about sex? The tension with Jake? The plans for going to New York for the graduation? Her concern for her children? The extensions, Adam and his plans, forgetting the appointments?

6.The introduction to Jake, the lawyer, divorced for ten years, playing around and betraying his wife, marrying the younger woman, having her troublesome son and his treating the tantrums, being dragged to the fertility clinic? With his own children, the meals, his making Jane uncomfortable?

7.Jake, infiltrating into Jane’s life, at the restaurant, having the drinks, the meal, talking, going home, the beginning of the affair? Jake and his reasons, dissatisfied with his family, wanting a happy retirement? Jane and her feeling the divorce was unfinished, wanting some closure? Her puzzle about herself? Disapproval of herself? Telling her friends?

8.The visit to New York, the hotel, the graduation, continuing the affair?

9.The picture of the children, the young man and his studies, New York, return home, the party? The daughter and her plans? Devoted to her mother? Lauren and Harley, their engagement, relationship?

10.The wedding preparations, the hotel, Harley seeing Jake and Jane, shielding Lauren, keeping quiet – but later admitting to Jane that he had seen everything?

11.The problems, the clashes, the arguments, the puzzle? Jake spying on Adam’s visit? The plan for the dinner with Jane, his not coming, his wife changing her mind? Jane rethinking the relationship?

12.Adam, his back-story, divorce, his communicating with Jane, her taking him as her date for the party?

13.Jake leaving his wife, coming to stay with Jane, Adam and Jane on Skype, the computer in the bedroom, Jake and his setting himself up, naked, caught, the fiasco? His plea to Jane? Her decision against him?

14.The children, their horrified reaction at their mother and father coming together again?

15.Jane, the future, the relationship with Adam and rekindling it?