YES!!
It's Complicated is a first class, perfectly pitched, wonderfully paced movie. Ahh.....
I was worried that the best of it was already shown in all the commercials and previews of the film. Happily, I can report that it's even better than its trailer. Wow. Meryl Streep is incredible. The lady does not disappoint -- ever. Can't say enough about her. I unabashedly worship her.
Alec Baldwin has such an enormous sleaze-ball quality that he just has to be in the frame and he makes me laugh. He has perfect comic timing; his face expresses without any clownish mugging; he's a rake and a darling at once. And a bit of a pig. Love him! The thing is, Alec Baldwin really puts it all out there. He's intensely naked in his portrayal of a man who loses his midlife fantasy life and wants to revert to the home and hearth of his ex-wife and ideal family. Hell, he'd be an idiot not to want to go back to the Meryl Streep wife. Come on. He left her for a flat-bellied, tattoo-shouldered, exotic-bitchy young'un. True to his not-quite-bright nature, it took him 10 years to see what a schnook he was. Amazingly, and it's a testament to the personal likability quotient Baldwin brings, I liked him despite his obvious moronic leanings.
Steve Martin, I was relieved to see, did not go over-the-top with either his wacky self or his sad clown self. Phew. (I think Meryl just has to make everybody act better, so that's that.) Martin was a pretty believable nice architect guy who starts a thing with Meryl in the middle of her "affair" with her husband. There are a couple of scenes with them that make dating look good. Really.
I read a couple of reviews of this film by the Big Shots who write about movies. Forget them. They don't believe in Santa Claus. It's Christmas. Go. See it. It's a gift.
Totally agree with you on Alec Baldwin. It was impossible not to like him, even in his most pathetic state. Interestingly enough, I (whom am a major Meryl Streep fan) was not crazy about her performance. I don't think she ever figured out who this woman was. Maybe it was the script, but I got tired of her interactions with her ex-husband to be full of shrugs and wry smiles. I don't know what I wanted from her, but I didn't get it, which is quite a shocker for me considering I'd follow this woman anywhere. For me, Baldwin made the movie.
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