It’s Complicated (2009)

Tags

Alec Baldwin, Comedy, Drama, It's Complicated, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Meryl Streep, Movie, Romance, Steve Martin

do a Jim look...c'mon, do it...do it!

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Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell

Jake: I’m sorry.
Jane: How far back does that ‘sorry’ go?
Jake: How far back do you need it to go?
Jane: Way back.

While in New York for her son’s graduation, Jane (Streep) starts up an affair with her remarried ex-husband, Jake (Baldwin).  Meanwhile, Jane and Adam (Martin), an architect she’s hired, start to take a liking to each other as well.

If I had to sum this one up quickly, I’d say it’s funny, but way too long.  There are several repetitive scenes that could have been trimmed down or cut altogether.  The pace just seemed…slow.

Streep is good as always, and she and Baldwin work well together.  Steve Martin was alright as Adam, but I didn’t really believe his and Jane’s relationship.  Martin wasn’t really given much opportunity to show his comedic side (other than a tired, inappropriately high at a party scene), so his character just came off as a little bland and unmemorable.  As Streep and Baldwin’s future son in law, Harley, John Krasinski manages to score some laughs in the few scenes that he has, so fans of The Office will probably enjoy seeing him doing something marginally different.  Though I did keep expecting him to look at the camera and give the classic Jim face.

Let’s face it, though, the movie belongs to Streep, and she’s mostly up to the task.  I did grow a little weary of her character, and the whole scenario in general, but not so much that I stopped enjoying the film entirely.  I was just ready for it to be over a little bit before it was ready to be over.

I can’t say I loved it, but I certainly liked it for the most part.  I guess you could say my opinion of it is…well, it’s com-…plex.

If you’re having marital problems, get a divorce, then wait until the kids are all out of the house and you’re no longer obsessed with your job, etc…then give the relationship another go.

10 – 1.5 for being overlong/needing some scenes cut here and there – 1 for a few failed/tired comedic attempts – .5 for some underdeveloped characters = 7.0

My Best Friend’s Girl (2008)

Tags

Alec Baldwin, Comedy, Dane Cook, Jason Biggs, Kate Hudson, Lizzy Caplan, Movie, My Best Friend's Girl, Romance

wouldn't it be great if we had any chemistry...or if we were interesting at all?

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Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, Lizzy Caplan, Alec Baldwin

Tank: I have to work tomorrow.
Lizzy: Everybody has to work tomorrow…it’s Tuesday.
Tank: …good one.

Men who have recently been dumped by their girlfriends pay Tank (Cook) to date the girl and be such a huge jerk to her that she goes running back to the ex, realizing now how much better he is in comparison.  Tank’s friend, Dustin (Biggs), asks him to work his magic on his ex, Alexis (Hudson), but not only does it not go exactly as planned, Tank actually starts to fall for Alexis.

Eh…do I really need to even review this one?  You know how it goes.  It’s another adult romantic comedy.  “Adult” meaning lots of obscenities and sex jokes.  It’s funny that we have to get to a certain age before we can start acting so immature.

Anyway, there’s a few laughs here and there.  An accidental eyebrow shaving sequence was pretty good, and Cook’s over the top antics occasionally score a laugh or two.  Otherwise, it’s just another dull, unbelievable romance story.  They try to do something different by actually referencing romantic comedy cliches at times, like the “meet-cute” concept.  If they had done more with that, maybe it would have been more interesting, but instead it just goes back into being the very thing it seems to want to make fun of initially.

As usual in romantic comedies, the main female character’s best friend is the most interesting person in the movie.  Lizzy Caplan has a certain odd appeal to her, and I thought a movie about her character, Ami, would probably be more enjoyable.  Alas, we get a movie about somebody called Tank.

So yeah, another thoroughly forgettable entry in a long line of bland modern romantic comedies.  Will you laugh a few times?  Probably.  Will you remember what you laughed at the next day?  Probably not.

Try to hold still whenever anybody has an electric shaver anywhere near your eyebrows.

10 – 2.5 for just not being all that funny – 2.5 for unoriginal, uninteresting story = 5.0

Lymelife (2008)

Tags

Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Drama, Emma Roberts, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin, Lymelife, Movie, Rory Culkin, Timothy Hutton

think we'll be as famous as our famous relatives some day...?

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Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Emma Roberts, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon

Melissa: Charlie is not the guy that I married.
Mickey: Well, we all change somewhat, no?
Melissa: Yeah, I know, but God, why me??  I mean…a bus, a robbery, an accident…but Lyme Disease!?
Mickey: Hey, look, you’re not the one who HAS Lyme disease, right…?

Fifteen year old Scott (Rory Culkin) is having a difficult, confusing time in several areas.  His parents are clearly unhappy together, he gets bullied at school, and the girl, Adrianna (Roberts), he’s been friends with for years (and has a huge crush on) seems to be interested in some other guy.  When Scott’s brother, Jimmy (Kieran Culkin), visits while on leave from the military, even more family drama erupts.  Meanwhile, Adrianna’s parents, Charlie (Hutton) and Melissa (Nixon) are dealing with their own marital problems.  Charlie has Lyme disease and hasn’t been able to work or do much else.  Melissa can’t understand what’s wrong with him and is tired of carrying the family on her back.

This is one angry movie.  Everybody is either depressed, grumbling, or straight up yelling about something most of the time.  There’s fighting, lying, and arguments at every turn.  So much so that by the end of it I was just worn down by it all.

I guess I’d say most of the performances were good, but all that’s saying is that the actors effectively made me dislike them.  I liked the romance between Scott and Adrianna, but that was sprinkled in throughout constant scenes of turmoil.

And what does it all amount to?  What’s the point of the movie.  It’s called Lymelife, and yes there’s a character with Lyme disease, but that struggle isn’t the central point of the movie, and frankly I don’t really see the point of bringing it into a coming of age movie at all.  Maybe I’m too dense to understand the parallels being drawn between Charlie’s struggle with the disease and the struggles of the other characters in the film.  It all just didn’t mesh for me.

Having a friend who suffers from Lyme disease, I’ve heard plenty about the daily struggles, depression, misdiagnosis, etc., and the movie did an okay job of expressing that.  I just wish they hadn’t painted the character as being so pathetic.  Maybe, being set in the 70s, the disease was even less understood and acknowledged back then, so they were showing how frustrating and damaging it could be.  I’m not sure.  I just know that it added even more to the unpleasantness of the movie.

To sum up:  it looked good, was acted well, and was borderline unwatchable.  I think the scenes between the kids saved it.  Even if Emma Roberts’ acting ability tends to run hot and cold…

Keep an eye on those tick bites.

10 – 4 for all the screaming and yelling and arguing – .4 for a confusingly ambiguous ending = 5.6