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

Away We Go (2009)

Tags

Away We Go, Comedy, Drama, John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Movie

I like you almost as much as I like Pam...

R

John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph

Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) are an unmarried couple who are expecting a child and find out that Burt’s parents are moving out of the country right before the baby is born.  Thus, they have no ties to their current location and head out on a road trip to visit various family and friends to see if they can find a good place to move to.

Before I talk specifically about this movie, let me say that I’m starting to realize that I’m growing a little weary of standard indie film practices such as using constant male-lead-singer-songs (usually Nick Drake) over 90% of the film in lieu of an actual musical score.  It works sometimes, but I grow tired of it when they can’t go five minutes without starting up another song.  There’s also some typical camera shots that maybe need to be shelved for a while.  The still shot of a car driving across a barren landscape, sunset in the background, and one of those angsty songs playing over it all.  Or how about the jetliner reflected interestingly in a window as it flys by.  These things, and more, are becoming staples in a lot of indie films, a genre that should be stretching the boundaries of creativity rather than just copying others that came before it.

All that being said, I liked this movie.  The characters are good, and the performances – especially the two leads – made me care about their fates.  It’s nice to see a happy couple who don’t go through a break-up and a less than believable reconciliation.

There are a lot of funny moments from the supporting cast, especially Allison Janney as Verona’s wildly inappropriate former boss who wants the two to move to Phoenix.  As Burt and Verona visit all of these people, they start to realize that they aren’t the only screwed up, immature people in the world.  In fact, they are probably in a lot healthier relationship than most of the friends they visit.  I kept waiting for them to finally meet that one happy couple that really would provide hope for a happy future, and I thought that’s what they had found with the couple who had adopted several children, but even they have an underlying sadness in their lives that contributed to the movie being a bit of a downer in the last 1/4 of it.

The end manages to be touching, but not in a hugely uplifting way.  Just in a “well maybe things will be okay” sort of way, which is probably the more realistic route for the movie to take.  I just wish it had been a bit more uplifting to make up for the overall effect built up by the myriad of screwed up relationships throughout the movie.

10 – 1.6 for those typical trademark indie film stylistic choices – 1 for being a bit of a downer + .2 for all the good performances = 7.6