It's Complicated? It's not very complicated.

I had the good fortune last night to get a sneak preview of the new Meryl Streep movie It’s Complicated. It’s a cheesy rom-com/family-com/chick flick, perfect for a day out with your Mum for some light entertainment. Winning Oscars? Not likely. Feel good? Yeah.

It’s the same writer/director (Nancy Meyers) as Something’s Gotta Give and Father of the Bride. Now I adore both of those movies, but you can definitely tell it’s the same head honcho. Very similar with cinematography, style of house the movie is set in, speed of the plot and even some plot twists. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; at least you know what you’re getting. Personally I like this style; when I go to the movies I am looking for forced relaxation with light-hearted entertainment. I don’t want to have to think, I just want to enjoy. And believe me, there was not much thinking going on here.

That said, it was a great cast. Meryl Streep plays Jane Adler, divorced for ten years with three grown-up kids and only just coming to terms with her split. Her ex, Jake (Alec Baldwin), is married to some young floozy with a five year old, but after a drunken night together the ex’s rekindle the flame and suddenly the ex-wife becomes the mistress. Cliché? (side note: maybe it’s the tan, but Alec seems about 10 years too young to be divorced from Meryl) Add to the mix the charming Adam (Steve Martin) who is also divorced and quite fancies Jane and you have a classic love-triangle movie with some nudity (I saw more of Alec Baldwin than I needed to - although apprently he used a butt-double) and the usual dramatic revelation somewhere towards the end.

John Krasinki (Jim from The Office) is the comic relief as Jane’s son-in-law, but to be honest I really think he was wasted in that role. He can be so funny in the right parts, but the role of Harley (seriously? Harley? The dude looks like a library nerd) was kind of lacking for him and it’s all very vanilla. The three Adler kids don’t really add much either, and are all kind of forgettable. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you their names right now if I tried.

Overall, I would recommend it purely for a nice day out with Mum. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before (including Meryl Streep in an apron, cooking up pastries and saying bonjour – déjà vu?) but it’s an interesting take on dealing with divorce in your 50’s, after 20 years of marriage and raising three adult children. I will admit I got teary once.

Price: $15
From: Your local cinema
When: Starts screening Jan 7th
Why you need to see it: It has been far too long since I saw Steve Martin on the big screen – see him in a proper grown up role (a much nicer grown up role than Shopgirl, thankfully)

Picture credit: imdb.com