'It's Complicated': Is Meryl Streep the Only Over-50 Woman in Hollywood?
Melinda Henneberger
Editor in Chief
Posted:
12/26/09
The mean streets of Bethesda, Maryland were empty except around the packed movie theatre where every woman in my demo seemed to have decided to spend Christmas Night with Alec Baldwin (and Meryl Streep.)I have a couple of questions about their new movie, Nancy Meyers' "It's Complicated,'' about a divorced couple having an affair a decade after they split up, which is hilarious in some spots and avert-your-eyes lame-o in others. (And on balance? Well, I'm writing about it today, aren't I?)
OK, first, are Streep and Diane Keaton the only American actresses over 50? Seriously, good as they are, others might like a chance to muck around in those gorgeous Meyers and Ephron kitchens once in a while. Streep in particular is so overused that it's sort of like a soap opera where she is Susan Lucci and will soon have been married on-screen to every man in Pine Valley.
And does poor Rita Wilson ever get to do anything in a movie other than swill Chardonnay and say, "You're having an affair? Wheee! Tell me more..." The girlfriend scenes with Streep, Wilson and Mary Kay Place give no cliché the night off.
The best thing about the movie is that (on the strength of his portrayal of his charmingly obnoxious self on "30 Rock,") Alec Baldwin is back as a leading man. Since I will (God willing) never forget him in "Streetcar" opposite Jessica Lange in 1992, I am all for this development, as is my hubby, who liked that in "Complicated" he plays a portly, ice cream-loving kind of sex symbol: "He's a bro in that way." (Hub's big problem with the movie was that the characters live so well that he found it hard to take their problems seriously, though that was not an obstacle for me.)
John Krasinski from "The Office,'' who plays the fiancé of Streep and Baldwin's elder daughter, was also completely adorable. And it was refreshing that Streep's leading man in this movie is 9 years younger than she in real life – a welcome switch from the usual he's 70, she's 30 pairing.
But – serious spoiler alert – in what universe do three grown children get all teary (and feel so vulnerable that they all curl up in bed together) because the divorced parents they adore might be getting back together? I guess that would be in whatever galaxy it is that a woman who is DANCING, plus having great family time, belly laughs, long talks and hot sex with her ex decides at the last minute that nah, she'd rather pursue something new with Steve Martin's character, an injured, self-help tape listening architect so boring that she keeps forgetting their appointments. I know a couple of you other UPpity Women were planning to see the movie, too; did any of you understand better than I did why her deft character made that daft call?