Monday, August 29, 2016

Let's Talk About..."It's Complicated"

Since the inaugural post for this section in March I've inadvertently left it dormant.  I watched It's Complicated very recently so thought it would be an appropriate next entry.  One of my favorite things about re-watching Streep films is that I catch these little things I missed in previous viewings.  Of course one does that with every movie, but particularly with Meryl there are so many layers and subtleties to her performances that it's next to impossible to notice everything on the first go around.

I think we tend to think of this picture as a rom-com and total lifestyle porn.  It probably is, but Streep's character of Jane Adler goes through some pretty complicated interesting emotional situations.  The modern family dynamic following divorce is explored from the point of view of an independent mother of three adult children.  Let's not forget that the film came out when Meryl was 60 years old, which makes the fact that it made $112 domestically pretty astonishing.  At the end of 2009 Streep had sort of cemented her 'later-bloomer' box office draw standing.  Following 2006's The Devil Wears Prada, 2008's Mamma Mia! and summer 2009's Julie & Julia, we'd enjoyed an unprecedented string of commercial successes for Streep which she has yet to match.  The four films mentioned averaged $119 million in the U.S.

Discuss.

4 comments:

  1. This was a very enjoyable film and another layered performance from Meryl. I thought the entire cast did very well and it did feel like a believable family and not-so-unbelievable premise of an affair between two older divorcees who still had chemistry. Steve Martin was fine but his character was rather limp.

    All in all it was a smart script which raised quite a few laughs (especially seeing these mature, sophisticated people smoking dope and getting high in front of their kids!).
    It was beautifully shot and although I could have done without Alec Baldwin’s nude scene I thought Meryl looked great. Still think Nancy Meyers had a nerve expecting these people to spend 6 months on a shoot which, to me, looked quite straight-forward but at least the film was a nice Christmas success..

    I remember at the time it was her nomination for this and Julie/Julia that broke Jack Lemmon’s record at the Golden Globes. I did think she’d cancel herself out that year but happy she got deserved recognition for a job well done! :

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    1. Several things I agree with: Steve Martin's character not my fav. I also can't believe that it took so long to film this movie?! Seems like a 8-12 weeks thing max. Also happy she got nommed for this at GG.

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  2. What an enjoyable movie! Something that bugs me about Meryl's performance - she seems to giggle/laugh a little too much...maybe it's just me...I don't know. I didn't know it took them 6 months to shoot this! We learn something new every day:) David.

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    1. I guess I never really notices how much she giggles, but yeah I suppose she does. Doesn't bother me though. I wonder if it's how she's conveying being nervous.

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