It’s Complicated: Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Eva Medoff

Does the world need another estrogen-filled, midlife crisis, semi-feminist romantic comedy? According to Nancy Meyers, director of "Something’s Gotta Give" and the aforementioned new romantic film, "It’s Complicated," yes. And when said film involves Meryl Streep, it’s tough to argue.

The "It’s Complicated" trailer wraps the plot up nicely in a bow. Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson have been replaced by Streep and Alec Baldwin, the latter of whom seems to have stepped nicely out of his role as Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock” and into the part of an ex-husband who left his wife for a younger woman. In this case, however, the younger woman has failed to capture his attention, and Baldwin’s character suddenly finds he’s attracted to his original flame. In a nice reversal, rather than letting us watch an older man chase someone half his age, we get to see an older man chase not only someone his own age, but someone who happens to be the mother of his children.

Meryl Streep tackles this role with her usual prowess. Buoyed by a group of female friends reminiscent of "The First Wives Club," Streep perfectly portrays the hilarity of finding herself in the role of the “other woman.” Steve Martin steps in as the architect who tries to woo her, and Zoe Kazan (yes, the granddaughter of Elia) plays one of the adult offspring who’s just slightly confused about what may or may not be going on with her parents.

In the trailer, we get a lot of wine drinking, a Crosby, Stills and Nash tune (just to remind us what audience it’s targeting) and some excited female shrieking. So far, this fits in nicely with the Nancy Meyer canon. Despite some formulaic fanfare, though, with Streep spouting lines like, “Turns out, I’m a bit of a slut,” this film may just prove hard to resist. What makes these kinds of movies is this acting, and with Streep, Baldwin and friends played by Rita Wilson and Mary Kay Place, you’ll find no complaints here.

View the trailer for "It's Complicated" here. Thoughts?