A couple Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) who have been divorced for years, end up having an affair with each other behind Jake’s young wifes back, who he cheated on Jane with . . . yes it’s complicated.
With three children, over thirty years of history and a divorce behind them Jane and Jake end up remembering some good times, getting drunk and ending up in bed together. Hence starting an affair and realising that they still love one another or they fell in love with each other all over again, but do they decide to give it another shot or not? What about Jake’s young wife who wants to have a baby with him?
Meryl Streep is her usual brilliant self as Jane who struggles to come to terms with she has come full circle is now the woman she used to hate, the mistress. Which created some very amusing moments, especially when she tells her friends about the affair “Turns out I’m a bit of a slut!” With such perfect delivery it was a fantastic moment in the film. Her facial expressions really are something else as well, she really takes you on the journey with her in actions as well as words. Nobody does it better than Meryl.
Ex-husband Jake is not the only man interested in Jane, an architect, Adam (Steve Martin) who is helping to design an extension on her house. While Jane does not see that Adam is really interested in her, she does eventually go out on a date with him which just happens to be a party at her daughter’s house so Jake is there too.
The film makes a big question directed at anyone who has been divorced and if they had ever thought about trying again years later, or even wondering if it would work out. As I have never been married, I thought this was quite interesting but surely if you ended up hating the person you were with even if you fall for them all over again aren’t the same reasons for the break up going to appear eventually? Despite that thought in the back of my mind I really did want to see Jane and Jake back together again.
Alec Baldwin was extremely charming as Jake which made it difficult to dislike him, I mean a character who cheated on his wife with a younger woman, left his wife for her, marries her but then starts an affair with his first wife should not be top of the likeable list but he really is. He was also very good sport in terms of taking his clothes off as he does not have the perfect body, he is carrying a bit of excess weight this was very refreshing to see on film as that is real life for you people get older and put on some weight.
The film also was showing how difficult a divorce can be even years later, even for the children who still struggle with it even being all grown up. I think in this instance mainly because all of a sudden their parents who could not be in the same room as one another for years were getting along again. But will they actually get back together or not? That is the big question and I am not going to reveal what actually happens at the end.
I have read that the “target audience” for this film is women in their 40’s and 50’s, well I am in my 20’s and really enjoyed this film. I found myself laughing and even crying in parts so I do not exactly fit the stereotype. Although my mam did cry more than me and she is in her 50’s, haha. But I really do not think you should put an age range on a film as in the cinema screening the ages varied, a few men were in watching too.
Overall, I really did enjoy this film and find myself loving Nancy Meyers work the more we get to see of it. Especially how she writes good roles for the older actresses in Hollywood is very refreshing to see. We are all going to get old eventually, why not watch a film and see how it could all turn out? I plan on doing that.
So did you find it complicated?
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