It's Complicated

[Elaine]

I broke my longstanding ban on entering Cineplexes to see It's Complicated. Unfortunately, it's not. Nor does it deserve the rave reviews it's gotten, Meryl Streep, who I thought could do no wrong acting-wise, was annoyingly bubbly and giggly throughout. She had no other mood. Alec Baldwin, who I used to think was the hottest man on earth, actually acted very well, but I could have been spared his showing his now bloated body in the nude. Yes, there were some cute moments, a few cute lines, but that's all. It will be cheaper to watch on
DVD.

[Phillip]

my friends all gave it shite reviews, so i've avoided it.

just a friendly question about nudity: should we only show bodies that are deemed "hot" (sorry for the use of that word...). seems like cinema should be more democratic, and present a whole host of body types. seems to me by only showing idealized physiques we are reinforcing all the negative aspects of the perfect body. isn't that what women have been complaining about all these years? why don't they make this dress in my size?, etc etc etc.

just wondering.

[Mawgojzeta]

Elaine: thanks for the quick review; I was wondering about this movie.

Phillip: so believe all bodies have a place in cinema.

[Ceci]

I thought it was refreshing to see older people in a romantic comedy, the genre mostly dealing with teenagers and twenty-somethings. Meryl was excellent and she had great on-screen chemistry with both Baldwin and Martin. I laughed out loud several times which is rare for me at the cinema. Baldwin's a much better comedian that he was as a dramatic leading man.

All in all, nothing too special but still enjoyable. And as for older, and other, less than perfect-looking people shown in the nude, well, that happens all the time in the European films.

[Faith]

i really liked this movie. i felt it was relatively honest, and it made me laugh and tear up too. i liked the dynamic of showing how meryl streep, the mom was the glue in the family. i liked it showing the dad as the selfish one who tried to get back into the family groove even though it appeared that it was him that ruined everything. how it showed that ultimately/honestly it wasn't all his fault. that they both had a hand in it. i liked how it showed how hurt and damaged the kids were still by it. how good they all felt being together even though when the option to be together came up, deep down they all knew it had passed them by. and that was the true sadness. marriage, family, is on going. you never hit a safe spot. you never get to the finish line. it is on going. it is hard. it is neverending. and it is W O R K. the ENTIRE time! every minute sometimes, is work. but when years span. and you don't work on it. it fades, goes away. departs. yet the pain. the pain seems almost everlasting. but this movie showed to me, how no matter what happens, what mistakes you make. as long as you continue to work at the relationships you do have. you will be open to, to so much more.

the scene between streep and baldwin's characters when they finally talk on the swing was amazing. i felt the loss they must have felt, and the hope they had for the future, and the honesty of how they felt, really felt for each other, and about their own selves, their family.

i surprisingly liked this movie a lot.

[Phillip]

great post, faith. i enjoyed reading what you got out of it. those are valuable realizations to have in the context of relationships.

[Maryanne]

Elaine wrote: "I broke my longstanding ban on entering Cineplexes to see It's Complicated. Unfortunately, it's not. Nor does it deserve the rave reviews it's gotten, Meryl Streep, who I thought could do no wron..."

[Maryanne]

Don't know why I get credit for the remarks above. I did enjoy It's Complicated. it was a fun show. it had me laughing. There is no way it will be a favorite movie of mine but I found it funny.Maryanne Raphael

[Maryanne]

I just watched Grey Gardens and found it very moving. it reminded me in ways of The Great Gatsby, a look at people with money and those without and how they come together. Good acting. Interesting story.
Based on real life. Maryanne This is a movie I could watch again one day.

[Phillip]

Maryanne wrote: "Don't know why I get credit for the remarks above. I did enjoy It's Complicated. it was a fun show. it had me laughing. There is no way it will be a favorite movie of mine but I found it funny...."

??????

credit? i don't see your name mentioned.

[Maryanne]

It says "Elaine wrote...and shows my photo I did not say any of that I must have hit something on my computer that made it look like I wrote that.

[Maryanne]

Messange number 7 is not from me. had nothing to do with me but my photo is there Why???

[Phillip]

message #7 has both your photo and your name..it appears that you hit the reply button, because the italicizes text is a quote from an earlier post that came from elaine.

[Maryanne]

Thanks for letting me know what happened. Even though I have been writing books on my computer and using the search engines I still feel uneasy whenever I try to write on Goodreads or any other site.
Maryanne