It's Complicated (2009)

Steve Martin was 34 when he played Navin in The Jerk (1979) -- probably 10 or 15 years too old for the role in my opinion. He's over-the-top and basically the Steve Martin of the "wild and crazy guy" stage show, not yet an actor.

Thirty years later, he plays Adam in It's Complicated. His "wild-and-craziness" is limited to about a 5-second scene when he's on the dance floor after taking a hit. Otherwise, he plays the part with quietness and total reserve. It's just amazing to see how far he came as an actor, but 30 years prior, he could only be "on," and over his acting career, he learned how to shift gears. He didn't always have to be his persona. He could act.

In a way, Steve Martin's acting journey reminds me somewhat of Robin Williams's -- both are known for being completely over-the-top, but both learned how to take on serious roles.

I really liked this movie. The focus of the film is on Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin). They've been divorced for 10 years and have three children -- their youngest having just graduated, and so they are together in New York to celebrate her graduation.

Jake has since remarried, to someone half Jane's age. From the beginning of the film, you can tell that this has bothered Jane, that she feels her age, but why they got divorced is a little fuzzy. I didn't get the impression that Jake cheated on her. His marriage to the younger woman happened after the divorce. She also has a five-year-old named Pedro. The son is not Jake's, but his wife is very interested in having another child with Jake. Jake, on the other hand, probably feels forced into having another child. After all, we assume he's in his 50s and not all that interested in having a new baby to take care of.

Pedro ends up sick, which is what allows the opportunity for Jake and Jane to have dinner together alone during the graduation weekend. A lot of drinking causes one thing to lead to another, and they begin having an affair. From Jake's point of view, this is a second chance. He explains it as Jane and himself having now grown into the individuals each other needed them to be. They weren't right for each other when they were younger, but now they're successful, the kids are adults out the house, and this really isn't just two lonely people trying to make it work when it's not right. They should give it another chance because they are two different, more mature people, and they have a chance at it working this time because the timing is right. He's an attorney, and he makes a good case. I'm convinced.

For a while, Jane seems convinced too, and she allows herself to get sucked up into the affair. Her coworkers and friends notice. She looks happy and has a new sense of purpose, and a new confidence. Meanwhile, she and Adam are also starting to like each other. Jane has been alone for a long time, but now she has two men to choose from. Adam, too, has gone through a divorce, and he has taken a couple of years to work through that. Jane tells him that in a couple of more years, he'll be a brand-new person, but that's not reassuring to Adam. And maybe Jane's wrong anyway. She's ten years out from her divorce, and she's still falling for a man that she once divorced because things weren't right...

I have to admit, like their kids when they find out, I found myself wanting Jane and Jake to get back together. After all, remarrying your ex isn't completely unheard of, but as a movie ending, I'm sure the screenplay writer never seriously considered that option. Jane and Jake reach a point where they can acknowledge that they still are in love and are still part of each other's lives, but at least for Jane, the decision they made when they divorced is the one they have to live with. Again, why? They made a decision to marry. They didn't follow through on that, so why should the decision to divorce be more sacred to follow-through on than their original marriage vows?

In any event, the movie also doesn't want to end with things too simply the other way -- a relationship between Jane and Adam. True to its name, it's complicated. Yes, maybe Adam and Jane will continue to date, but we aren't really sure about that. We're surer that Jake and Jane are through, but who really knows? What happens next may be solely up to Jane. Whatever happens will happen because she wants it to happen. She is the one in control.

Meryl Streep always comes across to me as one of America's greatest actors, but probably as an actress that more females appreciate than males. But she's completely perfect in this role, and yes, even at 60, she's a lot "hotter" than the actress playing Jake's current "young wife."

Steve Martin is 64 in this one. It's weird to see him that old. I don't know if he's had work done, but his face looks really smooth. Maybe it was just more make-up and a combination of the lighting? He just seemed to have more of a five o'clock shadow than he does here. Do men get laser surgery to remove facial hair? Is that a thing?

Speaking of getting work done, Jane goes in for a consolation about getting a brow lift. That simple procedure has her running from the doctor's office after he explains how they pull the face up and stitch the skin back at the hair line. But that's not the worst part: it's the numbness and possible headache for six months. She hears that and decides the little extra skin around her eyes is just fine as is. Maybe that's why she's okay letting Jake go for the second time, too. The "pain" of her recovery period has been hard earned, and she doesn't want to open herself to old wounds.