It's Complicated

In a year that counts three films by women—The Headless Woman, 35 Shots of Rum and The Hurt Locker—among its most daring and widely embraced work, it’s beyond offensive that Nancy Meyers’s glossy, sanitized portrait of middle-aged womanhood should be marketed as the studios’ holiday gift to their long-neglected female audience. The territory could scarcely be more familiar: a variation on the 30s comedy of remarriage, the film follows a pair of exes (Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin) trying to rekindle their flame as they face one more child leaving the nest. Drama ensues when the woman, who has built herself a cushy life as the owner of a successful bakery, begins to weigh her options with the tender-hearted, recently divorced architect (Steve Martin) who is helping design her dream home. Overwhelming the plot’s rom-com conventions is an upper-middle-class fantasy less escapist than insulting. Coming out alongside Up in the Air’s self-conscious reflection on our economic crisis, Meyers’ blithe vision of undisturbed financial stability—complete with lingering shots of well-groomed lawns and pristine suburban interiors—can’t help but seem a little tactless. [The rest of the post can be read at The L Magazine.]