It's Not Complicated. It's Weird And Not Very Good

Greetings, changelings. Now, imagine my fever dreams over the past few months over the news that Meryl Streep was to star in a charming romantic comedy with Alec Baldwin. Meryl, the divine, who's virtues have been extolled many a time previously in this very blog. And Mr. Baldwin, recently reborn as a great comedy actor thanks to one Tina Fey and the excellent 30 Rock.

I was excited.

Recently I have been noticing that Meryl has become perhaps more memorable for her comic roles than her much lauded dramatic ones. Heartburn, Death Becomes Her, and recently The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia! and Julie & Julia seemed to unleash something new within her as an actress. All those torturous roles of the 80's must have really taken their toll on her psyche. The noble suffering, illness, death, tears, wigs and accents of The French Lieutenant's Woman, Sophie's Choice, Silkwood and A Cry In The Dark earnt Meryl her place in the canon of great movie actresses. However, by the late 90's the quality of these scripts had declined and in such t.v-movie-of-the-week fare as The Bridges Of Madison County, One True Thing and Music Of The Heart, she had almost descended into self-parody. Luckily she bounced back with top-notch affairs The Hours, Adaptation and Angels In America, but the comic roles that followed would more suitably sum up her career in the 21st century. Fresh from the joyous campery of Julie & Julia, It's Complicated looked set to continue the trend.

Alas, it was not to be. The original longer version of the trailer seemed to dish up exactly what we wanted: fun and frolics with some old legends. Then, the 'shorts' came -- those 30 second television tasters. Something was definitely wrong. Suddenly it didn't seem so endearing. The world at large seemed to know before I did that this would be utter nonsense. Still, I persevered. I thought that even if it wasn't that great I could at least revel in some comic delights from Meryl and Alec Baldwin.

But no, but no. This film came from the pen of Miss Nancy Meyers. She told us exactly What Women Want, then it was downhill from there. Something's Gotta Give was overlong, meandering, and full of odious characters we wouldn't want to spend five minutes with. And let's not get in too deep with a critique of The Holiday. More loathsome characters, even more loathsome actors (if such a thing was possible), a hideously miscast Kate Winslet and an uninvolving plot that seemed to drag on for several hours. And so it was with this film. Meryl is divorced and should go on a date. Cue an extremely dull Steve Martin, who is meant to form the third part of this love triangle -- but not even Meryl seems interested in him. Full plot details are not worth going into. Suffice to say that if some of our greatest actors cannot pretend to be interested and or/interesting, then how are we, the audience, supposed to invest in them?

The supporting characters were irritating and bland-- Meryl and Alec seem to have been cursed with hideously boring offspring-- and not a wise-cracking best friend in site! So many lost opportunities here. Meryl has a group of girlfriends who get together, drink wine, and talk about men. Middle aged, sassy, no-nonsense friends? Well, yes. On paper. However these scenes were painfully contrived and unfunny. And, as you know, I am quite partial to groups of sassy middle aged ladies, so was doubly disappointed.
The film flopped limply from monotonous set-piece to monotonous set-piece. Steve Martin kept coming back, but Meryl didn't really care. At one point, Meryl was to get stoned. Inside, my heart leapt. Meryl getting high? This could be comedy gold and could save the film. Again, no. Contrived and unfunny. What a waste.

Now, I'm used to seeing cheesy comedies that at least raise a laugh or two and are a not altogether unpleasant way to spend a couple of hours. This film, however, was a trial. I had at least expected Meryl to give us some chuckles, but even she didn't seem too invested in the whole affair.

Which brings me to the most worrying point. If you scroll down these blog posts, you will see my review of the equally disappointing Fantastic Mr Fox, in which I mentioned that it seemed Meryl had 'phoned in' her performance. Well, it seems she did it again here. To be fair, there was not much material to work with, but Meryl has made a career of elevating herself above the material she is given, to startling effect. But these last two misses seem to indicate that maybe...maybe...could it be? Is Meryl getting bored? Is she about to retire? Or is she going to carry on cranking out mediocre films with, frankly, the most mediocre performances of her career? I worry. I worry greatly.

All in all, this was a tragic waste of all the talent involved, and a colossal waste of my time. I'll console myself with the notion that by going to see this, I have contributed to Meryl's box office clout so that she can star in some smaller, far superior independent film. Here's hoping.

To remind ourselves of Meryl Streep, great comedian, please check out Death Becomes Her again. I know I will be, if only to expunge the memory of this trainwreck.

Peace xx