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It's Complicated poster

It's Complicated

year 2009decade 00sdirector Nancy Meyersgenre Comedygenre Romantic comedy

121 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

It's Complicated | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Amanda Dobbinsguest Mina Kimes
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Adam’s characterization; the smiling youngest son; Baldwin’s later baggage

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:59Read transcript
  • The adult children are implausibly jobless, available, and eager to climb into bed together.
  • Baldwin’s briefly mentioned presence and Adam’s loser-like characterization; Bill Murray is proposed as Adam, then questioned because Jane might need to care for him.
  • The youngest son’s constant grin seems unnerving rather than natural.

Most Rewatchable Scene

First hotel bar and bedroom; second hotel encounter

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:58Read transcript
  • The opening anniversary party efficiently introduces the cast and Jane’s reaction to Agnes.
  • The first friends’ dinner is admired for convivial chemistry; Wilson and Greer prompt a discussion of great rom-com friends.
  • The hotel bar through “Home sweet home” showcases chemistry and comic deliveries.
  • The graduation dinner and confession to friends are highlighted, including the Agnes Adler line and reaction shots.
  • Other candidates include the stalked dinner date, bathtub, heart attack, getting stoned, croissants, laptop nudity and final separation.
  • One preference changes from croissants to the hotel bar and finally the second hotel encounter with the heart attack; it remains a qualified choice.
  • Another choice favors the first hotel bar and bedroom because the performers’ chemistry surpasses the Steve Martin pairing.

What’s Aged the Best?

Jane’s loneliness conveyed visually; Streep’s beauty and performance; relaxed adult women; the second-wife comedy

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:00Read transcript
  • Small visual details establish Jane’s loneliness without exposition.
  • Streep’s beauty, flattering lighting and relaxed happy performance; Meyers writes successful, easygoing women rather than rigid rom-com stereotypes.
  • The hostile glamorous second wife and tiger tattoo work comically; FitzGerald is more recognizable after Succession but has little characterization here.
  • Streep still looking great without much apparent surgery is praised; her anti-surgery reputation is explicitly uncertain.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Adam; the adult children

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:37Read transcript
  • The children’s talented performers have little to do.
  • Steve Martin’s Adam is underwritten and cannot compete with Baldwin’s charisma.
  • The adult children appear unrealistically undamaged and too invested in their divorced parents reuniting; a contrary reading that they oppose reunion is argued down.
  • The children’s group-bed scene, excessive graduation celebration, local residence and expensive bungalow are implausible; their oddness is also defended as funny and peripheral to the adult story.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

Home Sweet Home; The Other Woman

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:04Read transcript
  • Home Sweet Home gains agreement after rejected baking puns; It’s Complicated is also defended as a Facebook-era relationship-status time capsule.
  • The Other Woman is a late title suggestion; the later film of that name is clarified in a cast discussion.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Overrated roast chicken; more older leads; Santa Barbara’s screen weather; Reeves in Something’s Gotta Give

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:28Read transcript
  • Roast chicken is overrated, especially the ordinary home-cooked version; great restaurant or Ina Garten versions are allowed exceptions.
  • More genres should feature leads over fifty because seasoned actors and lived-in characters are compelling.
  • Santa Barbara’s relentlessly sunny screen image is challenged by coastal fog; others defend its beauty, retirement appeal and surrounding destinations.
  • Keanu Reeves is better in Something’s Gotta Give than The Matrix; the closing discussion again supports funding Meyers while questioning the reported $180 million budget.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Nora Dunn; the anniversary-party husband; the hotel clerk

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:05Read transcript
  • Nora Dunn; the unnamed anniversary-party husband recognized from To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday.
  • The New York hotel clerk, recognized as Ravenhead from Succession, is offered as the stronger answer.

Apex Mountain

Alec Baldwin; this kitchen (disputed)

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:07Read transcript
  • Streep is rejected here; her mid-eighties work and Devil Wears Prada through Iron Lady represent possible peaks, with no real career fallow period.
  • Baldwin possibly qualifies alongside 30 Rock and SNL.
  • Steve Martin’s late-seventies success is preferred; his-and-her sinks receive a positive discussion without a firm peak judgment.
  • Meyers’s peak shifts from The Holiday to Something’s Gotta Give based on film quality, nominations and box-office discussion.
  • Divorced-couple romances have earlier screwball peaks, including His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story.
  • Krasinski’s A Quiet Place and marriage to Emily Blunt displace this performance as his peak.
  • The Holiday’s British cottage is preferred for Meyers houses; this kitchen receives a best-kitchen vote but Something’s Gotta Give is defended for space, storage and island layout.
  • Lake Bell, Caitlin FitzGerald and Zoe Kazan receive no Apex endorsement.

Cruise or Hanks?

Hanks

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:27Read transcript
  • Hanks gains agreement; Cruise is considered disastrous in any role.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Tony Romo narrating the laptop scene; Chris Collinsworth at the bakery

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:11Read transcript
  • Tony Romo narrating the laptop scene.
  • Chris Collinsworth ordering at the bakery.

Just One Oscar

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:08Read transcript
  • Baldwin for supporting actor; Waltz still deserves the actual win, but Baldwin could replace a weaker nominee.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

An ex-spouse affair is acceptable when the current spouse was the original affair partner

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:44:20Read transcript
  • An ex-spouse affair is acceptable when the current spouse was the original affair partner.