It's Complicated (film)
Encyclopedia
It's Complicated is a 2009 American romantic comedy film
written and directed by Nancy Meyers
, starring Meryl Streep
, Steve Martin
and Alec Baldwin
.
), who owns a successful bakery in Santa Barbara, California
, and Jake (Alec Baldwin
), a successful attorney
, divorced ten years ago. They had three children together, two girls and a boy, who are grown. Jake, who was cheating on Jane, married the much younger Agness (Lake Bell
).
Jane and Jake attend their son Luke's college graduation from St. John's University in New York City
. After a dinner together, the two begin an affair, which continues in Santa Barbara. Jane is torn about the affair; Jake is not.
While Agness has Jake scheduled for regular sessions at a fertility clinic, Jake is secretly taking medication, a side effect of which reduces his sperm count. After one of his sessions he has a lunchtime rendezvous with Jane at a hotel. Jake collapses in the hotel room and a doctor is called. The doctor speculates that the reason for Jake's distress may be the medication and says he should stop taking it. Jake and Jane's children know nothing of the affair, but Harley (John Krasinski
), who is engaged to their daughter Lauren, spots the pair and the doctor in the hotel but keeps silent.
Adam (Steve Martin
) is an architect
hired to remodel Jane's home. Still healing from a divorce of his own, he begins to fall in love with Jane. On the night of Luke's graduation party in Santa Barbara, Jane invites Adam to the party. She is high when he picks her up because she has smoked a joint
that Jake had given her earlier. Later at the party, Adam also becomes high as the two share the joint. Jake becomes jealous observing them, but with some cajoling by Jane, he gets high as well.
Agness then observes Jake and Jane dancing together and becomes suspicious of their closeness. When they leave the party, Adam asks Jane if they could have something to eat. Jane takes him to her bakery and makes him chocolate croissants. This takes hours, and they enjoy their time together. Jake and Agness separate, although it is not clear who leaves whom. Eventually by a webcam
in Jane's bedroom, Adam sees Jake naked and realizes that the two have been having an affair.
Adam tells Jane he cannot continue seeing her because it will only lead to heartbreak. Jane's kids also find out, and they are not happy about Mom and Dad getting together again because they are still recovering from the divorce. Jane tells them she is not getting back with Jake. Jane and Jake talk and end their affair on amicable terms. The film ends with Adam at Jane's house ready to commence the remodeling. Before the credits roll, Jane and Adam are seen laughing while walking into her house.
agreed to a project for Universal Studios
that she would write and direct, to be co-produced with Scott Rudin
. The project was referred to as The Untitled Nancy Meyers Project during its inception and early production. Establishing commitments from the principals began in 2008, with Meryl Streep
and Alec Baldwin
entering discussions in August, and Steve Martin
joining the cast in October. Casting continued through 2009, with Zoe Kazan
, Lake Bell
, and Hunter Parrish
joining in January, John Krasinski
in February, Rita Wilson
in March, and Caitlin Fitzgerald in June.
The sets were easy to design. Most scenes take place in the protagonist's home and interior courtyard, and as such the architectural details had to be fastidiously worked out, but the rooms were kept bare to reflect the character's functional tastes and limited budget. There are relatively few decorations, just "a bunch of thrift-store things haphazardly thrown together", in the words of production designer Jon Hutman. The building itself is a traditional 1920s Spanish-ranch-style adobe-mud house which "epitomised the Santa Barbara area."
Filming commenced in New York City in April 2009, and completed in August 2009. It's Complicated was released on December 25, 2009.
reports that 57% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 161 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus is: "Despite fine work by an appealing cast, It's Complicated is predictable romantic comedy fare, going for broad laughs instead of subtlety and nuance." Another review aggregator, Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score from 1 to 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 57% based on 30 reviews.
, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
with $22,100,820. It currently has a total gross of $112,927,070 in North America and a total of $214,727,200 worldwide.
and Blu-ray Tuesday, April 27, 2010.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
written and directed by Nancy Meyers
Nancy Meyers
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. She is the writer, producer and director of several big-screen successes, including The Parent Trap , Something's Gotta Give , The Holiday , and It's Complicated...
, starring Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
.
Plot
Jane (Meryl StreepMeryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
), who owns a successful bakery in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, and Jake (Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
), a successful attorney
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
, divorced ten years ago. They had three children together, two girls and a boy, who are grown. Jake, who was cheating on Jane, married the much younger Agness (Lake Bell
Lake Bell
-Early life:Bell was born in New York City, the daughter of Robin Bell, owner of the design firm Robin Bell Design, Inc. in New York, and Harvey Siegel. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant, and Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional family".Bell attended The...
).
Jane and Jake attend their son Luke's college graduation from St. John's University in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. After a dinner together, the two begin an affair, which continues in Santa Barbara. Jane is torn about the affair; Jake is not.
While Agness has Jake scheduled for regular sessions at a fertility clinic, Jake is secretly taking medication, a side effect of which reduces his sperm count. After one of his sessions he has a lunchtime rendezvous with Jane at a hotel. Jake collapses in the hotel room and a doctor is called. The doctor speculates that the reason for Jake's distress may be the medication and says he should stop taking it. Jake and Jane's children know nothing of the affair, but Harley (John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
), who is engaged to their daughter Lauren, spots the pair and the doctor in the hotel but keeps silent.
Adam (Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
) is an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
hired to remodel Jane's home. Still healing from a divorce of his own, he begins to fall in love with Jane. On the night of Luke's graduation party in Santa Barbara, Jane invites Adam to the party. She is high when he picks her up because she has smoked a joint
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
that Jake had given her earlier. Later at the party, Adam also becomes high as the two share the joint. Jake becomes jealous observing them, but with some cajoling by Jane, he gets high as well.
Agness then observes Jake and Jane dancing together and becomes suspicious of their closeness. When they leave the party, Adam asks Jane if they could have something to eat. Jane takes him to her bakery and makes him chocolate croissants. This takes hours, and they enjoy their time together. Jake and Agness separate, although it is not clear who leaves whom. Eventually by a webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
in Jane's bedroom, Adam sees Jake naked and realizes that the two have been having an affair.
Adam tells Jane he cannot continue seeing her because it will only lead to heartbreak. Jane's kids also find out, and they are not happy about Mom and Dad getting together again because they are still recovering from the divorce. Jane tells them she is not getting back with Jake. Jane and Jake talk and end their affair on amicable terms. The film ends with Adam at Jane's house ready to commence the remodeling. Before the credits roll, Jane and Adam are seen laughing while walking into her house.
Cast
- Meryl StreepMeryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
as Jane Adler, a successful bakery owner. - Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
as Adam Schaffer, Jane's love interest. - Alec BaldwinAlec BaldwinAlexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
as Jake Adler, Jane's ex-husband. - Lake BellLake Bell-Early life:Bell was born in New York City, the daughter of Robin Bell, owner of the design firm Robin Bell Design, Inc. in New York, and Harvey Siegel. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant, and Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional family".Bell attended The...
as Agness Adler, Jake's wife. - Hunter ParrishHunter ParrishHunter Parrish is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Silas Botwin in Showtime's television series Weeds.-Personal life:...
as Luke Adler, Jane and Jake's son. - Zoe KazanZoe Kazan-Early life and education:Kazan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, and the granddaughter of film and theatre director Elia Kazan...
as Gabby Adler, Jane and Jake's younger daughter. - Caitlin Fitzgerald as Lauren Adler, Jane and Jake's older daughter.
- John KrasinskiJohn KrasinskiJohn Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
as Harley, Lauren's fiancé. - Mary Kay PlaceMary Kay PlaceMary Kay Place is an American actress, singer, director and screen writer. She is best known as portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series in 1977...
as Joanne - Rita WilsonRita Wilson-Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey....
as Trisha - Alexandra WentworthAlexandra WentworthAlexandra Wentworth is an American comedienne, actress and author who starred in Head Case on Starz.-Early life:...
as Diane - James Patrick StuartJames Patrick StuartJames Patrick Stuart is an English-American stage, film and television actor.-Theater:His early career began on stage, where his work received recognition.-Television:...
as Dr. Moss, Jane's therapist. - Blanchard Ryan as Annalise
- Michael Rivera as Eddie
- Robert Curtis Brown as Peter
- Peter MackenziePeter MackenziePeter MacKenzie is an American actor. His first major role was on Herman's Head. He is a character actor. He also played "Mr. Firestein" in the season 3 episode of The Drew Carey Show titled "The Sex Drug", as Mimi Bobeck's counsel in her sex harassment case against Nigel Wick, and co-starred in...
as Dr. Alan - Rosalie WardRosalie WardRosalie Ward is an American actress, most known for her role as Sloane Capshaw in Saints & Sinners. Ward has also worked on several films such as Kids in America, Why Germany? and Palo Alto...
as Alex
Production
In May 2008, Nancy MeyersNancy Meyers
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. She is the writer, producer and director of several big-screen successes, including The Parent Trap , Something's Gotta Give , The Holiday , and It's Complicated...
agreed to a project for Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
that she would write and direct, to be co-produced with Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
. The project was referred to as The Untitled Nancy Meyers Project during its inception and early production. Establishing commitments from the principals began in 2008, with Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
and Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
entering discussions in August, and Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
joining the cast in October. Casting continued through 2009, with Zoe Kazan
Zoe Kazan
-Early life and education:Kazan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, and the granddaughter of film and theatre director Elia Kazan...
, Lake Bell
Lake Bell
-Early life:Bell was born in New York City, the daughter of Robin Bell, owner of the design firm Robin Bell Design, Inc. in New York, and Harvey Siegel. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant, and Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional family".Bell attended The...
, and Hunter Parrish
Hunter Parrish
Hunter Parrish is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Silas Botwin in Showtime's television series Weeds.-Personal life:...
joining in January, John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
in February, Rita Wilson
Rita Wilson
-Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey....
in March, and Caitlin Fitzgerald in June.
The sets were easy to design. Most scenes take place in the protagonist's home and interior courtyard, and as such the architectural details had to be fastidiously worked out, but the rooms were kept bare to reflect the character's functional tastes and limited budget. There are relatively few decorations, just "a bunch of thrift-store things haphazardly thrown together", in the words of production designer Jon Hutman. The building itself is a traditional 1920s Spanish-ranch-style adobe-mud house which "epitomised the Santa Barbara area."
Filming commenced in New York City in April 2009, and completed in August 2009. It's Complicated was released on December 25, 2009.
Critics
The film has received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 57% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 161 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus is: "Despite fine work by an appealing cast, It's Complicated is predictable romantic comedy fare, going for broad laughs instead of subtlety and nuance." Another review aggregator, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score from 1 to 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 57% based on 30 reviews.
Box office
The film took #4 in its opening weekend behind Avatar, Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...
with $22,100,820. It currently has a total gross of $112,927,070 in North America and a total of $214,727,200 worldwide.
Awards and nominations
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, commonly called the Critics' Choice Awards, are bestowed annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Nominees are selected by written ballots in a week-long voting period, and are announced in... |
Best Comedy Film | Film | |
| Golden Globe Awards 67th Golden Globe Awards The 67th Golden Globe Awards was telecasted live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 17, 2010 by NBC, from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM and 8:00PM – 11:00 PM . The ceremonies were hosted by Ricky Gervais, and were broadcast live for the first time.Nominations were... |
Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Meryl Streep | |
| Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy | Nancy Meyers | ||
| Best Screenplay Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award... |
Nancy Meyers | ||
| National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium... |
Best Ensemble Cast | Film | |
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Film – Musical or Comedy | Film | |
| BAFTA Awards British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square... |
Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... |
Alec Baldwin | |
Home media
It's Complicated became available on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Tuesday, April 27, 2010.