Maybe I need to turn in my cinephile card, but I just didn’t think that Meryl was all that great in this role. She was unable to handle this kind of humor, and I don’t even know what kind of humor this was. Each scene tried too hard, and I kept trying too hard to like it more than I did. There was an element of raunchiness, which was just sort of gross. For all the younger (younger than say 40) viewers, this movie was a little like the creepiness you might get when you imagine your parents, uh, together. Nancy Meyers, the writer-director, has done better work. Something’s Gotta Give was way good, and even her most recent, The Holiday, gave us more to like. So her screenplay didn’t give the actors something wonderful to work with, and the end result was a decided flatness.

Now with that said, I want to turn to the very cool Alec Baldwin who, for me, made the movie worth viewing. He has a great knack with comedy and a great knack with acting. He has won numerous awards for the television show 30 Rock, and was a total treat in the recent indie sleeper Lymelife. His character in It’s Complicated is interesting and finely tuned; he also reveals the reality of his 50-something year old body without reservation. Steve Martin’s character also displays a few nuances. But Jane’s girlfriends, played by perfect-haired, perfect-skinned Mary Kay Place and Rita Wilson, don’t really add a darn thing to the movie, and the same goes for Jane and Jake’s children.

If you are in that age group, old enough to join AARP, you will probably sit through this movie fairly happily. I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I did. Despite its shortcomings, it was entertaining overall, and let’s just hope that Nancy Meyers gets a grip and delivers something much better the next time. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 4/27/10

It’s based on a book by Jodi Picoult and involves an 11-year-old girl (Abigail Breslin) who, having been conceived by her parents (Jason Patric and Cameron Diaz) primarily to provide spare parts for her leukemia-stricken sister (Sofia Vassilieva), files for medical emancipation. We hear voiceovers from a number of characters, including the lone son (Evan Ellingson).

To me, having to choose sides–determined Diaz or bright Breslin?–makes things more interesting. It’s obvious, though, that Cassavetes, who co-wrote the script, has already chosen, as Diaz is portrayed as something of a shrew for caring more about her dying daughter than her healthy one. We also get a twist late in the teary game meant to excuse Breslin for her seemingly selfish actions.

I imagine Diaz appeared in this thing either to increase her Oscar chances or earn some dramatic credibility. She acts mad, becomes a little crazy, cries, all that. But it’s all on the surface, and she doesn’t have the range to go deeper. Patric does a decent job as the patient firefighter dad, for sure, but I’ve always found him somewhat bland and he isn’t given much of a character to work with here.

Better is Alec Baldwin as the slightly slick but good-hearted lawyer who takes on Breslin’s case while hiding a condition of his own from her. Better still is Joan Cusack as the judge presiding over the case, a woman who recently lost her own daughter. The scene where she chats with Breslin in her chambers really resonates. As for Breslin, well, she’s not bad, either.

I don’t necessarily blame you if you cry at all this. Cancer is not a happy thing, and watching a kid vomit is not pleasant, nor is seeing her with a bald head and red-rimmed eyes and a bloody nose. But Cassavetes does include some smile-inducing elements, most notably Vassilieva having a romance with a fellow cancer patient (Thomas Dekker) that allows her to be happy and get dressed up.

Still, you will cry, especially when the family goes to the beach. As Breslin and Ellingson dash around, and Patric and Vassilieva and Diaz sit on a blanket, Vassilieva, wrapped in a blanket and with a handkerchief wrapped around her head, struggles up and walks toward the ocean as “Feels Like Home” swells on the soundtrack. Resistance is futile.

I have to give Cassavetes credit, though, for eschewing big speeches and death scenes, and for composing some truly nice shots. Like the scene when Diaz comforts her sick girl after delivering devastating news, or when Ellingson is on a rooftop, tearing up a picture he’s drawn and letting it blow away in the wind.

In the end, the film manipulates emotions a little too much, fails to fully flesh out its characters and features some really ridiculous courtroom stuff. It’s neither as entertaining as Terms of Endearment nor nearly as good as the wrenching Wit, which stars Emma Thompson. It does seem less syrupy than The Bucket List, but watching it is hardly something I’d include on such a list. – [DVD]

Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 11/17/09

The Bartletts and the Braggs are the two families involved, and they interact in manifold ways. Mickey Bartlett (Alec Baldwin) is playing around with Bragg mére (Cynthia Nixon), and is having the usual battles with his teenage sons, played marvelously by the two younger Culkin brothers, Kieran and Rory. As always, Baldwin is a wonder – is there anything he can’t do as an actor? He’s never simply mean, or supercilious, or snide, or hulking, or sharp – these are always only outward facets of his performances. What he excels at is showing us the kernel of the causative – but with such subtlety, that we come to see it over the entire character arc. Meanwhile, to account for the film’s title, Charlie Bragg (Timothy Hutton) is likely suffering from Lyme’s disease. He also becomes aware of the shenanigans going on between his wife and Mickey; and his comely daughter (Emma Roberts) is proving to be a handful (and is lusted after by the younger Bartlett son).

Not to be lost in the mix is the terrific performance of Hutton. Since the early success of Ordinary People, he hasn’t seen many peaks among the valleys, but this one is an eye-opener. He conveys a strange sense of world-weary confusion and ennui, certainly brought on by more than just a probable case of Lyme disease. His many silent scenes are quite powerful, but the barroom scene with Baldwin is unforgettable. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 9/22/09