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"From the writer famous for Father Of The Bride, The Parent Trap and The Holiday, it&amp;#039;s hardly difficult to predict what to expect from It&amp;#039;s Complicated. The latest offering from Nancy Meyers, it brings her trademark mix of love, humour and understated drama to this romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. A twist on the oft-seen young lovers and professional dilemmas of the rom-com world, It&amp;#039;s Complicated revolves around a woman in her mid-fifties who begins an unexpected affair with her married ex-husband, aka her &amp;quot;ex with benefits&amp;quot;.  Jane Adler (Streep) is a divorced mother-of-three who owns her own bakery and restaurant in Santa Monica. Her youngest child&amp;#039;s heading off to college, she&amp;#039;s finally building the extension of her dreams (&amp;quot;no his and hers sinks&amp;quot;) and she enjoys an amicable, if cautious, relationship with her remarried ex-husband Jake (Baldwin). But her carefree life is rocked when she reunites with Jake at their middle kid&amp;#039;s graduation in New York. Several bottles of wine, a dash of dancing and a host of memories later, the duo end up in bed together. While Jake is thrilled and instantly becomes smitten with his ex, Jane is less convinced. Life soon becomes complicated for the formerly sparring couple as they guiltily embark on an affair, although as Jane&amp;#039;s friends tell her, &amp;quot;You had him first&amp;quot;. Muddling matters is Jake&amp;#039;s baby-minded, controlling, younger wife Agness (Bell) and Jane&amp;#039;s burgeoning frienship with architect Adam (Martin).  While some might assume It&amp;#039;s Complicated is a warm-up to Martin and Baldwin&amp;#039;s starring roles at next year&amp;#039;s Oscars ceremony, the pair actually share very little screen time. The heart of the movie is Streep&amp;#039;s Jane, as she battles with unresolved feelings for Jake, a desire to move on and her need for comfort. Streep is charming as always, giggling, throwing flirtatious glances and clearly relishing her new position as a sex kitten, but the majority of movie&amp;#039;s laughs belong to Baldwin&amp;#039;s Jake, with his OTT gushings of love, stalker-like tendencies and riotious lines (&amp;quot;I like that you stopped getting bikini waxes, you&amp;#039;ve gone native. I was into it.&amp;quot;). He spends the majority of the movie parading around with a beaming grin and oft semi-naked, showing Baldwin&amp;#039;s willingness to poke fun at his own physical shortcomings. Indeed, the movie&amp;#039;s comic highlight involves a stark naked Baldwin, a video camera and not much else.  The other man in Jane&amp;#039;s life marks a stark contrast to Jake. We&amp;#039;re used to seeing Steve Martin in madcap, zany mode, yet his Adam shows a more stripped-back, gentle side as he struggles to cope with his own divorce and find the confidence to enter a new relationship. It&amp;#039;s a refreshing change of pace for Martin, although he does have chance to flex comic chops during Adam and Jane&amp;#039;s fantastically funny herbally-aided first date. The Office star John Krasinski also holds his own against more seasoned entertainers as future son-in-law Harley who discovers the affair in brilliantly slapstick fashion. While It&amp;#039;s Complicated might appeal to a female audience (evidenced by vaginoplasties and girly chatter), whatever your age or gender, there&amp;#039;s no doubting this is a brilliantly acted, well scripted rom-com. Every character has their flaws and vulnerabilities, even ice queen Agness is allowed to show her softer side. Smart, sensitive and very, very funny, It&amp;#039;s Complicated is the perfect treat for the holiday season.  &amp;gt; What do you think of the movie? Share your views "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/review/a191884/its-complicated/>