The Year of Meryl: Two reviews
February 5th 2010 02:45
The Year of Meryl: Two Reviews for the Price of One – Julie and Julia and It’s Complicated
This year Meryl Streep starred in two very different films; a duel biopic and a romantic dramady geared toward middle-age adults. Streep proved once again that she can play any type of role. In Julie and Julia, Streep is mesmerizing as Julia Child. From her infliction to her mannerisms and unbridled enthusiasm you’d be hard pressed to find a more entertaining and smile inducing female performance of 2009. The film is not incredible and the narrative wavers when we focus for long moments on Julie (played by Amy Adams). Unfortunately, Julie is annoying and rather unlikable thus making Adams annoying. During these moments the audience will naturally long to return to Child and her husband Paul, played brilliantly by Stanley Tucci. However, there are a lot of lovely and entertaining moments within. Streep certainly deserves her award nominations. She is infectious.
From biopic to fiction, Streep then turned in a solid performance in the recent It’s Complicated. It’s Complicated is nothing particularly new or groundbreaking in the way of mature romantic dramady. In fact it’s what Nancy Meyers (writer/director) seems to be making her living off of as late. That said, It’s Complicated works overall due to the solid performances by Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. In addition, the actors and actresses playing Streep and Baldwin’s children all turn in solid work even though the scenes with parents and children do border on heavy-handed contriteness. The interesting thing about It’s Complicated is the title pertains to the viewers as well. This is not a film that contains a clear cut “winner” in the romance department. Baldwin and Martin’s characters are each charming and charismatic in their own way and both have wonderful chemistry with Streep. In the end, the film could have ended with either winning her heart and no one would have been disappointed. It’s always refreshing when there is no “villain”; well, aside from the evil bitch that is now Baldwin’s wife in the film but that’s just par for the course, isn’t it?
The major flaw with It’s Complicated comes from its length. At two hours the film is far too long and yet the characters still don’t feel as fleshed out as they should. Perhaps some of the cutesy scenes should have been edited to allow for some more character development.
Nevertheless, both Julie and Julia and It’s Complicated are entertaining and feature strong performances from Streep. While not the deepest films you will see from 2009, they are worth a viewing for some uncomplicated (despite the latter’s title!) fun.
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