It's Complicated

 It's Complicated

Written and Dirceted by: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alex Baldwin
Streaming on: JioHotstar.

Watching Nancy Meyers’ films feel like cozying up into a warm blanket on a rainy day, with a cup of hot chocolate in your hand. The Holiday, The Intern—they’re warm, cozy and heartwarming. It’s Complicated, with its tangle of messy relationships, should’ve made me squirm. Infidelity, exes, all that chaos usually puts me on the edge. But Nancy Meyers? She’s got this way of telling stories that makes all the chaos and mess feel human. After wondering what was actually the difference could be, the realization finally hit. It's about the gaze. Nancy Meyers avoids the male gaze of messy relationships in this film. She's not interested in a man's sexual jealousy about his partner being with someone else. She's interested in a woman's grief when she sees her ex-husband build a life with someone else and worse, laugh with someone else and be happy with the ache of time passing by without her. 

Having known that this film is loosely inspired from Nancy's own experiences of divorce, I could tell that this is a very honest film. Not just that, the writing is so good that I could follow every chain of thought in Jane's head and get why she's doing what she's doing. Steve Martin as Adam, had my heart throughout the whole film - the sheer simplicity and how much of a gentleman he is, was so endearing to see. Since this film explores the complexities of a divorce after kids, perhaps I missed how much that guilt weighs on you, but even without fully feeling that layer, there was so much complexity and layers to the relationships - and never making things actually feel too messy/uncomfortable (like a Match Point/Gehraayian). I loved the experience of watching this film, and I hope and pray Nancy Meyers directs more - because even the most messiest of lives turn out just okay if those stories are being told by her.