Brightest Young Things

I remember being in college, and in between working on my thesis and breaking up with my boyfriend for the 3rd time in 3 days watching "Something's Gotta Give", Nancy Myers' middle aged rom romp with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson and completely identifying with Diane's post menopausal, neurotic, stubborn, (hilariously) crying-at-the-computer while working character.
What that says about me-I don't know but I do know that Nancy Myers, as a romantic comedy auteur, in my book, tends to deliver on all the necessary levels:
-great casting
-completely escapist yet oddly relatable set-ups
-funny but not over ambitious writing
-women being winners and men always coming around

So much so that I have been looking forward to her new frolic of a movie for months now:

Some have said that "It's Complicated" (not to be confused with the E! series about the very not complicated Denise Richards) is just another Myers movie but this should not be viewed as a criticism. What worked for you in "Father of The Bride" or "Baby Boom" or "Holiday" or the aforementioned "Something's Gotta Give" can work for you now. It is the Holiday season, madness is all around and taking comfort in the well known, as long as it well executed can be surprisingly satisfying.

The story (which is really, just a vehicle for lush backdrops and plenty of good manners gone bad) is this: Meryl Streep (a successful caterer/restaurant owner in Santa Barbara) and Alec Baldwin (a successful lawyer in Santa Barbara) have been married for 20 years and divorced for 10 (he cheated on her with someone younger and more insane) and have 3 ridiculously adorable, well adjusted, grown up children and then, they do it (messily, drunkenly) one night in the Park Regent, while in New York for their son's college graduation.

Hijinx ensue and things are further complicated by Steve Martin's character who is Meryl's architect (in reverse "empty nest syndrome" moment she is actually expanding her already huge home since the children have left who has a crush on her and she maybe has a crush back on him.

Everyone has a great time in the movie: Baldwin is hamming it up for all the hamming's worth, Streep is enjoying the part 4 of her new cinematic blockbuster life (the other 3 being "Mamma Mia", "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Julie & Julia") and swathes around in raw silk dresses and brocade shawls and Steve Martin actually gets to be Steve Martin again (as opposed to that vaguely creepy semi-serious persona he now nurtures in movies like "Shopgirl) during the brief but seriously funny "old people smoking pot" party scene.

John Krasinski and Lake Bell round out the capable back up cast, though being old fashionedly screw-bally comes a little harder to young people (remember how dismal Cameron Diaz was in Myers' "The Holiday"?)

Anyway, all goes awry and all ends civilizedly as you'd expect it to end in a Nancy Myers vehicle and you leave happy and satisfied, like you just ate a chocolate croissant from your favorite bakery: nothing you haven't tasted before but still oh-so-delicious.

There are worse ways to spend your holiday money movie on.