It’s complicated

RATING: ****

Ten years ago,he cheated on her and the marriage ended badly. Now he is married to the other woman,half her age and waist width,with a child quarter of the size of their college-going threesome. And she has just met someone she might get interested in. Yes,it’s complicated. However,the reason it works is simple: the comfort with which Streep and Baldwin slip into the roles of a long-lasting,if not everlasting,couple,bearing all the warts,wrinkles,weight and wisdom that come with such a long relationship. It’s a love born of familiarity,an affair rekindled not by hot passion but warm memories,and ties that only two people who have grown up together can share.

A decade after her divorce from Jake (Baldwin),Jane (Streep) believes she is finally ready to move on. While she is feeling lonely as the last of their children is moving out,Jane is building the house she always wanted,with the help of the more-than-gracious architect Adam (Martin). Then,on the night before their son’s graduation,Jake and Jane start sharing some drinks at a bar,and end up sharing a bed. Jake says he now realises what had been missing from his life,and on his urging and convincing,Jane agrees that they could have a relationship.

If Jake has a way with words,it’s how Baldwin says them that makes it all so reasonable. He tells Jane that the issues they had between them — of no time for each other,busy schedules,children — are now no longer issues. “We have grown into the people we wanted each other to be.” In fact,he adds,all divorced couples should get together.

Streep,of course,looks great,but that’s not the point here. What’s more amazing is that yet again,after Mamma Mia! and Julie & Julia,she makes her age not just irrelevant but all the more worthwhile. A bloated Baldwin,his hairy chest in full display and hiding neither his girth nor health problems,makes as big a case for the middle-aged.

Martin is his foil,a sober and quiet architect,who doesn’t have the charm or the chutzpah of Baldwin. Among the performances of Streep and Baldwin,and John Krasinski as their tickled future son-in-law,Martin is a little lost.

shalini.langer@expressindia.com