Rekindled Passion and Estrangement in Post-Divorce Middle Age

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Table of Contents

“It’s Complicated”: Rekind
Gender Balance in the Film
Appearance, Style and Gender Roles
The Cult of Power and Solution-Seeking
Character Development and Depiction
References

“It’s Complicated”: Rekind

Synopsis

Ten years have passed since Jack (Alec Baldwin) and Jane (Meryl Streep) divorced. Both are obligated to attend when the youngest graduates college. As it happens, both come solo and are thrown together. Is love really sweeter the second time around?

The movie blurb is simplicity itself. “Divorced…with benefits” promises plenty of naughty goings-on, calling to mind the casual sex of “best friends…with benefits” that young men cherish for its insouciant lack of commitment. The salacious promise is bolstered by a visual of an extremely-pleased Jake in post-coital seventh heaven beside Jane, all disheveled and shocked by what had happened. If the movie had carried on with that theme, content to depict the rekindled ardor of empty-nesters, and delivered the expected frothy happy ending, that might have been the end of it. An amusing fantasy, the viewer might concede, but shallow.

But the relationship is complicated. Jack is already married to Agness (Lake Bell) who brought to the marriage a young son. Jane had never dated after the divorce, preferring to develop her weekend catering stints into a full-fledged bakery/diner. That one night before the son’s graduation in New York might have been a pleasant interlude for old time’s sake. Except that Jack and Jane both reside in Anytown, USA. Waking up to the realization that he still loves Jane, Jack comes visiting on the excuse of wanting a cup of coffee or a bowl of ice cream. Both times, they wind up in bed. The third time should have been a gourmet dinner Jane promised him but the by-now suspicious Agness kept Jack home on the excuse she was ovulating (Internet Movie Database, 2010).

Meanwhile, Jane is horrified-delighted that hers is now the role of the other woman. Then along comes Adam (Steve Martin), two years on the rebound from a divorce that devastated him. As architect designing a new wing for Jane’s old family home, Adam has many chances to have Jane to himself. Dazzled by such a vivacious woman, the perfect foil for his shy self, Adam dares to pay court. Little does he realize he creates more complications for Jane.

The fourth time Jack sees Jane again is the climax of the film. Jack invites himself to dinner when all the children are around. Jane is resentful that he stood her up. He makes his case to get back together with her and the children. And now the dénouement ensues. Jane would rather disappoint Jack and the children.

Gender Balance in the Film

By the nature of the screenplay, men and women populate the cast in believable proportions. The gender divide among the main protagonists cannot be helped: two ex-husbands, one current wife and an ex-wife. Two of Jack’ and Jane’s three children are daughters but there is Harley (John Krasinski) evening things out as fiancé to the eldest. Jane’ s coffee klatch of ladies who dine and support each other no matter what is counterbalanced by the stereotypical male psychiatrist Dr. Alan who condones anything “if it makes you happy”.

Appearance, Style and Gender Roles

“It’s Complicated” depicts the four protagonists in true-to-life fashion. Jack the lawyer is always dressed for success or for an appearance in court, at least. At high noon in a tropical setting (California? Florida?), Jack is the only one at a friend’s anniversary party wearing a blazer; everyone else is in their shirtsleeves or ultra-casual t-shirts. He is the epitome of dignity, erudition, assertiveness, rational thought, and self-serving actions. Jack is also flushed with success, having been made partner in his law firm sometime in the ten years that transpired since the divorce. Such a career background, Jane remarks during their second tryst, explains why he always seems to find the right reason for getting things his way.

Lake Bell as wife number two Agness is established right in the opening scene as the ravishing young wife. Film director Nancy Meyers gives her the slow-motion treatment as she strolls from inside the house to hand Jack a slice of cake. Wearing only a gauzy wrap-around over a two-piece maillot-style bikini, Agness vamps her hips, exposes about 20 inches of young, well-toned torso, swings long hair freely, all while tilting her head in a “come hither” stance. She obviously comes to take possession of her husband. This is Jane’s cue to make a graceful exit because there is obviously no love lost between the two ladies. Agness wins that first battle but ultimately loses the war because the rest of the movie is all downhill for her character. She is revealed to be a hard case, nasty, wanting to dominate and bitchy for failing at it. In trading beauty, confidence and grace for youth, Jack clearly has made a bad bargain.

The contrast in that opening scene is heightened by Jane’s frumpy look so common to middle-aged women. She pairs white slacks with an overly-loose blouse that makes her look about seven months pregnant (but without a man in her life) and tops the whole ensemble with the scarf women of a certain age commonly use to hide increasingly-slack necks or sagging necklines. But Jane is really her own woman, charming, funny and the real central character of the film.

The fourth main character, Adam the architect, is the self-effacing foil to Jack’s sartorial competence. For a party, Adam does don a coat over gray shirt and white t-shirt as if to proclaim his naïveté and essential nerdiness. Otherwise, he seems more comfortable in a white turtleneck when going over building plans with Jane.

The Cult of Power and Solution-Seeking

At first it is Jack who has the problem of being disappointed with his remarriage. A young trophy wife does him no good if he gets selfishness, bitchiness, and nagging to get pregnant into the bargain. And each time he and Jane are thrown together, he remembers all the good and thoughtful things she represented in his life. Even the physical attraction, it turns out, remains. After her psychiatrist has “absolved her of sin” for being a mistress, she calls her ex for an assignation in a hotel. In the privacy of their room, she dares to shed her bathrobe standing up (an act she had not dared previously for fear for what her middle-aged physique looked like) and promptly sends Jack into a fainting spell.

To solve his problem of renewed desire for Jane, Jack indulges in a combination of manipulative argument, the artifice of helplessness, and the common plaint of straying husbands like Tiger Woods, “…my marriage isn’t working as I had hoped.”

Since she recognizes the essential truth of why they were so good together and that the glaring hurdles in their marriage are now gone, Jane assents to an affair. But now she has the problem because Jack is still married.

Character Development and Depiction

“It’s Complicated” presents Jane in a somewhat more sympathetic light than it does Jack. After all, it turns out that the latter had turned his back on her a decade before because she had wanted more time for the children and her catering business. In the interim, Jane has grown in confidence from seeing the children through college and growing her bakeshop into a going concern.

While the affair lasts, Jane rides the rollercoaster of emotional highs and physical intimacy. But she comes down to earth fairly quickly. Should she have Jack back with all the comfortable familiarity that prospect offers? Or will quiet, vulnerable, well-intentioned Adam fill her remaining years better? What to do when Jack stuns her by confessing he has left Agness for good? Should she give in when the children learn what is going on and make known their innocent eagerness to have the family back together? In the end, Nancy Meyers as screenwriter hands Jane the power to decide for herself despite the importuning of ex-husband and adult children. The romantic comedy with its authentic male-female interplay affirms the wholeness of one person in the end.

References

Internet Movie Database, The (2010). It’s complicated. Web.

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