…Words on the Science the Art and the Business of What Lies Beneath the Love Handles.

This is a story that says that anything is possible and fun, in love, for a short time, probably until everyone finds their senses.  Not that complicated, really.  Entertainment value is good to high thanks to very good performances from Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin.  Steve Martin is good too.

A divorced couple finds new interest in each other when they come together for the graduation of their son the youngest of three children.  This after ten years apart.  Jake (Alec Baldwin) is already remarried so ironically he is having an affair with his ex-wife.   We also learn that infidelity on both sides was a reason for their initial split.  Together they re-explore some of the good things from their past including marijuana, a few parties, and family dinners.  It`s complicated because they try to do this without the knowledge of their three children or Jake`s wife Agnes, or Jane`s promising new romantic interest, Adam (Steve Martin).

There are some especially funny moments but it is not a laugh fest by any means.  Funniest and most memorable must be the night when Jake sleeps over with the entire family and enters his ex-wife`s room in the nude hoping to entice her.  I won`t give any spoilers but the stunt goes horribly wrong.

I found some of the symbolism used in the movie too cliché.   For example Jane is finally remodeling her kitchen (changing her life at last) and falls for the architect, Adam.  But this is art.  To produce it some tools just get used.  Like the primary colours in painting.  The use of the sprinklers coming on in the morning at the climax of the romantic encounter between Jane and Jake was one of the better touches I thought.

I think the movie seriously lacks detailed conversation about the past and the specific issues or discrete events that caused the couple to divorce.  Knowing that divorces are usually very unpleasant, a theme reinforced by Jane in her conversations with Adam, one cannot help wanting to hear more about the heavy duty events and issues of the past and what transformation they have undergone in the present light that makes the prospect of a second chance seem so viable especially to Jake.  Even after ten years divorced couples in discussing their differences might show some animosity.  There was none of that here, which made it seemed at times artificial.  It certainly subtracted from the credibility of the new union.  In the end, one is not quite sure how Jane feels about Jake as a person, as she protests their relationship.

Despite those shortcomings Streep`s performance is so exact for each moment that she deserves an Academy Award.  I would say far more than Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side.”

The music tracks also added much to the entertainment value of this flick, keeping the mood balanced between today and thirty years ago.  Memorable hits from the past that were used include Leo Sayer`s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and I was glad to hear the Beach Boys “Wouldn`t It Be Nice”.

Rating 7/10 or **1/2