It's Complicated - 2009 ****

I was seriously surprised by how funny this film was. I was expecting it to be a typical rom-com like all the others that have been churned out in the last few years but actually it was very amusing. Meryl Streep is wonderful, I don't think I've ever seen her in a film that I didn't like but Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin - what is going on with their faces??? They both seem like they have been drowned in botox from their forehead to their chin leaving this creepy slightly manic look that doesn't change regardless of what emotion they are trying to show. It is particularly obvious in Steve Martin which leads to some very disturbing scenes where he is stoned out of his head but still looks exactly the same as he did beforehand.
Streep and Baldwin are a divorced couple, Streep is now single and Baldwin is married to a woman that he cheated on Streep with along with inheriting a couple of her children. However, several awkward moments ensue and before long they are beginning an affair behind Baldwin's wife. Ironic, as now the first wife has become the mistress. Some very funny parts, some sentimental parts, and some downright bizarre parts, but all in all I think this film is one of the better comedies that has come out in America.

Heartburn - 1986 ****

I actually found Streep and Nicholson really good together. Nicholson plays Mark (Carl Bernstein's character) and Streep plays Rachel (Nora Ephron's character) who finds out about that her husband is having an affair only after they have married, bought a house and had two children. Nicholson is suitably sleazy and sexist and Streep clings to the initial 'pathetic woman' stance, moving swiftly on to the 'independant and single woman' vibe soon after the affair is aired. I thought the chemistry was good, and it was mildly funny, but at the same time incredibly painful to watch. You totally empathise with Rachel and how she feels and are willing her to make the right choice.

Prime - 2005 ****

This film was good actually, mainly because it didn't follow the typical 'chick flick' formula that so many romcoms these days do.

It was more of a film about growing and maturing as an individual and in a relationship and had a good motto as well, added to which, it's ending was a bit like 'The Break -Up' in that it wasn't a particularly happy ending, or an ending that the audience may want to see, but it certainly taught you a lot.

A divorced 37 year old business woman (Thurman) becomes entangled with a 23 year old painter (Greenberg)who just happens to be the son of her psychoanalyst (Streep). Pretty soon she is telling her analyst all her feelings and worries regarding the relationship and the analyst is instructing her to do certain things that she would never dream of suggesting if she knew that her son was involved. However that is all to change for the better and the worse.

A nice film, and a real film about real life and real relationships which is somewhat refreshing in today's predictable American market where you always expect a happy ending.