It's Complicated 2009

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The empowerment message is obvious, the strain of trying to be "hip" and edgy in the script shows. But Meyers sets the table for funny people to deliver laughs. Read more

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: Streep and Baldwin are terrific, and if you like your romance bittersweet you won't want to miss this one. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It's simply a good time, a relatively adult and easygoing conveyance for three ace performers of a certain age, working through a few comic machinations created by writer-director Nancy Meyers. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: I found myself wishing for more shallows and fewer depths. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: There's nothing inherently wrong with a little fantasy; indeed, a lot of us like gazing at lavishly set tables and meticulously chosen throw pillows. But It's Complicated suffers from terminal niceness. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Say this for Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin: They're professionals, and their relaxed chemistry and good humor together carries the film surprisingly far. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's Complicated is basically Wild Hogs for smart people, big stars playing below their gifts in a crowd-pleasing movie. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's Complicated unleashes an unabashedly, desperately romantic side of Baldwin that we haven't seen before. He doesn't steal this movie so much as grant all Streep's fluttering and twirling and hand-fanning an exuberant counterweight. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: [Meyers has] given us her thinnest slice of comic relationship angst yet, proving, I guess, that you actually can be too thin. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Streep's dilemma is handled well enough for the movie to accumulate some gravitas as it nears the two-hour mark. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Writer-director Meyers, who's devoted much of her career to midlife American arousal, that she loses her sense of fun. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: For Streep, as always, acting is anything but complicated. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Simply put, It's Complicated is a hoot. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: It's Complicated is middle-aged porn, the specialty of Meyers, 
 who also set ladies and interior 
 decorators drooling over homes and gardens in 2006's The Holiday. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: It's really not all that complicated. But it is entertaining. It's pure, simple fun, with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin playing Doris Day and Rock Hudson as they might have been if they had ruled in the sexually knowing oughts, instead of the virginal ear Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: There are four reasons to see this movie and writer-director Nancy Meyers isn't one. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Actually, Hollywood, it's very simple: If you're lucky enough to rope pros like Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin into a formulaic comedy that's clearly beneath them, you rise to the occasion. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Yes, it coulda had more laughs, but in the spirit of seasonal good cheer, let me predict that the best-chocolate-croissant-making montage in Hollywood history is going to help this one clean up at the box office. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A silly but mostly delectable holiday confection guaranteed to put a smile on your face and keep it there. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: I enjoyed the spectacle of middle-aged people making spectacles of themselves. And I appreciated the film's gentle understanding of how the romance of a parent affects the children. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: With a story that by turns defies and adheres to formulas, It's Complicated ends up being one of the end-year's best sources of pure entertainment. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's Complicated is a rearrangement of the goods in Nancy Meyers' bakery, and some of them belong on the day-old shelf. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: You don't have to feel guilty for lapping up this froth. Just don't expect nourishment. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Meyers has dropped something a bit more subtle than her usual anvil. This one is more like a mere tire iron, but at least we've got Baldwin: He's the pixie dust that chases away the ensuing headache. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: A movie that's one-third hilarious is better than no thirds at all, but look at the cast: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Doesn't that promise a somewhat larger fraction of laughs? Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Beneath this movie's gleaming high-end surfaces beats the heart of a classic screwball comedy. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Nancy Meyers never pushes for a hard truth when she can reach for an easy laugh. She's like an industrial device, stamping out 100 percent pure-plastic midlife female fantasy. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Meyers does her job pretty well. She's a clever contriver, adept at adding a patina of apparent relevance, even a veneer of feminism, to situations that are otherwise bogus and artificial. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Snappy dialogue and an up-tempo pop soundtrack add to It's Complicated's entertaining mix as director Nancy Meyers proves again that she has a deft hand with rom-coms. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: Meyers demonstrates, as she did in Something's Gotta Give and The Holiday, an extraordinarily limited worldview. Read more

Nick Schager, Time Out: Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: Streep is as enjoyable as ever, and if laughs count for anything, this is one of the better romantic comedies of the season. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Meyers uses musical montages and shoots the principals doubling over in laughter in place of crafting witty dialogue. Escapism has its place at the movies, but something this slick is like a lavishly wrapped but empty Christmas present. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Cute and clever though the plot may be, everything is played out in the broadest possible terms without an iota of nuance or subtlety. Read more

Scott Foundas, Village Voice: Does Nancy Meyers hate women? Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: The romantic comedy about a divorced couple having an affair manages to be both light on its feet and heavy enough to deliver something of a message. Read more