"It's Complicated" -- a plausible romantic comedy for aging baby boomers

My spouse and I (we married three years ago at mid life -- a detail important to this review) trudged out in the snow and ice on Christmas Day to see "It's Complicated," a romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. And guess what, my fellow over-50 people, it works! It's plausible! It's hilarious! The characters are sexy in a way that fits for their age; they reveal their aging bodies in a way that is charming, self aware, and not at their expense (a chubby Baldwin, sagging eyelids on Streep). They make poor dating/sex decisions and get their hopes dashed and feelings hurt as a result, just like older people who are dating do. (Yes, some things never change. What is it about sex and romance that can make us lose our minds, whether we are 25 or 55?)

Even though the characters all had a lot more money than me, were heterosexual, their adult kids were well adjusted (actually a little too well adjusted), and everyone was white, I knew their story. As someone who got divorced, dated throughout her forties, and married in her 50s, I could envision myself in the story. "It's Complicated" is not some misguided fantasy about what's possible at mid-life and beyond; it's a very funny comedy about what -- indeed -- is possible.

The audience included mostly aging baby boomers like me, but there was a decent showing of under thirties, too. I wanted to ask them what they thought. Did they imagine their parents as they watched the movie? Was it plausible to them? My twenty-something kids have a hard time wrapping their arms around the fact that I still like to go out and dance, fall in love, have and like sex, and that it's not gross or over the hill -- it's simply living!