Is It's Complicated Simply Twilight for Older Women?

The reason Twilight was such a big box office hit -- and its sequel, New Moon, was even bigger -- is that the female audience finally decided to flex some of that powerhouse moviegoing muscle that had been in danger of atrophying since the phenomenon that was Titanic. Still, I don't expect that this often-unappreciated demographic is done with 2009 yet. While it'd be crazy to expect the Meryl Streep comedy It's Complicated to post anywhere near New Moon numbers, I'm starting to get the feeling women are about to make it a much bigger hit that some have foreseen. The rationale is simple: this movie is basically Twilight for older women! Here are four reasons why:

Team Edward is Team Alec

At the heart of both New Moon and It's Complicated is a love triangle, and the Nancy Meyers comedy neatly mirrors the central Twilight conflict. Both heroines are entangled with both a dangerous bad boy (whose breakup won't stick) and a nice, patient, alternative love interest who nevertheless gets constantly strung along by our main character. As you might have guessed from the trailer, then, It's Complicated puts Alec Baldwin firmly on Team Edward. Much as Twilight's Bella was drawn to the sexy, secretive Edward -- even though she knows he's bad for her -- so, too, does Meryl Streep find her unexpectedly swept up in a tumultuous affair with her ex-husband Alec Baldwin, who's keeping their assignations secret from their children and his current wife.

Team Jacob is Team Steve

Naturally, that makes Steve Martin our Taylor Lautner stand-in, and while his abs may not be up to par, his character serves the same purpose. Bella initially has no romantic interest in Lautner's Jacob, and it's only over time that she grows to appreciate him -- even if she still dicks him around a little bit because she's stuck on ex-flame Edward. He and Martin could start a club for pining puppy dogs; in It's Complicated, Streep hires Martin's architect to add on to her already sizable Santa Barbara manse (you know this is a Nancy Meyers movie when Meryl Streep decides to make one of the new rooms her "dream kitchen," even though the one she already spends a third of the movie in is a gorgeous space the size of a football field), yet takes him so for granted that she continually forgets that she's scheduled meetings with him. He's clearly the stable romantic choice that would make Streep's life easier, but some women can't resist the allure of a bad boy.

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Comments

  • Maxii_Black says:

    Kyle, I stopped reading this article when I saw the reference to New Moon. Yuck!

  • Quirky- says:

    Uh, the title of the article wasn't a dead giveaway to you? Odd.

  • The Winchester says:

    And yet you commented anyway...
    It's too bad Team Steve can't be Team Edward, as Martin seems to possess that ageless quality, and has, in my mind, looked like that for the past 20 years.
    Quick Digression, does my choice of Team Alec secretly mean I'm Team Edward? Because I'm not. I'm Team Don't Give A Crap on that debate. I can't tell you anything about those movies other than there's a whole lot of Ewok-less trees.
    Regardless, I want a Team Alec shirt.

  • OldTowneTavern says:

    Perhaps you were thinking of the 1998 Twilight with Paul Newman, and Gene Hackman? In which case, I wonder why anyone would keep reading.

  • Kateřinka says:

    OMG... Twilight?!
    I think you are joking. Bad joke.

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