Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Films for Grown Ups

I caught two films on cable this week - "It's Complicated" and "Stranger Than Fiction."  I missed both when they were in the theaters. 
"It's Complicated" (2009) reminded me of 1940s screwball comedies that had couples divorcing and then remarrying, the kind that used to star Claudette Colbert or Fred MacMurray.  Not a serious film but it had some nice moments.  How could it not with Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and Meryl Streep.  Definitely worth seeing.   Interestingly it was directed by Nancy Meyers who has made a career out of attempting to bring back 1940s - 1960s filmmaking, with remakes of "Father of the Bride" and "The Parent Trap" under her belt, and the screwball "Private Benjamin" and other films part of her writing career. 

And today I caught up on "Stranger Than Fiction," the Marc Forster directed film about an IRS agent (Will Ferrell) who discovers he's the main character of a novel being written by famous novelist Emma Thompson.  Ferrells character really comes out of his shell when he meets coffee shop owner Maggie Gylenhall, and there is this sweet scene where he plays a song for her on a guitar, and she completely falls in love with him.  A very touching moment.