Directed by Nancy Meyers
It’s been 10 years since Jane (Meryl Streep) has been divorced. She’s bought herself a home in Santa Barbara, raised three children and run a very successful business called The Bakery. The one thing she hasn’t managed to put any energy into is having another relationship, even though her girlfriends offer their cast-offs and advice. Her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin) has had no difficulty with this part of his life as the reason for the divorce was his affair with a much younger woman who became pregnant. Unfortunately Jane continually runs into Jake and his new wife at functions.
While in New York to celebrate her son’s graduation, Jane is relieved that Jake’s wife could not make it and Jake is able to spend time with his estranged family. As the night wears on, the children go off to party; Jane and Jake have a few too many drinks and end up sleeping together. The affair continues when they return home, with Jane now being “the other woman†with the architect engaged to renovate Jane’s house, Adam (Steve Martin), caught in between. Like all good comedies, there are lots of ridiculous romps and near-misses before they get found out and have lots of explaining to do.
I don’t know if it’s in the Macquarie Dictionary, but I’ve recently been introduced to a new term – “food pornâ€. Evidently it is used for those beautifully illustrated food magazines that people lust over and collect even though they’re not always used. This film is full of food porn – the characters are always cooking and eating the most delectable morsels. The premise of this comedy is quite interesting but what makes it is the amount of glorious food that manages to make its way to the screen … and the Internet skyping of Jake’s private parts to the very surprised Adam.
Lezly Herbert
