It's Complicated? It's About Food

Leslie: Over the holidays, Caroline and I both saw the new Nancy Meyer's film, It's Complicated. As expected, it was total escapist schlock in the best way possible, of course. But it got me and Caroline thinking: What's up with movies for women that are all about food?

In this film, Meryl Streep owns this big, beautiful bakery that looks like a Dean & Deluca. She cooks all the time, whipping up an impromptu dinner of a croque monsieur and a ceasar salad and lavender-vanilla ice cream for dessert for a prospective suitor. (She makes ice cream when she can't sleep. This is actually a character trait. As someone who makes ice cream I can tell you that this isn't possible. It's pretty much a day-long process.) But the part that really annoyed me is the fact that her character has hired architects to build her dream kitchen. Here is her current kitchen:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It was almost insulting.

Caroline: Agreed (and yet, that ice cream gave us a reason to watch the wonderfully hairy and endearing Alex Baldwin eat it up like a bear, while Meryl took a soak and called him "big guy"). Although, I'd be very curious to see what kind of fictional kitchen Steve Martin's fictional architect would have created (because clearly Meryl Streep's character is slumming it with all that natural light, a marble-topped island, and two Viking ranges), the whole time I was like "I'll take that kitchen!"

And for those of you who recall Diane Keaton's kitchen in Something's Got to Give (that other Nancy Meyer flick which is basically porn for middle-aged women...and yes, me) that one too was full of creamy natural light, gleaming white surfaces, bowls over-flowing with produce, and milk poured not from—God-forbid— icky cardboard cartons, but thick-bottomed glass bottles. In that movie Jack and Diane whip up late night pancakes--in this film it's three pies for her besties and chocolate croissants. And can we talk about that very lengthy-scene devoted to making pain au chocolat?! And did Steve Martin have plastic-surgery eyes, or was it me?

Leslie: That scene was a pain au my butt! Croissants! Whipping them up in the middle of the night! Because it's sooooo easy. At least in Julie & Julia, when Julie cooked, it didn't look easy. And it was messy. Her kitchen was tiny and cramped and imperfect.

Caroline: I think that we can both agree that these movie confections are supposed to be fantasy-land (heck, I don't think any movie-ticket buyer would want to see me cooking in my former NYC-galley kitchen pimped out in Formica); but yes, Meryl's Julia Child kitchen felt a bit more authentic. Isn't it interesting that The Streep was in two big movies this year playing a cook? Who trained in Paris? Coincidence?

And oh, another favorite Alec Baldwin moment: When he's at the family table again and as he pours some maple syrup directly onto his next bite of pancakes he says "Mommy is the best cook, EVER." I want Tim to say that from now on.

Leslie: Isn't that all any cook wants?

Has anyone else seen It's Complicated? What are your food-related thoughts?