Because Jane has recently fallen into bed with her ex, Jane's goodfriends, played by Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place, Alexandra Wentworth and Nora Dunn, dowhat good friends do. They rationalize on Jane's behalf. "He was yoursfirst," one friend offers. But since Jake's current, younger wife (Lake Bell)was "the other woman" in Jane's marriage 10 years earlier, thejustification that sticks is, "It's her karma."
Jake Adler, played by Alec Baldwin in a charmingly manic mode few mencan pull off, is both fun and sexy. His attraction to Jane is by turns ahopeful flirtation and his passionate desire. Brandishing a rather large beerbelly and an even larger sense of the ironic, Jake is tired of being taken forgranted by his young, bossy wife.
And what man of a certain age wouldn'tdesire Streep? At 60 the actress is a natural beauty loaded with sex appeal.Streep has distilled the Shy Di giggle down to a science. Her Jane is warm,self-deprecating, a fantastic mom and a successful chef grown wealthy from herpopular Santa Barbarabakery. The tasteful home she inhabits and the comforting food issued from herkitchen are a Martha Stewart dream come true.
Initially bordering on the farcical, the film straightens up and asksJane to fly right when courted by Adam (Steve Martin), a mildly insecurearchitect. Women viewers want to protest, "No, no, no. Don't play it safe.Live large Jane!" After all, this fairytale is lived by beautiful,privileged people who ought to get everything we want for them, otherwise, whatchance is there for the rest of us?
