Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin star as members of a rather complex love triangle in the newest offering from writerdirector Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap, The Holiday).

Jane (Streep) suddenly finds herself becoming the ‘other’ woman, after starting an affair with her newly married ex-husband Jake (Baldwin). However, while she’s planning to renovate her kitchen she meets Adam (Martin), a recently divorced architect, who begins to develop feelings for her. Amidst the ensuing complications, Jake’s new wife, a model who is decades younger than him, is demanding a child, and as such sets up one of many humorous set-pieces in a fertility clinic.

Although the characters are all in their fifties, the humour translates fantastically for watchers of any age. There are great performances from the three main stars of the film, with once again more Oscar-hype surrounding Meryl Streep, who will by now have made a choice as to which film she wishes to pursue a nomination for: her great performance here, or that from Julie & Julia. But also on form is Nancy Meyers, who may in fact have made the best film of her career.

This is a rare, comic treat in an Oscar-season populated with films that occupy the bleaker end of the cinematic spectrum, and in this way it makes for essential viewing this term.