Former married couple Jane (Meryl Streep, left) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) flirt in the romantic comedy It's Complicated. (Universal Pictures)

Every three years, director Nancy Meyers releases a shiny new ornament for the holiday season. What Women Want (2000) asked us to believe that Mel Gibson had privileged access to the innermost thoughts of females. Something's Gotta Give (2003) offered us a Viagra-popping Jack Nicholson competing with Keanu Reeves for the affections of Diane Keaton. The Holiday (2006) delivered more seasonal escapism, with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swapping transatlantic homes for a few weeks, and then somehow finding perfect mates despite their gruelling social and gift-buying schedules.

On the surface, there's nothing remotely subversive about Meyers's films: she writes and directs romantic comedies that are more intelligent than most, casts high-profile stars and then throws them onto tastefully appointed sets that seem to come straight from the pages of wish-fulfillment architecture magazines. But even if her sugar-coated holiday fare isn't your cup of tea, Meyers deserves credit for doing something most mainstream directors would never dream of – she makes movies for and about middle-aged women, a criminally neglected demographic that's growing all the time.

In Nancy Meyers's movies, the greying boomers — not the 20-somethings — are the most vibrant characters. Life experience is actually considered valuable.

She doesn't have the critical cachet of Martin Scorsese, and compared to James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, she's virtually anonymous. But Meyers is a Hollywood hit machine; the three aforementioned films grossed a total of $850 million US worldwide.

And now, like clockwork, It's Complicated arrives in theatres on Christmas Day, almost guaranteed to make as much money as each of the director's previous efforts.

Meyers understands that after the seasonal whirlwind, moms just want to relax. So the director sticks to her tried-and-true holiday recipe, combining big stars, drool-inducing homes and a plotline that showcases boomers behaving badly.

The slight script is easily encapsulated in the poster image that shows a worried Meryl Streep in bed with Alec Baldwin, who's savouring a moment of post-coital bliss. Streep plays Jane, a mother of three who divorced her lawyer husband Jake (Baldwin) a decade ago. He hightailed it out of the marriage for a much younger woman, but now craves a more mature partner who won't pester him to have a child – namely, his ex-wife. The two embark on a torrid affair, which gets, well, mildly complicated when they try to hide it from their children, Jake's wife and Adam (Steve Martin), an architect who's developed a serious crush on Jane. (Note: there are always architects, lawyers or doctors in Meyers's scripts.)

It's a wafer-thin plot, but It's Complicated succeeds due to the immense charm of the lead actors. Baldwin steals the show, playing an ego-fuelled walking libido not far removed from his Jack Donaghy character on 30 Rock. Jake has an insatiable appetite for sex, food and stream-of-consciousness wisecracking. Baldwin clearly delights in playing these loveable rogues, and he isn't afraid to show his middle-age girth. (Vince Vaughn take note: this is how you play a fast-talking charmer.)

Comedy was never Streep's strong suit (anyone remember She-Devil? Death Becomes Her?), but, like Baldwin, she's on a mid-career hot streak. She shines here as someone who's both energized and repulsed by her behaviour – after several years on the dating sidelines, Jane wants to throw caution to the wind, but only manages to do so intermittently. Streep alternates effortlessly between guilt, paranoia and girl-like giddiness.

Jane (Meryl Streep, left) and new love interest Adam (Steve Martin) share a meal. (Universal Pictures) She can also do subtle physical comedy. The film's highlight is an extended scene in which she smokes pot before heading out on a date with Adam to a family event. (Yes, Jane starts dating the new guy while carrying on with her ex.) She shares her stash with the architect and the two get well and truly stoned, unable to contain their mirth at the most inappropriate moments. After seeing Steve Martin on auto-pilot for so long, it's nice to see him at least trying again – the former "wild and crazy guy" dials it down several notches to play a character who's been crushed by a recent divorce.

There are a few rough patches here: in a scene that's unbelievably contrived, Jane confides to her girlfriends about the affair with Jake. It's almost as if Meyers felt she had to add a Sex and the City vibe to the proceedings, and it falls horribly flat.

Rita Wilson, Alexandra Wentworth and Mary Kay Place – all graduates of the Acting School of Professional Best Friends – play Jane's confidantes, and it feels like this is the first time they've ever met each other. Clearly, Joan Cusack and Sandra Oh – two other actors who often play the girlfriend-confidante role – were unavailable.

As well, Jane and Jake's three grown-up kids are virtually indistinguishable from one another: Luke (Hunter Parrish), Lauren (Caitlin Fitzgerald) and Gabby (Zoe Kazan) look more like models from L.L. Bean catalogues than living, breathing human beings. It's hard to believe that compelling parents like Jane and Jake could raise such bland offspring.

But that's largely the appeal of Meyers's work. In her movies, the greying boomers — not the genetically gifted 20-somethings — are the most vibrant characters. In her world, life experience is actually considered valuable. Think of a movie like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and the countless teen comedies it spawned: teenagers loved them because they were flattered by John Hughes, who consistently portrayed them as the most interesting people on the planet, as opposed to those killjoy adults.

Similarly, Meyers flatters the boomer demographic. She delivers her generation's revenge for all those teen movies. In her world, it's the 50- and 60-somethings who get to have all the fun. In the guise of fluffy entertainment, the director makes a convincing argument that even if a woman is old enough to consider getting a cosmetic eyelid lift, she can still feel the desire to connect with other people. And this holiday season, that's probably the most subversive message we're going to get from Hollywood.

It's Complicated opens across Canada on Dec. 25.

Greig Dymond writes about the arts for CBC News.