The Kitchen Garden in “It’s Complicated”

Recently the L.A. Times ran a piece about the vegetable plot cultivated by Meryl Streep’s character in the hit film “It’s Complicated.” I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my list. And this still-photo from the film just about says it all: this garden is too good to be true.

My first impression was that it looked like an illustration from a Beatrix Potter story. Remember Peter Rabbit sauntering down those rows of perfect cabbages, lettuces, and carrots? In her charming illustrations, Beatrix didn’t draw wilted leaves or spots of insect damage, or any other minor imperfections that are inevitable in a garden. And it seems the film’s set designer, Jon Hutman, was intent on creating a fairy tale of his own, as he revealed in an interview with an L.A. Times columnist. Here’s what he’s quoted as saying:

We try to make the movies look real, but a very delicious version of real. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but those tomatoes were wired to the vine.

He also confesses that the vegetables were grown in a greenhouse for two months before being transplanted to the set garden, and that any imperfect plants were discarded.

But it’s not just the film-set perfection that’s impossible in real life. Did anyone else notice that this vegetable plot rather miraculously features both cool-weather and warm-weather crops, all full grown and ready for harvest at the same time?

To read more about set design for the house interiors featured in the film, visit Traditional Home and Cinema Style. ♣

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Studios

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