The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences needs to create a new category at its annual awards ceremony: Best Performance by a Lead Actress in Two Dramatically Different Roles. Meryl Streep would win this Oscar two years running. In 2008, she romped through the film version of Mama Mia, reminding everyone that, yes, she really can sing, and then did an about face playing a dour-faced nun in Doubt. This year, she took on the Herculean task of portraying an American icon, Julia Child, rendering the Julie part of the story superfluous. And now, she is showcasing her considerable talents as a comedienne in Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated. What isn’t at all complicated is that Meryl Streep can do it all.

Streep is now 60, the age when most actresses are relegated to playing the doting mother, wacky aunt, or the wise grandmother to whatever young star (man or woman) People magazine has crowned as the next big thing. Not only has she avoided typecasting, but she also continues to nab the roles that younger actresses would kill for.

Streep exhibited her wide range while attending the Yale School of Drama, where she played the lovely Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then turned around to play an 80 year old woman in a wheelchair. Robert S. Brustein, then dean of the Yale Drama School, observed in his book, Letters to a Young Actor, that Streep “was destined for greatness.”

She made her film debut in the World War II drama, Julia, playing opposite another film legend, Vanessa Redgrave. Shortly after she began to capture the public’s attention with her remarkable versatility and ability to totally immerse herself in the role. In The Deer Hunter, she played a young woman caught between two best friends (Christopher Walken and Robert De Niro), and in Kramer vs. Kramer, a young mother overwhelmed with her life (above). The former earned her an Academy Award nomination the second, her first win in the Supporting Actress category.

Her film, TV, and stage credits are too numerous to list here and every fan has a favorite. Older fans recall her tour de force in Sophie’s Choice (her Oscar win in the Best Actress category) while younger fans loved her as the boss from hell in The Devil Wears Prada. Even those two choices once again speak to her range.

Streep is not beautiful. The classic story told about her looks is one involving Dino De Laurentiis, who, auditioning actresses for the lead in his remake of King Kong, commented to his son in Italian: “She’s ugly. Why did you bring me this thing?” He was, of course, shocked when Streep responded in perfect Italian: “I’m very sorry that I disappoint you.” For the record, De Laurentiis has denied the exchange occurred, but who wouldn’t? Calling the best actress in the world “ugly” is certainly nothing he would want to own up to.

In her latest film, It’s Complicated, Streep delivers a Valentine to older women who have lost a spouse to a younger woman. In the classic “be careful what you wish for” theme, the film illustrates how those May-December romances oftentimes end in disaster. Streep portrays Jane Adler, a divorcee whose sex life suddenly receives a jolt when she begins an affair with her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin). It seems that life with a younger wife, Agness (Lake Bell), is not everything Jake thought it would be. At a time when he is watching his older children graduate from college and get married, Jake is taking his five year-old son on kindergarten interviews. And, Agness wants another child necessitating numerous visits to a fertility clinic and sex-on-demand whenever Agness is ovulating. Is it any wonder that sex with his former wife begins to look good?

Even though her marriage broke up when Jake had an affair with Agness, Jane feels guilty being “the other woman.” (Our guess is that many of the older divorced women in the audience might not share Jane’s sense of righteousness). As luck would have it, the affair coincides with Jane meeting Adam (Steve Martin), a divorced architect who is designing an addition to her house. The three Adler children, along with the older daughter’s fiancé, have conflicted feelings once they discover the affair. Even after ten years, the children are still adjusting to the divorce. The thought that their parents might reunite throws them a curve they can’t handle.

Streep is a delight to watch throughout the film, whether she is enthusiastically rolling out dough to create chocolate croissants for Adam, or shyly dropping her robe, daring to reveal her 60-something body to her ex. She is totally believable and one can only guess that her professionalism helped to raise the bar for everyone around her. Her chemistry with both Baldwin and Martin elicits sparks and the young actors who play her children shine. As the fiancé, John Krasinski leaves behind his character from The Office. We hope this role will help to launch what could be an incredible film career for this young star.

But the star here is Meryl, once and for all. Streep will be running against herself at the Golden Globes, nominated in the Best Actress category for both Julie and Julia and It’s Complicated. May the best one win.