Crazy, Stupid, Love
Cal (Steve Carell) and his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) are a couple on the outs and headed towards a divorce, a tough life change for both to adjust to. Deeply depressed Cal heads out to the bar scene where he’s taken under the wing of Jacob (Ryan Gosling), tomcat, player, and all round womanizer. Learning from Jacob, Cal begins to find himself again, and uncover the mistakes he made in his married life. Meanwhile, baby sitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton) has a bit of a crush on Cal, more kerosene on the fire, But Cal’s son is in love with her. Further complications make this Shakespearean love triangle even more bizarre until finally something has to give. Who’s in love with who, and which couples will actually survive the odd ways of love?
Bitter and sardonic for anyone who’s loved and lost, tried to love again, to be met with success or failure. While not really realistic in any sense, there are plenty of moments that could easily apply to anyone who’s played the game of love, and there’s plenty to laugh at here. Carell’s comedic timing shines genuine and the chemistry between both Carell and Moore feels believable too. Moments between the rest of the characters often run the gamut between truly cringe worthy and adoring. Overall, the net effect is a positive, it’s only towards the end where the film mildly falls off the rails and becomes a bit too convenient, but even then, if you’ve bought the film up to this point why not just go with it? So, it’s a romantic comedy, it’s a bit expected, maybe a matinee for the non-alien/transforming/explosion crowd. Crazy, Stupid, Love is rated PG-13.