CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE – The Review

The nice guy never gets the girl, right? This really isn’t an accurate turn of phrase. How do you define the “nice guy” anyway? Its all relative, subject to each individual’s own perspective, and subject to change without notice. This may sound confusing, and it often can be, but these are the kinds of questions that arise while watching CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE is written by Dan Fogelman (FRED CLAUS, TANGLED) and co-directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS). The story revolves around Cal (Steve Carell), a middle-aged family man whose life is suddenly turned upside-down when his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) abruptly informs him she wants a divorce after 25 years of marriage.

Cal is one of those previously mentioned “nice guys,” a good-hearted husband who may have let time whittle away at his conscious affection for Emily, a good-hearted woman herself, but perhaps going through a self-proclaimed mid-life crisis. From the very moment she utters the words, there is a sense that she doesn’t truly want the divorce. Never the less, Cal obliges her and attempts to move on with his life as a sad, clueless man, alone and lost.

Ryan Gosling (BLUE VALENTINE, HALF NELSON) is a suave, attractive and confident man, comfortable swooning the ladies with an uncanny ease. It so happens that Cal has been frequenting Jacob’s bar of choice, sipping his vodka cranberries and spewing about his woes night after night. Enough is enough; when Jacob takes pity on Cal and agrees to school him on the ways of the ladies man. This is the strongest part of the film.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE is a wonderfully accurate descriptive title for this movie, a romantic comedy that surpasses most of its genre. Cal is the ideal, if not typical, character role for Steve Carell, smart but oblivious, with a touch of cynicism and just enough quirkiness to keep things interesting. Every once in a while, Carell lets his inner-goofball slip out just a bit, then reigns it back in before getting out of control. Ryan Gosling, on the other hand, nails the role of the Abbott straight man to Carell’s Costello, keeping Cal in check throughout his efforts to “Miyagi” Cal into a ladies man.

Julianne Moore (THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT) is pleasantly conflicted at Emily, enjoyable to watch and emotionally present, keeping the audience from hating her despite being the antagonist of the relationship. However, her role is relatively small in the film, as CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE is primarily told from the man’s point-of-view. Emma Stone (EASY A, ZOMBIELAND) and her ridiculously unreal blue eyes plays Hannah, an cute young lawyer who discovers her own disappointment in men when she learns how uncommitted her boyfriend truly is. As a result, she catches the relentless attention of Jacob at the bar, shocked to find he’s smitten with Hannah’s repeated refusals and his own foreign feeling of “this is the one.”

Cal and Jacob begin to rely on each other as other relationships and acquaintances occur for comic relief, including Cal’s son Robbie’s (Jonah Boo) infatuation with his babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), providing a more teen-aged element to the story, part American Pie, part Say Anything. Marisa Tomei (CYRUS, THE WRESTLER) appears briefly as an energetic one night stand for Cal, returning as briefly to provide for some uncomfortable circumstances for our unlikely romantic hero Cal to overcome on his journey of winning back Emily’s heart. Meanwhile, Emily tiptoes around a relationship with her co-worker David (played by Kevin Bacon).

The music, much like Carell’s performance, feels oddly familiar. It works, but it also pulled me out of the story, just slightly, on more than one occasion. This is due, in part, to what I felt was a curious similarity to the music of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Likewise, Carell’s performance isn’t far off from his role in DAN IN REAL LIFE combined with just a smidgen of DUE DATE.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE slowly builds to a hilariously absurd climactic eruption of comical crossed paths and confused coincidences. If this all sounds hard to follow, its not, as this film offers a fun ride with lots of laughs and plenty of relationship fodder we all can relate to in one way or another. Ryan Gosling steals the show, with his James Bond essence of cool, but he and Steve Carell work well together, making this a worthy date night flick.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars