Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo) – A chick flick with a message, Crazy, Stupid, Love. isn’t crazy or stupid, but it is definitely about love. Carell is in his pitch-perfect stereotyped role as the nice guy husband who is a little klutzy but always warm-hearted. Julianne Moore never seems comfortable in romantic comedy and proves that this is definitely not her genre as the wife who wants a divorce. Emma Stone plays the law student who is cute as a button and has no interest in the bar scene. These three form the heart of the film with a predictable result.
Devastated by his wife’s announcement that she wants a divorce, Cal (Carell) moves out, gets an apartment where the kids can visit, and spends most of his time at a hip bar telling all the strangers he meets about his plight and the guy, David (Kevin Bacon) who his wife, Emily, slept with. The bar’s resident womanizer/Lothario, Jacob (Ryan Gosling, playing totally against type but very good at it), pulls Cal aside and makes him his project. He takes him to get new clothes, teaches him the pick-up trade, and brings him out of his shell. Cal is reluctant but then succumbs and finds himself a hot number (talk about playing against type!). But Cal isn’t happy; he just wants Emily back. He gives up on fighting for her even as she struggles without Cal despite David’s interest. The subplot involves their son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), who is madly in love with his babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton). Meanwhile, Jessica has a crush on Cal. Very sophomoric. Very cute. Very chick flickish.
While the movie is played seriously, it really is fun. We know that everything will be OK in the end (will it?) but we want to see how it gets there. When Gosling finally meets a girl he can talk with, not just woo (Emma Stone’s character, Hannah), he falls in love. That is the point at which we are finally surprised. And it is also when we get the obligatory negative turn to the movie (remember the chick flick formula: Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl). The funniest scene in the film happens here and it is definitely a “guy moment.” It is laugh-out-loud funny – a Carell classic. It is amazing that Carell didn’t become a star until his 40s and is now one of the biggest box office and TV (The Office) draws. Good for him. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy who is the Hugh Grant of American actors. Moore is just not made for comedy. She has been great in films like The Kids Are All Right, A Single Man, and Far From Heaven) but she just can’t do light and funny. Note to producers and directors: quit hiring her for these. She is not a box office draw. And next to Carell, it doesn’t work the way Tina Fey just did in Date Night. Gosling was surprisingly good and moved out of indie elitist to mainstream film easily. Good for him.
This is an enjoyable movie that doesn’t light up the board but it makes for a fun two hours.