Crazy, Stupid, Love.
This is one of those movies that, when the major studios release them, I am profoundly grateful when they do. My favorite film of 2011, “The Adjustment Bureau,” followed the same pattern: hook me with a good trailer, great cast, and entertaining premise, but floor me with the film itself. It’s not a calculated attempt to entertain me, but rather a film I can come to on my own, and find myself just falling for. Bless you, Warner Bros.
That doesn’t mean this romantic comedy/drama, written by “Cars” co-writer Dan Fogelman and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (who just directed Jim Carrey to one of his best performances in, “I Love You Phillip Morris”), breaks any new ground for the genre: although there are a handful of genuine narrative surprises in this story of modern love and finding one’s soulmate, it’s still very much a major studio film. Thank God it’s got such an overqualified cast.
Ahhh, the cast. Steve Carell stars as Cal Weaver, a middle-aged husband and father who is out on a date night with his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore, quite adept at laughs that stick in your throat), when she drops a bombshell on him…she wants a divorce. After 25 years of marriage, it’s over, which makes for an awkward drive home that gets more awkward when they get home to their two young children, Molly (Joey King) and Robbie (Jonah Bobo, who damn near steals the movie) and their babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton, another gifted scene stealer along with Bobo, whose Robbie has a major league crush on Jessica). Cal moves out not long after, and defeated, starts to frequent a local bar. He spends most of his time whining and feeling sorry for himself and relating his sob story about how Emily cheated on him with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon). One night, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) can’t take it any more, and he takes it upon himself to help Cal reinvent himself, to find the man he forgot so long ago, but becoming a ladies man has its pitfalls for Cal, especially considering he’s still hung up on Emily, and as we’ll find out, Emily on Cal.
Carell and Gosling make a comic dream team as teacher and student in the ways of romancing women, with Carell bringing a deeper vulnerability to his “40-Year-Old Virgin” persona, not to mention throwing his own desires into a tailspin when he picks up one of Robbie’s teachers (Marisa Tomei, hilarious and kind of bat-crap crazy). And wait until you see what happens when Jessica decides to act on her feelings for Cal. But Gosling is the real surprise in this film; sure, the star of “The Notebook” and “Lars and the Real Girl” has shown his funny side before, but when this player gets blind-sided by a young lawyer, Hannah (Emma Stone, solidifying her golden girl of comedy rep with biting wit), things get complicated when Cal’s parental instincts get in the way of being happy for Jacob. In addition to the inspired work by Carell and Gosling, what’s most wonderful about “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” is how everyone channels their inner romantic to follow their heart, even if they have every reason to give up. The way things work out will surprise you, and even for the most jaded moviewatcher, so will the movie.
