Film Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Crazy Stupid Love (2011) is not quite crazy, not really all that stupid, but definitely a film you can love.  It has humor, wit, and genuine emotion.  While it drags in a few parts with a slightly uneven tone and falls over the edge into melodrama and tacky rom-com clichés a few times, its charm is hard to resist, thanks to an exceptional ensemble cast that is perfect for each role.  In sum, this fresh, highly enjoyable multi-generational romantic dramedy is one of the best of its kind this year thus far.

 

Cal Weaver, a mild-mannered loving husband and father, has his life thrown out of proportion when his wife of “almost twenty-five years” reveals that she had an affair with coworker David Lindhagen (“-hog-in”) and wants a divorce.  Since he never dated anyone else in his life, he is a lost soul when it comes to fishing in the sea of singles.  However, after numerous miserable “attempts,” more like drowning himself in sorrow, at a local bar, uber-confident and attractive ladies-man/womanizer Jacob Palmer takes Cal under his wing to help get his life back in order and move on with it, with or without Emily.  For instance, he eventually subconsciously shows him how to woo women, such as five-years-sober teacher Kate.  Meanwhile, Jacob finds a “game-changing” young law-student Hannah, who seems to be immune to his charms and most of his moves.  In addition to the adult and young-adult love stories, Cal’s son thirteen-year-old Robbie has a strong, unabashed crush on seventeen-year-old babysitter Jessica Riley, who actually has a secret crush on Mr. Weaver himself.  At its core, though, Cal and Emily’s relationship is the central love story.

The cast members shine and make the film really worth seeing.  Typically slapstick comedian Steve Carell sheds some of his usual persona for a slightly more serious role as Cal Weaver; still, he has a number of funny moments, just not the kind you would find on The Office.  Like long-time friend and comedian Will Ferrell with his dramatic turn in Everything Must Go (2011), Carell shows off some more depth in his performance yet layers in his peculiar brand of humor.  Julianne Moore plays Emily Weaver seamlessly as the conflicted mother/wife; despite her obvious infidelity and betrayal to Cal, she keeps her character human and sympathetic as she displays a great deal of pain and regret as well.  Young Hollywood superstar and gifted actor Ryan Gosling is perhaps another highlight of the acting showcase with his brilliant comedic yet depth-filled turn as the suave Jacob Palmer; he will no doubt win and deserves an Oscar someday, but probably not for a film like this despite his dependable, albeit shorter-than-anticipated, performance.  The ever-adorable Emma Stone, also a rapidly rising Hollywood star, is great as the “PG-13” Hannah.  She doesn’t have a ton of dramatic heft to work with since her character kind of disappears for a bit of time; nonetheless, she still turns in another solid performance in a role and film pretty similar to her own charming and fun romantic comedy Easy A (2010), which has several parallels in this film (i.e. The Scarlet Letter).

Even the supporting cast members effortlessly fit into their parts.  Relative newcomers Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo are sweet as ever in the roles of Jessica Riley and the perpetually optimistic, hopeless-romantic and wise Robbie Weaver.  Marissa Tomei is also perfectly cast as the uneasy Kate; she has several laugh-out-loud moments.  John Caroll Lynch and Kevin Bacon are equally perfect for their minor parts Bernie Riley and David Lindhagen.  Josh Groban is decent as the sleazy Richard, Hannah’s boss and boyfriend, and former NCIS member Liza Lapira is fine as Hannah’s best friend Liz.  In all, the entire cast is as pitch-perfect as they could be and make watching the film much more entertaining.

Co-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa bring screenwriter Dan Fogelman’s screenplay to energetic life and generally smooth the uneven tone over fairly well.  Some of the characters and relationships disappear for a while, such as Jacob-Hannah, while others drag on sometimes and turn the focus away from the central story a bit too long, such as Robbie-Jessica.  Still, the actors and direction is lively enough to engage the viewers throughout; in fact, the film seems to flow better as it continues and has a very funny and surprising third act that brings all the stories together.  Besides, the varying appeal for each generation of characters and their relationships will depend on the type of audience (tweens, young adult, grown-up).  In other words, almost everyone ought to enjoy the film since it has something for everyone.  One could nitpick the film apart.  For instance, the slow-motion moments in the bar and elsewhere work once, are kind of funny a second time, but then wear thin quickly; also, the soundtrack could have been more inspiring as it seems to be decent or a little below average for such an engaging romantic comedy – a better soundtrack could have made the movie great instead of good.  Nevertheless, the criticisms are generally minor and, again, the cast members easily cover for the film’s flaws.

Beyond mere entertainment value, Crazy Stupid Love presents a few relatable messages about love.  It claims that everyone has a soulmate and once you find him/her you cannot and should not give up on them; although, just because you may believe he/she is your soulmate does not always mean that you are simply meant to be together.  Furthermore, the film stresses the fact that more than attraction and love are necessary to keep long-term relationships healthy and functional, as they are extremely hard work sometimes; even the most passionate couples or spouses can fall into the trap of contentment and allow the bond to wither.  Apart from romantic themes of love/divorce, the film also has some interesting and touching points about parenting.  The messages are not terribly profound, but they are still noteworthy and enhance the film.  After all, doesn’t love make us crazy and severely stupid sometimes but we still search for and cling to it?

The film is not perfect or a game-changing romantic dramedy, but it is still very enjoyable.  It features some of Hollywood’s best actors and actresses in roles that either perfectly fit their personas or go against them somewhat but flawlessly work.  It is full of energy and witty dialogue, but isn’t a real laugh-out-loud comedy since its more of a dramedy.  The flaws can be forgiven rather easily with such a great cast and sweet set of stories; overall, the movie effectively balances the tone.  In a summer full of crude R-rated humor and romantic comedies, Crazy Stupid Love is a very good, refreshing (PG-13) romantic dramedy worth seeing in theaters.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. – 8/10

 

 

And since the “This Is Love” promo is a great minute-long preview and features “This Modern Love” by Bloc Party…

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