Crazy, Stupid, Love.- Movie Review

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Written by Dan Fogelman
Running Time: 118 minutes (1h, 58 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for coarse humor, sexual content and language).
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is one of the best titles for a romantic comedy I've heard in a very long time since When Harry Met Sally. The title pretty tells you what to expect in the film. Something crazy, something stupid and something lovely that happens in the lives of somewhat reletable people.

The film opens with a huge bombshell. Cal Weaver (Steve Carell, who also produced) is told by his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) that she wants a divorce. Of course, he's shocked, just like every other person in the world would be when they hear this news come out of nowhere. The kids have the same feeling as well, especially his 13-year-old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) and his 17-year-old babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton). Robbie is in love with her (and he makes that very clear) while she is love with Cal. Cal drains his sorrow at a fancy cocktail bar, where he notices ladies' man Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who leaves the bar with the woman of his choice every night. Cal's angry monologues of his wife catches Jacob's attention and he decides to help him out. This leads to montages that involve makeovers (with suits and shoes galore), pickup moves and a scene where Cal gets exposed to Jacob's penis. It's a PG-13 rated film, so Cal's head blocks the way, thankfully. Cal turns into the ladykiller Jacob is and picks up plenty of women, one notable one being Kate, a recovering alchoholic, played with such comedic energy by Marisa Tomei. Jacob also meets Hannah, played by the lovely Emma Stone, and does something he never thought he would do: fall in love. Meanwhile, Emily has been seeing David (Kevin Bacon), her fellow co-worker and the man she slept with behind Cal's back. Not much is made out of this subplot, especially when there's a lot of them going around.

Let's talk about the cast. Carell brings back some of that 40-Year-Old Virgin flow and while a little of isn't really amusing, it starts to grow on you as the movie goes by. This is Ryan Gosling's first romantic comedy and he handles the romance well (his scenes with Emma Stone are nice to see), but it's the comedy he handles better. He proves he still has the chops of mainstream leading man, other than the indies he does in between. It also looks like Bacon is the guy to turn to when playing snaky lady-stealers. He (sort-of) played the same kind of role in the dark superhero comedy Super. But the scene-stealer is Jonah Bobo. His scenes are so well-written and hilarious, so he has a lasting effect on you. Same thing with Analeigh Tipton. She and Bobo have many scenes together, which is one reason why she does.

While the film may be formulaic at times (It makes fun of that sometimes), the characters in the film are not annoying or stupid. They feel just like real-life people. I don't know about the guy who leaves home with a woman every night, but maybe somewhere it happens. I could tell screenwriter Fogelman actually cared about the characters he was creating, something that I feel doesn't really happen in a film of this genre. This is Ficarra and Requa's second directorial effort, following the equally impressive I Love You, Phillip Morris. They direct this film with the same kind of breeze that Phillip Morris had.

So, in a nice little conclusion, I now deem Crazy, Stupid, Love the best romantic comedy of the year and seeing as there will be a bunch of rom-coms that I'll try to avoid in the theatres (It's not my favourite type of genre) and I'm not sure if I would call Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris a romantic comedy, I stand by that. I give the film ***1/2 (Three and a half stars).

(Note: This is my 20th post on the blog. That is what I like to call FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!).