Crazy Stupid Love review

     There is a clever and original scripts within the shell of a familiar romantic comedy storyline of Crazy, Stupid, Love, but it is the cast which truly makes the film shine. For the most part, it is difficult to surprise audiences within a romantic comedy. They story nearly always forces itself to a neat and idealistic happy ending we know will arrive from the first fifteen minutes. Crazy, Stupid, Love manages to provide this reassuring finale while still throwing a few curveballs into the mix. They aren’t huge twists as much as unrealistic coincidences that connect characters together, but it adds new dimensions to this ensemble romance.

            At the center of the tale is the disintegrating marriage of Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) and his longtime wife, Emily (Julianne Moore). In the opening scene Cal and Emily are having a mundane date night, not unlike the one which is the catalyst for comedy in the opening sequence of Carell’s Date Night. But this date ends in Emily asking for a divorce. She admits having slept with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon), and this information is too much for Cal to accept. He begins drinking his sorrows away, pathetically telling his sob story to everyone, willing to listen or not.

            This eventually comes to the attention of a local lady-killer named Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who decides to take the pathetic middle-aged man under his wing. Teaching Cal how to dress and how to pick up women, Jacob inadvertently comes into a situation where he himself learns something new about himself. Jacob is easily the most engaging character in the film, not only because he is played by the flawless Gosling whose range as an actor grows exceedingly impressive, but because he keeps his true feeling hidden much of the film. The film also has babysitters with crushes on their employer, and kids who have crushes on their babysitters. There are many intertwining storylines with Marisa Tomei and Emma Stone also thrown into the mix. It is a film about love, and despite beginning with a divorce proposition, Crazy, Stupid, Love is far from cynical.