REVIEW: Crazy, Stupid, Love

MOVIE
Crazy, Stupid, Love

CAST
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
July 29, 2011

DIRECTOR(S)
John Requa, Glenn Ficarra

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 58 minutes





STARS
****










REVIEW:

Everybody in life falls in love with someone really special to them. Whether it's an older or younger indivitual, a high school sweetheart, or a person of the same gender, everybody will one day find their soulmate. Love is the obvious theme for 'Crazy, Stupid, Love,' a funny, yet sometimes deep romantic film starring funnyman Steve Carell. With names like Steve Carell and Emma Stone on the poster/in the trailer for this movie, you would probably be expecting another dumb but funny romantic comedy. I'm not saying that this movie isn't funny, because it is indeed. I'm saying that this movie has no idea what genre it wants to be categorized in. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? That's what I thought was great about this movie: the fact that, like reality, it has no idea what genre it wants to be. 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' is that rare romantic film that can make you laugh, and make you sad. For that reason alone, this movie is quite possibly the best romantic movie of the year.

Cal Weaver, a man who believes that he has the perfect life, has just found out that his wife has been cheating on him, and therefore wants a divorce. Desperate and lonely, Cal goes to a bar every night and mopes about his wife and what she did to him. But alas, along comes Jacob Palmer, a smooth talking gigelo who helps Cal find a bit of happiness so he can win his wife back. At the same time, much other romantic subplots occur, all eventually colliding into one another into one big pile of Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The best thing about this movie is the cast. Steve Carell knows when to be awkward, funny, and dark at the same time when being Cal. In my opinion, this is Carell's best role since Brick Tamland in the hilarious 'Anchorman.' Steve definately made the right choice leaving his hit show 'The Office,' as long as he keeps making movies as good as this. If you saw 'Dinner for Schmucks' last year, you may agree with me that the best character in the movie was the artist Kieran, played flawlessly by Jemaine Clement. This year, I believe that the best character in 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' is the suave Jacob, played by Ryan Gosling. Like Clement last year, Gosling's character is awesome because he is. He is what most people would call a "womanizer," mainly because he can score with hot women in a bar every single night. This character is funny, charming, an just plain cool to begin with. I hope that Ryan Gosling is in more mainstream movies opposed to artsy films, because he could make it very far with regular moviegoers. The rest of the cast, including Julianne Moore and Kevin Bacon all play their parts well and we actually come to care for them, despite the fact that they're not very likeable characters in reality.

The story is witty and original, the cast is fantastic, and the film's directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, who are best known for co-writing 'Bad Santa' and co-directing last year's 'I Love You Phillip Morris' certainly knew what they were doing when making this movie. Of all of this weekend's releases, this one has to be my favorite one. It's not just because this movie is laugh out loud hilarious that I consider it THE movie to see this week. I believe that with enough laughs and enough heart, you can certainly make a worthwhile film. It's not something that you must go see in theaters, unlike 'Cowboys & Aliens,' but how ever you see this movie I can guarantee that you will enjoy it. If you have ever fallen in love and/or have had your heart shattered into pieces by your "soulmate," then you might have a strong, yet funny case of 'Crazy, Stupid, Love.'



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

The Change-Up

The Help

30 Minutes or Less

Contagion

What's Your Number?

New Year's Eve