Crazy, Stupid, Love
The thing with romcoms is that they are dealt a tough hand: romance and comedy. They’re like the kid in middle school with curly hair and glasses; it’s a lot to handle. But with a little maturity those kids learn to work with what they’ve got and suddenly come out looking like Seth Rogan at the 2009 Oscars. This is the case with Crazy, Stupid, Love. Though it’s a by-the-book tale of love gone awry and the inevitable public decree that saves it, what easily could have been a frizzy mess turned out to be a sleek and charming flick.
After 25 years of marriage, Emily (Julianne Moore) asks Cal (Steve Carell) for a divorce. This seems to be immediately caused by his love of New Balances, but we’re to assume that it’s indicative of a larger problem (the classic “he stopped trying”). Enter Jacob (Ryan Gosling), the modern-day libertine, wise in the ways of turning bar chat into pillow talk. He takes Cal under his wing, and on a man makeover, ready to teach him the ways of fancy scotch-based cocktails and meaningless sex with models. But, of course, what’s a love story without multi-generational layers?
Rounding out our merry crew of lovebirds are Hannah (Emma Stone), as the woman whose goofy facial expressions melt Jacob’s chiseled exterior, and Robbie (Jonah Bobo), Cal’s son who is wise beyond his 13 years. Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei supply laughs as the romantic roadblock,s as does Liza Lapira, Hannah’s wise-cracking BFF. Despite being over-scored and a tad long, we’re all reminded that love is indeed crazy and stupid, but man, can it be fun.