Love is a complicated feeling. It comes in many forms, and has diverse meanings amongst all people. Once under the influence of love, it can cause a person to do brave and passionate things, sometimes without that individual thinking of what he/she is doing. Everyone fights for love, because it's worth it. In directors Glenn Ficarra's and John Requa's heartfelt romantic comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love, they throw their ensemble cast into a tangled web of emotions that isn't straightforward at all to figure out. It's a portrait of love that viewers can have a connection with, and that is the film's glowing charm.
Cal Weaver's (Steve Carell) once ideal life has taken a sudden turn for the worse. His wife of 25 years, Emily (Julianne Moore) confesses to Cal of cheating on him with a coworker (Kevin Bacon), in the fear that her husband has stopped trying to make their marriage work after all these years. After moving out of the house, Cal is picked up by ladies man Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) who promises him that he will assist Cal in becoming a new person and get him back into the dating world. Meanwhile, Jacob starts to have feelings for law student Hannah (Emma Stone); and Cal's 13-year-old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) is dealing with a crush on his 17-year-old babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), who herself has an affection for Cal. When Cal realizes that dating isn't working for him, he decides that all he wants is Emily, and he will do whatever he can to win her back.
Steve Carell's appeal is a beacon of comedy light that never fails to shine through. Every character he plays has a significant lovability factor, and his role in this film is the quintessence of that. He still manages to be our golden boy of unstoppable wit, but he also manages to blend some realistic human drama into his Cal character. His persistent fight for his wife is one that produces both laughs, applause and sympathy. Seeing him sail through the tumultuous tides of marriage further reminds us how flexible he is as an actor with whatever script he's given. If this is a sample of what to expect from Carell in his post-Office career, then his future in the industry is limitless.
Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell are two very different actors; so seeing their characters as total opposites of each other had just the right feeling. The pairing of them is flawless. Gosling as the smooth-talking pick-up artist easily wins over the audience, just like he does with the women he meets on his nightly excursions to the local bars. The relationship between Cal and Jacob is just as important as the ones between boyfriend and girlfriend, and husband and wife; because they both help to change each other and point out the other's flaws.
Julianne Moore's performance achieves in making us feel for her even though she has cheated on Cal. She is remorseful for what she has done, so we know there are still some sparks of goodness in her. Emma Stone is on her way to becoming one of Hollywood's next great actresses, and proves in her scenes that she belongs in the same league as the screen veterans she is costarring with. Marisa Tomei is madly funny as Cal's psycho new girlfriend.
The screenplay by Dan Fogelman proficiently focuses on each person in order to help them grow throughout the movie. Seeing Cal go from a student to a master makes for some wonderful character development. It doesn't matter if a character is experienced or inexperienced in romance; because the film shows love as a battlefield, with its players trying to make sense out of what they feel for each other. There's an equal dose of relationships that are in need of repair, as well as those that are just beginning to get structured. The story shows love from different points-of-view and ages. Although the ending is a tad predictable, the way that the film arrives there compensates for that. There are a couple of twists with great payoffs that you would be hard pressed to find in many romantic comedies these days. Is Crazy, Stupid, Love crazy? Yes, but in a lighthearted way. Is it stupid? No, not at all. It's brainy.
Final grade: A-
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