Movie Review

Crazy, Stupid Love: It's Crazy, Funny, Good.

If the revival of the rom-com were to take place, the headliner would be Crazy, Stupid Love, a funny, sexy, and sweet look at love and the pain it sometimes brings.

The movie starts out with Emily (Julianne Moore) telling her husband Cal (Steve Carell) that she wants a divorce. And by the way, she cheated on him with some schmooze from work. Enter Kevin Bacon in a very un-Bacon role as the sideline homewrecker. Their affair kicks off the beginning of a recycled yet brilliantly fresh male-makeover story.

Cal spends the better portion of the film trying to become more like Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a crazy, sexy cool ladies' man who works his magic every night on one or two women. By the time he's done, they're begging him to take them home. That's what Cal wants. Or that's what Cal thinks he wants, but he's not sure. Of anything. Especially how to get over his wife. The audience is treated to Cal's attempts as Steve Carell brings his character to life with wit and honesty. At the end of the day, Cal is just a guy who is confused about love but desperately wants to keep it as close as possible.

He's not nearly as clueless about love as Emily who spends her time making copies from the Divorce for Dummies book and pretending that the pilot light went out just so she can have an excuse to call Cal. The message sent is that though Emily made the mistake of adultery and requested a divorce, she has no idea what she wants or how this love thing works. Nobody does. Not even those who think they do.

Like Jacob who has spent his trust-fund adulthood getting women who know their love-connection won't go further than his bed to jump at the opportunity of going home with him. He's mastered a fine art that simply isn't that hard to master anymore, as we learn when lame Cal becomes the teacher instead of the student. The fine art becomes a monkey's finger painting when Jacob, himself, falls in love and needs Cal's advice.

The cast makes this elaborate tangle of lies and love easy for audiences to laugh through, but it is the writing that makes this ensemble film work. Dan Fogelman drew together a many-viened web of a plot which fleshes out the love relationships (or desires) of seven different people with wildly complicated lives. He does so in a way that doesn't leave the audience feeling cheated or rushed to a conclusion. Instead, the audience feels a part of the story because of the strong identities of each character. Cal is the guy who has been hurt deeply and simply wants a way to numb the pain until he can sort it all out. Jacob is the master-wingman who can transform Cal's life, but in the end he needs a transformation of his own. Hannah (Emma Stone) is the pretty future lawyer who wants it all but can't get it from a boyfriend who needs to take some time to "figure out how he feels" about them long-term. Emily is the woman who screwed up her own life because she didn't know what she wanted and now is trying to get back to what she had. Every human being on earth who has ever been in love can identify with at least one of the strong characters Fogelman has created. He's made the plot build on itself wonderfully, leaving the viewer entertained and enraptured throughout.

I can't say enough good about this fresh, funny, crazy, love story. It's "sexy while still being cute" (you'll catch that reference when you see the film ;) And you'd do yourself a favor to see it!

willwriteforlove gives Crazy, Stupid Love ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥

Until the next scene,

♥