Crazy, Stupid, Love

It was roughly two-thirds of the way into Crazy, Stupid, Love when I realized how invested the audience in my theater had become. The key scene involved a mom cleaning her daughter's room, a seemingly mundane moment that produced gasps and cries of "Oh no!" even before the character makes a very revealing discovery. It's a scene that, much like the rest of Crazy, Stupid, Love, a heartwarming and, at times, painfully honest depiction of three couples at various stages in each of their relationships, unfolds not with predictability so much as inevitability. Unlike your average, generic romantic-comedy, this movie focuses less on the end, on who will end up with whom, than on the special and often surprising connections that are made along the way. What's more, it achieves the remarkable and all-too-rare feat of actually moving the audience to care about the central characters, to cheer when they come out on top and sympathize when they don't.

Using a witty, compassionate and ever-so-slightly subversive script from Dan Fogelman, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who are best known for writing the pitch-black comedy/satire Bad Santa and only have one other directorial effort under their belts (last year's I Love You, Philip Morris), guide the production along with subtle ease. They strike an ideal balance between humor and drama, allowing the overall tone to develop organically. Laughs come mostly in chuckles at the cleverness of a line or its delivery and are never awkwardly forced in to lighten up a scene, while the emotions feel genuine without becoming manipulative. Most of all, their restrained approach allows the actors to breathe and to fully embody the characters they've been given.

Speaking of which, has there ever been a more likable group of people assembled for a film, much less a romantic comedy? The cast gels remarkably well, and at no point is anyone singled out as a villain; even when a character threatens to become unlikable, the actor portrays him or her with such keen understanding that it ultimately becomes hard, if not impossible, to not root for each and every one of them. Whenever the film tiptoes the line toward schmaltzy, they pull it back, making every line and emotion feel utterly real. As the unquestionable lead of the film, Steve Carell displays a tenderness and dramatic depth he'd only hinted at in previous works like the unexpectedly moving The 40-Year-Old Virgin and occasional episodes of The Office, while Ryan Gosling, all immaculate grooming, sly grins and twinkling eyes, is perfectly cast as his foil, Jacob, a suave ladies' man who's really using all that money and swagger to disguise the emptiness he feels inside. Julianne Moore and Emma Stone are both lovely as Emily and Hannah, respectively, radiating a down-to-earth presence and relatability that many other Hollywood actresses seem to lack. Also worth noting are Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo, who form Crazy, Stupid, Love's youngest romantic pairing and have been all but ignored by the movie's publicity campaigns despite their obvious talents.

What truly sets Crazy, Stupid, Love apart from other modern-day romantic comedies, aside from the perceptive writing and direction and a dream cast, is that it strives to be meaningful, rather than just mindless, predictable fluff. Though the movie employs its share of clichés (precocious kid, guy falls for the one girl who initially rejected his advances, etc.) , it's often done with a knowing wink, most obviously when, after an altercation with Emily, his ex, and rain begins to pour down on him, Carell's despondent Cal mutters, "What a cliché." It shows that love is messy, irrational, sweet and universal, filled with regrets and tears as well as hope and joy. It celebrates movies like Say Anything… or Jerry Maguire where sentimental wasn't a bad word and love meant more than sex, diamond earrings and expensive, candlelit dinners, where those small, precious moments of quiet intimacy – a shared look, a simple but honest conversation, a laugh, a smile, buying a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone, a spontaneous phone call – speak as loudly as the grandest, most dramatic, craziest gestures.

In short, Crazy, Stupid, Love does what the best romantic comedies do: it gives us a glimpse into the raw, human moments that collectively build to bring two people together – or, at times, tear them apart; we fall in love with them just as they fall in – or, out of – love with each other. It's the perfect date movie, and so much more. To all the other ones, the mediocre, cornball, lazy, offensive rom-coms and chick-flicks out there, Ryan Gosling has a message for you: be better than The Gap. Be better than The Gap.

When it all comes together in an ensemble romantic comedy, it takes a great script, spot-on casting, inspired acting, timing, synergy, and brilliant direction. Crazy, Stupid Love has it all. Arguably, the best romantic-comedy of the new millennium era, CSL synchronized two directors and a screenwriter who had all previously been noted for their top success in animation films and television including the 'Cars' franchise, 'Tangled' and 'Angry Beavers' (in addition to non-animation film), along with the brilliant Casting Director Icon Cindy Marin who had casted 'Juno' a few years earlier.

The casting could not have been better, and with the inclusion of Kevin Bacon, connects the film (within 7-degrees of Bacon) to generations of great romantic comedies.

I can count on one hand the number of great romantic comedies in film since 2000 - they are rare, hard to pull off, and this is one of the very best. TV Series are a much better platform for comedy, as the comic moments can be spliced together without having the wrap a complete linear story around it in just two hours - TV is 30 minutes of gags; next episode.

Pulling-off a quality 2-hour story like this one, within the comedy genre (that is both sexy-sweet and funny at the same time;) requires effectively synchronizing a lot of moving parts.

Everyone involved in the production of CSL brought their A-Game, and it shows.

The key tandem in the film's success is Steve Carrell/Ryan Gosling - Without those two delivering the goods, the film would have failed.

They deliver big-time, making this Buddy-Film disguised as a Romantic-Comedy an all-time film arts success.

The Carrell/Gosling best-buddy relationship centers around a man in his 40's (Carrell) in the process of being separated from his middle-school sweetheart and first-and-only-love wife (Julianne Moore), reluctantly entering the modern singles dating world for the first time in his life.

He is completely unprepared and out of step with the times and the game, but runs into the Yoda or "Miyagi" master of ladies-men (Gosling) at a popular local singles bar, who decides to take him under his wing and mentor him in the ways of successfully meeting younger women after observing his wallowing in breakup pain and ineptitude in the singles game. The Pygmalion-like tutoring and transformation is truly brilliant fun to watch.

A complex intertwining connection of the entire cast starts to reveal itself piece by piece, and the hilarious apex of the film is one of the most memorable pay-off moments in comedy-film history.

The supporting cast orbits around the two new-best-friend buddies, and their acting excellence results in CSL rating as one of the all-time great ensemble comedies.

This was the first of three (as of 2021) successful movie pairings of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, each subsequent project propelling both into higher orbits of superstardom - the third pairing 'La La Land' resulted in multiple award nominations, including an Oscar win for Stone, and with Hollywoods penchant for staying with winning formulas, it is likely we shall see more of these two together in film.

CSL fits the new millennial era culture well, and perhaps years from now will seem dated to this period (filmed right before the dating App explosion that occurred from 2012-2015 that replaced and swiped-away bar meetups, it is already aging in that regard). This just means everyone "got it" during its production, and certainly transferred that "get" to the screen with notable comic skill.

On my IMDb list of Top 25 Best Comedy Buddy Films.

Needless to say, I "highly recommended" 'Crazy, Stupid Love', and give it the proverbial two thumbs up! 👍👍

Such a wonderful rom-com with great writing! Ryan Gosling is superb as the ladies man and I love how Steve Carell is great in the drama aspect. Crazy, Stupid, Love is so enjoyable throughout with amazing charm and soundtrack! Not like most divorce films which is a pleasant surprise; every scene has feel-good entertainment embed in it perfectly.

Romantic comedies aren't usually my kind of thing but I thought this film was great. The cast is strong (Gosling, Stone, Carell) which is the main reason I chose to watch this film. It is quite a long film but the plot is really clever. There is plenty of different things going on in the film and the way it all gets linked together is brilliant and certainly something I did't see coming.

There are some genuine laugh out loud moments and the film is straight to the point. The cast is great and all work together well, the plot is fresh and clever and it really was one of the best romantic comedies I have seen (haven't seen many but still) - Would recommend this film to anyone.

8/10

My initial reaction is that this film is the best romantic comedy that I've seen in years. The genre has been pretty devoid of quality lately. So, I don't know if that plays a part or not and I really don't care at this point. I enjoyed everything about this movie. It has tremendous heart and charisma and it's so very easy to get caught up in to the lives of these characters. A certain degree of patience is required while viewing because some secondary characters that feel unnecessary to the story are worth getting to know. Steve Carell's character is the one everyone empathizes with and when the movie shifts away from the "A" story you wonder why and start to think that the "B" story is going to be muddled or cliché or one to endure. Well, they're not and everything comes together in a wonderful fashion. The entire cast here is perfection. The overall message may be one to debate but it doesn't matter because the ride and this film are just so smart and so well done.