Despite the trailer and the awful title, Crazy Stupid Love, isn’t really a rom-com at all. Sure, there are romantic gestures and a few nice guffaw out loud moments, but this veers more into dramatic territory and is actually a refreshing look at the trials and tribulations of love, both young and old, compared to the recent Hollywood output addressing the same issues. Joint directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s film is pretty much a three hander following soon to be divorced couple Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore), their son’s pining for his older babysitter and lounge lizard Jacob’s (Ryan Gosling) lusting after anything female (though eventually hooking up with Hannah (Emma Stone). The three story lines are all neatly weaved together, but it is the relationship between Cal and Jacob that gets the most coverage after Jacob takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to be a lady killer. These are the best comic scenes in the film as the banter between Gosling and (unsurprisingly) Carell comes naturally, though they struggle a bit later on during the more dramatic scenes. Ficarra and Requa’s last film (I Love You Philip Morris) was their directorial debut together and though that film was passable this is a nice step up in terms of visual look and a tighter screenplay. They also get good value from Marisa Tomei in a worthy cameo as one of Cal’s conquests and Kevin Bacon, who despite toning down the slime in a role as Emily’s “other man”, still has one of the best scenes during a one to one with Emily and Cal’s son. Best of all is the ending which, despite clocking in around the two hour mark, provides us with a smart plot twist, followed by a humorous set to at a family get together. On the downside you’ll need some serious suspension of disbelief to believe Gosling’s lothario would even spend 5 minutes of his life with Cal and some cod philosophy in respect of some the characters backgrounds is teeth grindingly annoying. Overall though this is a drama disguised as a comedy and all the better for it.
The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
A more mature outlook than the gross out antics of recent films of a similar subject marks this one out from the crowd. Rating: 7/10.
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