This movie’s a tough one. On the one hand, I do find it better than approximately 98 percent of romantic comedies. On the other hand, that isn’t exactly a rave endorsement. I felt like this movie really had me in the beginning and gradually let me go, getting less genuine and more stupid as it went on. Still, I would probably watch this movie if you haven’t seen it.
What Works: Ryan Gosling’s character gets most of the best moments, and that’s partly because Gosling (clearly having fun in the role of a sharkish ladies man showing Carell’s recently separated dad the ropes of dating) creates them. I could see where a lesser actor like Justin Timberlake might have really pushed this “character” (he’s really an archetype) into the territory of obnoxious, but Gosling finds shadings that aren’t really there in the script.
What Doesn’t Work: The rest of the cast isn’t nearly as good. Carell plays Carell going through a divorce, and even though I suspect he’s a better actor than we’re led to believe he’s now firmly in a rut. He needs to play something, ANYTHING other than a middle aged schlub who is likable but uncool (Get Smart, Dan in Real Life, Anchorman, Dinner For Schmucks, Date Night, Evan Almighty, 40 Year Old Virgin, EVERY movie the guy’s been in, even The Office fits this). There has got to be a different side to this buttoned down guy than what we keep seeing and I actually think he’s got the chops to do more dramatic roles, and I don’t just mean semi-dramatic roles that are really romances.
Julianne Moore phones in a brittle, grating performance as his wife (seemingly her specialty), Emma Stone is asked to play a girl who shows up more than a character, and Marisa Tomei is humiliated in a thankless supporting role. In fact, I’m wondering what the movie would have been like if Tomei and Moore had switched roles and let Moore loosen up a little.
What I Would Have Done Differently: There’s a scene I won’t give away but it comes very late in the movie with almost no foreshadowing and it really changes everything. That scene shouldn’t exist. It’s just too big of a stretch and really took me out of the movie. Until that point, Crazy, Stupid, Love had been going for a kind of adult vibe and that scene just pushed it into sitcom territory. It was all downhill from that point, with the requisite “Big Romantic Speech” at the end that really didn’t work.
Good Review! Overall, the film is too conventional for my liking. It needed to be sharper, wittier, and funnier. But for average summer fare, it’s okay. It’s far from perfect and runs on the long side, but rom-com and chick flick lovers will likely be satisfied. Check out my site whenever you can!