Susan Granger’s review of “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (Warner Bros.)
If you’re looking for laughs, this multi-generational ensemble farce supplies them – from chuckles to guffaws – along with poignant observations about the sadly fickle finger of fate.
Nebbishy suburbanite Cal Weaver (SteveCarell) thinks he has the perfect life until his high school-sweetheart/wife Emily (Julianne Moore) confesses to having an affair with her smarmy co-worker, accountant David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon), and informs him over dinner in a crowded restaurant that she wants a divorce. Dazed and distraught in this mid-life crisis, Cal drowns his sorrows in vodka cranberries at an elegant pick-up bar, blubbering to everyone that he’s been cuckolded.
Sympathizing with his all-too-obvious misery is Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), a cool, resolutely single womanizer, who tells Cal, “You’ve got a kind face. You’ve got a good head of hair. You seem like a nice guy. I’m going to help you rediscover your manhood.”
That he does as Cal embarks on a complete physical and psychological overhaul, scoring with an eager English teacher (Marisa Tomei). Meanwhile, slick Jacob faces rejection from savvy law student Hannah (Emma Stone), who’s disappointed by a lawyer (recording artist Josh Groban). Meanwhile, Cal’s precocious 13 year-old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) has become convinced that the family’s 17 year-old baby-sitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton) is his soul mate. Problem is: Jessica has a crush on his dad.
Written with sophisticated, observational humor by Dan Fogelman (“Tangled,” “Cars”), it’s directed by the team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“I Love You Phillip Morris”), who wisely play off the rueful vulnerability exuded by Steve Carell in “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” and TV’s “The Office.” Best known for his dramatic chops in “Blue Valentine,” Ryan Gosling reveals his ripped physique and comic timing for the first time. Aside from too many characters and issues, the primary downside is the seemingly endless series of anti-climaxes, making the pathos overstay its welcome by at least 15 minutes.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” is an affecting, amusing 8, reminding audiences never to give up on finding romance.
