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Crazy Stupid Love

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crazy-stupid-love-posterReleased: 2011

Directed By: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Certificate: 12A

Reviewed By: Darryl Griffiths

Hollywood assemble another A list ensemble cast together for a rom com aimed at the mainstream. But before you all start calling some of your favourite stars ’sellouts’ and run for the hills, you’ll be glad to know that this is undeniably a smart, refreshing bone tickler of an entry into the genre.

We essentially begin with the troubles birthed from the characters played by Steve Carell and Julianne Moore. As Cal and Emily respectively, their two decades long marriage comes grinding to a almighty halt as Emily confesses the common sin, she’s slept with someone else (in the form of Kevin Bacon) and wants a divorce. Struggling to deal with the shock of it all and fearing a mid life crisis, he ends up drowning his sorrows in a cocktail bar but is soon taken in by ladies’ man Jacob (Ryan Gosling).

After a few home truths are unearthed from Jacob’s sharp witted tongue, it queues a radical makeover for Cal with many tips and slaps to the face along the way. Both character”s plot strands eventually tear off in different directions, as Cal has a vibrant experience with school teacher Kate (an eccentric Marisa Tomei) but unaware of the feelings that his kid’s babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton) has for him. The complications don’t end there, with Cal’s 13 year old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) registering a considerable love interest in her too. Luckily, it’s more straightforward in Jacob’s case. His sights set on obtaining fiery redhead Hannah (Emma Stone), despite his womanising ways.

The appeal of the film greatly lies in the intricate and intelligent screenplay by Dan Fogleman and the performances it helps to generate from it. Carell is at his deadpan best and Moore, although distant in the early stages eventually unravels into a very sympathetic character. Tipton and Bobo are the perfect example of unrequited love, despite the slight age gap and the more one dimensional characters of Tomei and Bacon could have easily got lost in the melee, but have memorable moments. The film however, belongs to its young cohorts Stone and Gosling. They just ooze chemistry together, culminating in a terrific sequence involving a certain song from Dirty Dancing. P.S. Gosling has remarkable comedic chops, who knew??

It gets a little cutesy towards the end and the intricacies in its latter stages causes the film to struggle to come to a simple conclusion, making it a tad overlong. However, with the representations of loving relationships covered in great depth from so many angles age wise, we ultimately get a realistic and feel good interpretation of that lifelong adventure of finding… the one. Terrific.

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