"Unification of Love: Awkwardly Realistic Circumstances"

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2011)

Unification of Love: Awkwardly Realistic Circumstances
Three love stories nay, situations, are explored in Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's ("I Love You Phillip Morris") "Crazy, Stupid Love". It is a drama masked as a comedy fueled by awkwardly realistic circumstances and a handful of highflying actors and actresses that know how to own it. The first story concerns a couple of high school sweethearts, Cal (Steve Carell, "Dinner for Schmucks") and Emily Weaver (Julianne Moore, "The Kids Are All Right"),that have been married for twenty-five years. However, when Emily tells Cal that slept with a man she works with named David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon, "X-Men: First Class"), divorce is on the horizon. Inevitably sending Cal to the bar, Cal meets the player in the second love story, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling, "Blue Valentince"), who is infamous for his lady-wooing swagger. Jacob sees and hears Cal ranting about his failing marriage and takes him under his wing to help him move on with other women. Even so, Cal may not be the only one changed by their abnormal friendship because of Jacob's hang up on a girl named Hannah (Emma Stone, "Easy A") he was rejected by the previous night. Meanwhile, Cal and Emily's thirteen-year-old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo, "Zathura"), is in love with his babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton, "The Green Hornet") who in turn is in love with Cal. Everything is more connected than you may think and with a flamboyantly annoying performance by Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler") things get crazy and stupid in this multigenerational love story.
The Good: Steve Carell's Post-"Office" years could not of had a stronger start as he conjures the second best performance of his career. However, it would be unfair to say that he is the only reason the film succeeds because of the superb performances of his costars Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone. Together the cast will keep you on edge as the story unravels in an obstinately realistic manner. And while Scriptwriter Dan Fogelman's ("Bolt") plan was not visible at first by the end his twisty-turny storytelling culminates in grade A fashion with the unification of the three love stories into one full of smart comedy
After the aforementioned culmination of plot unification, the film loses its momentum. dragging on for twenty minutes. The film could have ended anytime during its climatic scene and it would have been perfect (I guess you can't always get what you want). It takes twenty extra minutes to get to the actual sloppy and impractical conclusion. Even though everything seemed to be previously settled, this second fallout to set up a preachy ending creates unnecessary forced conflict. Lastly, the inability to avoid predictivity may irk some viewers and makes characters like Josh Groban's as pointless as their casting.
The first act of "Crazy, Stupid Love" creates a series of situations that setup a remarkable amalgamation at the peak of its second act, making the stars in the film (most notably Steve Carell) into even bigger stars with the power of sharp comedy.