awful, awful, awful

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2011)

A hugely talented cast wasted in a movie that wanders like a drunken cow on a highway. One can buy the initial premise, of a boring and predictable office worker (Carell), taken in hand by a predatory Romeo (Gosling) and turned into a a playboy after Carell's wife (Moore) asks for a divorce. Alas, alas, this movie has so many subplots and unnecessary complications one gets the feeling that a bunch of scenes from other movies were simply dropped into a Cuisinart and taken for a spin. Nothing seems to hang together. The eminently watchable Emma Stone appears to be performing in another movie for all the relatability her character has to the main plot. One sits there baffled as to why she is in this movie (although having said that, she is an absolute delight to watch -- and the reason this viewer went to see this flick!) Admitted, there is a final payoff for her character -- totally unbelievable -- but the interminable journey to get there is exasperating. As is another subplot between Carrell's underage son and his baby sitter that leaves one longing to fast forward every time either character shows up. The acting talent on display here is wonderful but oh, what a waste in a godawful script. (And did I mention Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei? Both woefully underused, drowned out by the surplus of subplots.) This is a stinker of a movie kept afloat by the sheer talent of the actors involved.