Pulls Out some Stops even if Sometimes Sentimental

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2011)

It's true, the high average review for this movie is somewhat warranted I'm happy to report as I enjoyed this movie when it was at it's best, pulling out the stops and (spoiler) heaping on the surprises. And this movie exceeds at doing that. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a movie which packs in quite a few laughs while managing to mostly veer away from the crude humor, something that in-and-of- itself deserves praise. The whole Steve Carrol and Ryan Gosling character relationship and development was a hoot. This is probably Steve Carrol's best movie to date and thanks in no small part to Gosling. Carrol is more or less in a reprieve of his usual character, but the script helps uplift him. Thereare unfortunately the occasional almost forced scenes of sentimentality too that feel mis-placed. Especially a lot of the Dad-to-Son talks, and wife and husband talk - which I patiently waited through as the heavy-handedness of those scenes would abate. Still let me emphasize the occasional nature of those scenes, not enough hurt my recommendation of a rental or check-out.