Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Rating: 5/10 (5 January 2014)

A huge cast (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei) struggles mightily with a glib, pre-fab screenplay by Dan Fogelman, packed with awkward situations that go nowhere. Each character seems to be prepared to espouse platitudes with the utmost sincerity any time the script deems them appropriate, even if credibility suffers, which it almost always does. With the exceptions of the agreeably smooth Gosling and the warm and witty Stone, everyone has done better work: they seem lost in all the talk; Carell, in particular, alters between cowering and manic but always just happens to be articulate enough to hammer home the literal points Fogelman is intent on making. Overlong and unengaging.