Somewhere between crazy and stupid

Rating: 5/10 (2 August 2011)

I loved Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's "I Love You Philip Morris" but it must have been terribly frustrating for them, having to wait 2 years for the release and then, not finding an audience in sufficient numbers, not even with Jim Carrey. "Crazy Stupid Love" seems like a totally understanding attempt to go main stream and get the kind of box office response that will allow them to go on. I think Ficarra and Requa are two enormous talents - remember their script for "Bad Santa? - the market needs made them do this silly, complacent, undercooked comedy. Something so far away from what they've done before that I hope we haven't lost them forever. I didn't believe for a minute that Julianne Moore and Steve Carrell were a couple. I love Ryan Gosling but didn't believe for a minute he will dedicate himself to the Carrell character. And Carrell's outburst at his son's graduation seems a monumental miscalculation. What's great about stealing your own son's thunder. I don't get Carrell, I must confess. I can't wait for him to play a serial killer. That will get him an Oscar nomination. To make things even more puzzling, Kevin Bacon plays a joke of a part and he's photographed without any regard. I'm puzzled and a little bit annoyed.