Review of film: “CRAZY STUPID LOVE”

2011, 07-25:

Review of film:  “CRAZY STUPID LOVE”        

There have been a number of supposedly “romantic-comedy” films released this year.  This is ANOTHER one being promoted that way.  But, to me, it’s really more of a DRAMA with some comedic “undertones”...          

...  Cal (STEVE CARELL) is a long-married man out with his wife Emily (JULIANNE MOORE)...

...  As she’s driving him home, Julianne suddenly announces that she’s been seeing someone else & wants a DIVORCE, which stuns oblivious Steve...

  

...  At their house, a 17-ish babysitter named Jessica (ANALEIGH TIPTON) is watching their 2 kids living at home...

...  One of them is a 13-year old named Robbie (JONAH BOBO), who has a CRUSH on Analeigh & is very open in speaking to her about his emotional & “other” feelings...

...  As still-reeling Steve drives babysitter Analeigh home, he’s unaware of the fact that she has long had a crush on HIM...

...  At one point, the scene switches to a restaurant / BAR...   There we meet a pretty young woman named Hannah (EMILY STONE) who is being feted by various of her law-student friends including Richard (JOSH GROBAN) who she clearly has a special “liking” for...

...  One of the patrons who’s “attracted” to Emily is a “smooth operator” guy named Jacob (RYAN GOSLING)-- but she doesn’t like the sort of “arrogant” vibe he gives off to other women there, & she “ignores” & “avoids” him...

...  In time, we see Steve at a bar, where he keeps trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol...  He keeps loudly BEMOANING the fact of how his wife had just said she wants a DIVORCE after admitting she’d been CHEATING on him with her co-worker named David Lindhagen (KEVIN BACON)...

...  Ryan chances to be at the same bar, “hitting” confidently on new women.  He gets somewhat FED-UP with the way Steve keeps prattling on & on about his wife’s unfaithfulness & his unfortunate life...

...  After asking a new female contact to “hold-on” a bit, Ryan talks to Steve & bluntly tells him he’s in-effect coming across as a “LOSER” & he should take more positive steps to IMPROVE his appearance & “attitude”...

...  Steve’s quite taken-aback by what Ryan has said.  But, feeling he has nothing to “lose”, he follows Ryan’s instructions to stop talking about things like his young kids & agrees to let Ryan “INSTRUCT” him on how to be more “attractive” to the opposite sex...

...  Ryan takes Steve out & shows him the type of better-fitting CLOTHES he should get, how to come-across as being more “confident”, etc...

...  Initially, Steve’s sort of inept, lapsing into his “old” ways of complaining to other women about his deceitful wife & all.  But, finally, he starts really LISTENING to what Ryan tells him to do...

...  Following Ryan’s instructions, Steve starts dressing better & tries hitting on a pretty woman at the bar named Kate (MARISA TOMEI, as dressed in blue below)...  

...  To his surprise, she turns out to be “receptive” to his overtures & becomes pretty “WILD” when they’re alone (as shown on the poster for the film)...

...  The film goes back & forth between various of the other characters:

...  Steve’s son Jonah tells him he has a “crush” on a girl--  but doesn’t tell him WHO...  Jonah is very “cold” towards his Mom’s “new” man Kevin when Julianne brings him by...  And, Jonah becomes increasingly troublesome in school with his crush on Analeigh & all...

...  Emily gets very disappointed at the “attitudes” she gets from JOSH, as she makes clear to her girlfriend...  

...  She’s thus more “open” to bachelor RYAN when he starts actively “HITTING” on her at the bar...  To Ryan’s shock, he starts becoming EMOTIONALLY attached to Emma, which is NOT his “modus operandi” in life!...

...  Meanwhile, Analeigh starts becoming more “FORWARD” in the crush she has on increasingly-“hot” STEVE...  Her dad, Bernie (JOHN CARROLL LYNCH), starts to see some “disturbing” trends in her behavior, & starts becoming very distressed about it all...

...  Will John be “pleased” when he finds WHO his daughter Analeigh has a “crush” on?...  Will Steve’s son Jonah be “thrilled” when he learns that the girl HE has a crush on (Analeigh) has a crush on his own DAD (Steve)?!...

...  How will Kevin handle the hostility of Julianne’s KIDS (especially Jonah)?...  How will Julianne respond to the new “attractiveness” of hubby Steve?...

...  How will RYAN handle his unexpected emotional closeness with EMILY?...  What will happen when a shocking “TWIST” arises in that relationship involving someone ELSE he’s close to?...

...  What will happen between Steve & MARISA when unexpected “SURPRISES” enter THEIR relationships?...  How will things “END-UP” for the various major characters?!...

...  This is an unusually CLEVERLY-constructed story.  While it has a number of quite FUNNY happenstances & very “FRANK” attitudes at times, it’s often “underplayed” by the actors & the scripted dialogue...

...  And, as hinted-at above, the end has a number of UNEXPECTED “TWISTS” to the storyline’s relationships that you simply don’t normally see “coming”...

...  All the main actors do a fine job, with RYAN being the biggest “surprise” in that he’s unusually effective in his comedy work (whereas he’s normally just thought of as doing very “heavy” roles)...

...  As I said, the comedy “lines” themselves are “secondary” to the drama, & the film is as funny as it is due to the fine set-up of the SITUATIONS inherent in the plot...

...  So, tho it doesn’t seem very “special” at the beginning, the film “SNEAKS-UP” on you & ends up being unusually GOOD & “satisfying”...  Thus, I’m rating it at 8.0 out of 10 stars...

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