Carrell and Moore play Cal and Emily Weaver. One day at dinner instead of asking for a dessert Emily asks her husband for a divorce. They have had a falling out, that Cal was not aware of, which led to Emily having an affair with someone at work, David Lindhagen (Bacon). Cal has to go back into the dating world which naturally brings him to a bar where Jacob Palmer (Gosling) is the biggest ladies man ever. He proceeds to teach Cal his ways which obviously leads to a one night stand with Marisa Tomei. Jacob is trying to help reinvent Cal, since he somehow stopped caring about his relationship with his wife. Emma Stone stops by as a love interest for Gosling, and laughs and emotional moments ensue.There really was an all-star cast for this movie. I appreciate that, since when I spend 8 bucks to see a movie, there had better be a lot of famous people involved. I'm a fan of Steve Carrell, and luckily it seems like he will have a long movie career, now that he has left "The Office." In "Crazy, Stupid, Love" he is much more toned down than he is as Michael Scott, which is good because it allows him to actually act. Carrell is obviously a very funny man, but movies like this show that he can do drama. Also, who knew that Ryan Gosling was so incredibly funny. I sure didn't, probably because "Blue Valentine" is the only other movie I have seen with him. He and Carrell were great together. I won't comment on everyone, but Marisa Tomei is only in about three scenes, but they are among the funniest of the movie. She is hilarious and I love seeing her in movies. Finally, just wait until Ryan Gosling punches Kevin Bacon...the homewrecking whore deserved...yep I just called Kevin Bacon that...
There are some funny scenes including Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone reenacting "the lift" dance move from "Dirty Dancing." Apparently that is abosulutely the biggest turn on for women, or at least that is what Gosling tried to get me to believe. However, any excuse to use the song, "I've Had the Time of My Life" in a movie is perfectly fine with me. However, the greatest scene in the whole movie, in my extremely humble opinion involves Carrell and Moore at their son's parent-teacher conference. Things take an awkward turn when his one night stand, Tomei turns out to be the son's teacher. She then proceeds to freak out on him in front of his ex wife, since he never called her back after that night. I understand that things are not as funny when I write them and even worse when I try to explain something in person...that's why I avoid telling stories. I promise it's a really funny scene...Or I just love Marisa Tomei too much.
The movie isn't funny all the way through, like say "Bridesmaid," so if that's what you are expecting, then sorry about that...There is a nice mix of drama and some emotional scenes, mostly related to Cal and Emily's divorce and how it affects their lives. Come on, you can do better than Kevin Bacon...who I actually really do like, but his character was obviously repulsive in this movie. I was actually a little depressed when Emily found out that Cal had called Kate (Tomei) a mix between "sexy and sweet," something that I one point was reserved only for Emily. Bad move on someone's part.
I enjoyed the movie a lot, although it may be a tad long. But, that didn't bother me too much. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" was better, at least to me than Carrell's "Date Night" from last year. The cast was talented and were good for some laughs and some serious moments thrown in there. If you like the cast give it a try. I guarentee it's one of the better movies playing at your local theater...yep even better than "Bad Teacher"...crazy, I know.
3 stars out of 4
-Joseph Sbrilli
P.S. Just because I watched this movie does not mean that I support affairs, one night stands, and premarital sex. So don't get any crazy, stupid ideas.
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