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I had a major movie crush on the Crazy, Stupid, Love trailer, so when I say the film disappointed me, you should take that with a grain of salt. No, I won’t be ripping its posters off my bedroom wall, but I may have to reconsider that fan website.
If you’ve seen the trailer you already know that the film has one of the best rom-com casts, well, ever: The thinking woman’s hottie Ryan Gosling, plus It Girl extraordinaire Emma Stone—not to mention Julianne Moore, Steve Carell, and Kevin Bacon. (When Marisa Tomei has little more than a glorified cameo as a particularly eager woman that Carell has a one-night-stand with, you know your cast is stacked.)
Plus, those jokes: “Seriously, your abs look photoshopped!” says Stone’s Hannah when she sees the hot bod on Gosling’s womanizing Jacob.
“Thank God, we thought it was cancer” a relieved colleague says to Carrel’s Cal, upon discovering that it’s “only” Cal’s marriage that is falling apart.
“I went to see the new Twilight movie by myself,” moans Moore’s Emily, demonstrating the true depths of her midlife ennui. “And it was soooo bad.”
That’s some funny stuff, people.
The problem with Crazy, Stupid, Love is that it’s a whole lot seriously talented actors and clever bits in search of a movie. We never really believe that the sharp-dressed, smooth-tongued Jacob would decide to take on Cal as a pet project, teaching him all the tricks of the pick-up artist’s trade (Gosling, though, proves to be as adept with mainstream comedy as he is with edgy indie films. Is there anything this man can’t do?). (Spoiler alert: No.)
We certainly never believe that leggy 17-year-old babysitter (Analeigh Tipton) would nurse a massive crush on Cal, while simultaneously fending off the persistent advances of Cal and Emily’s precocious 13-year-old son (Jonah Bobo). (True to the film’s form, though, both young actors are excellent. And if you recognize the doe-eyed Tipton, congratulations, you’re as much of a pop culture junkie as I am—she was on Cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model. Smize, everyone!)
And frankly, the film’s “moral of the story” borders on irresponsible: Find your soulmate and don’t let them go—even if he or she doesn’t quite feel the same way. Yikes. (Police stations might think about polishing off their restraining orders once this puppy hits theaters.)
I enjoyed Crazy, Stupid, Love, but I think I liked it just a little bit more before I really got to know it. Ain’t that the way love sometimes goes?
