Crazy Stupid Love is the latest serious romantic comedy that couples just love to flock to throughout the year. A few of these come out every month and there is an expectation that has become understood by the people who see every one. These are feel-good movies. They usually don't deal with anything really tough or hard to swallow, but they often provide enough of a chuckle and "Awwwwww!" reaction to warrant the continued making of such films. Crazy Stupid Love, which stars Steve Carell in a relatively restrained role, is surprisingly not all that crazy or stupid. It doesn't have any hidden agenda and it actually doesn't completely follow the rom-com rule book. It is a very sincere movie. That doesn't mean it's all that great, but at least it tried.
The film opens with Carell's wife, Julianne Moore, asking for a divorce, which takes him very much by surprise. After moping for a bit, he takes some advice from successful womanizer Ryan Gosling, who subsequently falls in love with one of his catches, Emma Stone. The movie gets its heartfelt side from Carell's thirteen-ear old son, who has a crush on the babysitter and gives his dad the motivation to get his parents back together. It all plays out like some sort of fantasy story from a woman's magazine; the kind that makes them go "Awwwwww!" In fact, when compared to the barrage of R-rated comedies that have been dominating the box office lately, Crazy Stupid Love comes across far sweeter than it ought to. It is, of course, a very sweet movie, and while that's not a condemnation by any means, it does seem like we could have benefited by a slightly more up-beat version of the same story. We get a lot more love-struck eyes and weepiness and much less laughs than a comedy should have, but that's all part of its purpose and is somewhat forgivable.
I am a little befuddled by the fact that as far as I can recall all three of the leads (Carell, Moore, and Gosling) do well in their parts, as if they were all written with these actors in mind. It's certainly a possibility, but I am now struck by how forgettable the performances have become when caught in the middle of the washed-up material given them. The most memorable parts of the movie, not to mention the only times I remember truly enjoying the experience, were the brief scenes featuring Emma Stone. She is a wonderful new actress who completely won me over in last year's Easy A, and she is equally entertaining here. This is a person Hollywood really needs to pay attention to, but she's probably going to end up regularly typecast. She remains, however, one of the main reasons to see this movie, although, once again, the other performances are technically just as good.
Crazy Stupid Love is a far from perfect but satisfactory trip down Sugar Lane. There are plenty of reasons to hate it and a few reasons to love it. Low points include a script riddled with cliche (Have you noticed it has become a cliche to say that cliches in movies are cliched?) and odd discomforts (Was nobody else bothered by the casual treatment of the seventeen-year old girl's obsession with a father-age man?). It does have a few notable performances from some very talented actors that do get lost in the forgettability of the project. Overall, this is a take it or leave it effort. It can easily be enjoyed, but don't go out of your way to do so.
6/10
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