‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ is a little crazy and a little stupid

There’s a definite charm to Crazy, Stupid, Love, the new romantic comedy starring Steve Carell as a man who can’t seem to get his marriage back on the tracks. The actors in the movie, from Julianne Moore to Ryan Gosling to Emma Stone, are all appealing, and the story makes for some often hilarious moments. If it weren’t for a final act that tears apart everything the filmmakers built over the first 90 minutes, Crazy, Stupid, Love would have been a memorable entry in the often-ridiculed rom-com genre.

The film opens with a clever sequence involving the sexy goings-on of different couples dining at a swanky restaurant. Rather than focusing on their smooching lips or curvy eyelashes, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa show only the couples’ feet. The women snake their way up the legs of their significant others, while the men seem to bristle with excitement.

At the table of Cal (Carell) and Emily (Moore), the feet are firmly planted on the ground. There’s no foreplay here, just a married couple living a dull life. When Cal asks Emily what she wants for dessert, she responds simply, “A divorce.” There’s another man, and she wants out. Cal, shocked by the revelation, nods his head and doesn’t utter a word. He holds his hurt tightly bound on the inside.

Carell plays the part with a painful sincerity. It’s hard not to fall in love with Cal and feel sorry for his present predicament. Cal’s greatest crime is that he’s incapable of spicing up his life; he doesn’t know how to enliven his high-school sweetheart anymore. He has the house, the kids, the wife, the job, but he doesn’t know how to keep things fresh or interesting.

If the pending divorce of Cal and Emily were the only plot point of Crazy, Stupid, Love, the movie would be dead on arrival. Instead, writer Dan Fogelman sets their fractured relationship within a tangled web of other lovers suffering similar pangs of the heart.

Cal and Emily’s 13-year-old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), lusts after his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), while Jessica longs for Cal, the older man of her dreams. Meanwhile, Cal meets up with Jacob (Gosling), a womanizing matchmaker who helps him buy some new clothes and work some magic with the ladies. Jacob, in turn, has had sex with many women, but never fallen in love with one of them. That is until he meets Hannah (Stone).

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a whirlwind of a romance movie, reminding me of Love, Actually from a few years ago. But with any imperfect ensemble piece, some characters receive more time in the spotlight, while others fade to the back.

Cal is examined from head to toe. We work through his separation from Emily by seeing him wallow in drinks at a local bar and hooking up with a crazed schoolteacher who likes rough sex (Marisa Tomei). The character of Emily, on the other hand, feels a little cheated. Moore is an exquisite actress, but her few scenes never reach the same level as Cal’s introspection.

Though, there is one scene in Crazy, Stupid, Love that is a perfectly written and acted sequence. Cal has gone back to his old home to take care of the lawn and flowers in the backyard, a hobby he has trouble giving up. While there in the darkness, he spies on his wife through the windows. Cal watches her dial the phone and call his own cell phone. He picks up and pretends he’s in his new apartment and not, in fact, in the backyard.

What does Emily want to talk about? Well, she needs help with the pilot light in the basement. But the beauty of the scene is that Cal knows she’s lying. Emily just wanted to talk to her husband, to hear his voice. As Cal steps her through the process of correcting the problem, both characters are on the brink of tears; both realize they’re still in love with each other.

It’s a brilliant scene in a good movie. Carell and Moore are believable actors, and they never stumble in the film, even in the slightly ridiculous parts. Stone and Gosling also prove likable, and I was taken aback by the charm of Bobo and Tipton and the difficulties they encounter with high school puppy-dog love.

Where Crazy, Stupid, Love falls apart is in the climax. Without spoiling anything, there is a big reveal and a subsequent farcical sequence that feels out of place and too convenient. To top it off, the filmmakers decide to end the movie with that painfully overdone storytelling device: a speech by one of the characters summing up everything that just happened in the movie.

There is no icing on this cinematic cake. The ending of Crazy, Stupid, Love cheats the film of near-perfect romantic comedy success.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Crazy, Stupid, Love

• 2011

• Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

• Written by Dan Fogelman

• Starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Maria Tomei, Kevin Bacon and Jonah Bobo

• Running time: 118 minutes

• Rated PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language

• Rating:

• Click here to purchase Crazy, Stupid, Love on DVD.