‘Crazy Stupid Love’ DVD Review

A review by G-FUNK

Directors: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Starring: Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon

Plot: Cal finds out that his wife Emily has cheated on him as a result of their marriage growing stale. He then encounters Jacob, a womaniser who teaches him how to appeal to women. Jacob, not long after, meets the girl of his dreams.

Review: Needless to say that cinematic history will look back on 2011 as the Year of the Gosling. In the space of 12 months he made his mark with a political thriller (The Ides of March), a violent art-house film (Drive) and a romantic comedy (Crazy Stupid Love). In every instance he’s been stand-out among an ensemble cast of talented performers and seen the movies make a dent at the box office. Not bad for someone whose early roles include Who’s Afraid of the Dark and Goosebumps.

The trailers for Crazy Stupid Love didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves. Opening with what is undoubtedly the most Steve Carrell-esque comedy moment before showing a smattering of montages and one-liners from a wide range of characters. This turns out to be very similar to the viewing experience one gets while watching the movie, as it is strangely lacking in the padding and generic ‘big moments’ that often make up promotional material, and the characters step well outside of common stereotypes and require a bit of time to get a grasp on them and their motivations

Oddly the movie that it most resembles is sexual drama Closer in that it only shows us the major turning points in the character’s relationships and lets us fill in the gaps ourselves. A man finding out that his wife has been unfaithful and he has to win her back is not an unusual opening to such a story but as the narrative progresses and we start to get a sense of those involved we begin to get a real feel for the relationship up until that point. The best example is in the feelings that grow between Jacob (Gosling) and Hannah (Stone). Viewers see their first night together before we skip forward to them as a committed couple. We understand their connection and what they represent to each other and we’ve seen enough movies to know what has happened in between.

This may sound at the outset like a movie cutting corners but the reality is that it’s refreshing to have a romantic comedy that doesn’t treat viewers like imbeciles who need to be spoon-fed every sappy cliché.

What we have are genuinely human characters with sympathetic responses to the situations that they find themselves in. No-one, not even the smaller roles, feel like the generic characters that we’re increasingly getting used to in cinema. Kevin Bacon, playing the man who drove a wedge between Cal (Carrell) and Emily (Moore), could have been passed over as a scheming dirtbag but instead he’s a man with feelings for a woman who is trying to make things work. Yes he does the wrong thing, but he wasn’t doing it just for the sake of being the bad guy.

Crazy Stupid Love is a heart warming, funny and smart romantic comedy for people who yawn at the rom-com formula. Shallow stock characters are replaced with characters who feel as though they have lives that extend long before and after the running time of the movie, and who you will genuinely want to see find happiness.

Score: NINE outta TEN