"Crazy, Stupid, Love"

By Matt Duncan
Coastal View News

The once imperceptible dull ache of a dying marriage suddenly pulsates anew when Emily (Julianne Moore) tells her husband, Cal (Steve Carell), that she wants a divorce. Cal is dumbfounded. He doesn’t scream or cry. He doesn’t yell or argue. Cal just sits there silently—unresponsive, numb and confused.

Cal does not understand how the love of his life could leave him. But even more, Cal has no idea how a once vibrant relationship could slowly turn boring, dull and flat. Cal is completely at sea, and he is paralyzed by his ignorance. He can do nothing but sit alone at a bar muttering about his failed marriage.

Luckily, Jacob (Ryan Gosling) takes notice. Jacob is Cal’s foil. While Cal is dumpy and plain, Jacob is unmistakably handsome. Whereas Cal’s clothes are out of date and two sizes too big, Jacob’s style is immaculate and his wardrobe is impeccable. As Cal drowns his sorrows with a fruity cocktail, Jacob prowls the bar, martini in hand—the inveterate ladies man.

Maybe Jacob feels for Cal, or maybe he is just tired of seeing Cal mope around the bar, but one way or another, Jacob decides to help Cal turn his life around. He takes him to high-end clothing stores, helps him pick out pricey accessories, and teaches him how to make his ex-wife jealous by picking up beautiful women.

After a few hiccups, Cal manages to master Jacob’s trade. He trades in his middle-aged married lifestyle for the life of a bachelor, picking up plenty of gorgeous women in the process. Meanwhile, Jacob undergoes a transformation of his own. After meeting Hannah (Emma Stone), who is unlike the other women he tends to attract, Jacob considers retiring his chic shades and well-worn pickup lines in favor of something more stable.

As Cal and Jacob undergo these changes, and face the inevitable identity crises that ensue, they begin to consider what they really want in life. For Cal, he doesn’t know whether he wants to continue his new lifestyle or fight for the love and affection of his wife of so many years. Jacob, on the other hand, knows who he wants, but does not know how to abandon the life he once lived.

Each relationship in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” is believable and compelling. Nothing seems forced or manufactured. The attraction, interaction, irritation, disappointment, and the love all seem real. The actors deserve a lot of credit for this. Steve Carell is funny, but doesn’t taint the genuineness of his character by channeling Michael Scott or some other overwhelming personality. And Ryan Gosling is even better than Carell. He plays his part perfectly by being sleazy, but not so sleazy that you aren’t willing to love him in the end.

“Crazy, Stupid, Love” is an unconventional movie about love. For one thing, its aims go beyond cheap thrills and funny one-liners (though it has plenty of funny one-liners). It deftly examines the difficult choices and circumstances that surround, and sometimes inflict, one’s love life. Also, it does a good job of highlighting both the good and the bad—the inspiring and the ambiguous—aspects of romantic relationships. There is a refreshing honesty about this movie. More romantic comedies should be like “Crazy, Stupid, Love”.