DVD: Crazy, Stupid, Love 5/10
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma
Stone
Plot: a middle-aged husband named Cal Weaver (Steve Carell)
decides to dedicate his life into becoming a ‘real man’ again after his wife
leaves him. His new found friend, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) assists him.
After recently viewing The Kids Are All Right, and finding
it a refreshing take on the rom-com genre; Crazy, Stupid, Love returns back
towards the typical genre end, whilst adding a few new, unique elements to
spice things up. Firstly, Steve Carell has never been a favourite of mine. I
haven’t found any of his films particularly humorous or interesting, and he
usually plays dull characters. Here, whilst he hasn’t converted me as such, his
role is a little more credible and humorous, although the other stars in the
film do prop him up. Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) pairs up with Cal Weaver
(Carell).Gosling being the new hit star in Hollywood at the moment, adds a
down-to-earth and fresh vibe to the film, bringing Carell down from his dusty
shelf as he reinvents his character; perhaps
the most humorous and entertaining part of the film.
The films story, whilst feeling stale in the first half,
comes together towards the end as an unusual twist occurs which, for the genre,
wasn’t expected and a neat idea to resurrect the film from its slightly dull
premise. For that, the writers must be credited for at least being inventive.
Other stars of the film include Julianne Moore, fantastic as
usual and Emma Stone, who recently shone in The Help and has again here. Whilst
Stone isn’t playing a role that is risky or adventurous, it must be said that
her comical charisma is an uplifting part of the film.
In Conclusion: an easily forgettable film with some
jokes you’ll remember and others forget. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone stick out
as the top talents whilst Steve Carell, as usual, mumbles his way through the
film with few interesting elements. The writing is slow for the most part but
picks up towards the end with a twist that couldn’t have been strung together
more perfectly.
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I added Crazy-Stupid-Love to my Blockbuster @Home queue. One of my co-workers at Dish said a few things about the movie similar to what you wrote about the twist at the end, and I can’t help but love twists so I was looking forward to watching it. I’m glad I did. This is the first film with Ryan Gosling that I've watched where he has more than two lines. I’ve only watched Drive, and although it was a good movie, I think I liked this flick a lot more because of Gosling’s acting. I’ve already sent Crazy-Stupid-Love back, and I’m now awaiting a slue of movies with Gosling. I think he may have great potential that I obviously passed up from his Mickey Mouse days.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, whilst I didn't find the film fantastic, Ryan Gosling is a real good actor, he just needs to get into something that's mainstream but also something that can show his abilities (something dark, such as Drive but more mainstream). And as well as his skills he's just damn right cool!
DeleteMany thanks for your comment.
- Joe