Review of "Crazy Stupid Love"
If a better comedy about love than "Crazy Stupid Love" comes out this year, then it will be a crazy stupid good year.
Featuring an astoundingly strong ensemble of actors, a pingponging smart script from Dan Fogelman and perfect-rhythm direction from "Bad Santa" writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, this is surely one of the funniest and best films of the year, right up there with "Bridesmaids" and "Midnight in Paris."
It will surely be referred to as a romantic comedy, but it follows few rom-com norms. Instead of focusing on one couple, it spreads the love — and the jokes, and the insights, and the pain — every which way.
There's the babysitter (Analeigh Tipton), who's in love with the dad (Steve Carell). There's the son (Jonah Bobo), who's in love with the babysitter.
There's the mom (Julianne Moore), who has an affair with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon), and then dumps the dad.
And there's the smooth-talking lounge lizard (Ryan Gosling), who takes home a different woman every night, except the one who got away (Emma Stone).
But don't forget the woman (Marisa Tomei) who becomes the first of Dad's post-marital conquests. Dad sure won't, although he'll wish he could.
The story begins with Dad Cal and Mom Emily, teen sweethearts now in their 40s, out at dinner. Trying to decide what to have for dessert, Emily opts for divorce.
On the ride home, she confesses her infidelity to a stunned, silent Cal. He opens his door and drops out of the moving car.
After Cal moves out, he begins frequenting an upscale singles bar, loudly bemoaning his romantic woes, even though no one wants to hear them. After a few nights, the smoothest dude in the bar, Jacob, pulls Cal aside and offers to teach him how to be an operator if he'll shut up and stop drinking vodka and cranberry juice through a straw.
Meanwhile — and though there's no hard center to this movie, it never seems out of control — Cal's 13-year-old son, Robbie, is loudly proclaiming his love for 17-year-old babysitter Jessica; Jessica herself is trying to figure out a way to seduce an unwitting Cal; and Emily begins dating co-worker David.
At the same time, Hannah (Stone), the only girl to ever laugh off Jacob's advances, is studying to take the bar exam and hanging on to her dullard beau, Richard (Josh Groban). Hannah's relevance will become clear and crucial.
This is clearly the best ensemble cast, comedy or drama, of the year, especially when you add the great character actor John Carroll Lynch to the mix as Jessica's father.
Carell and Gosling have the most central roles, as age-reversed mentor and teacher; as the film progresses, Cal realizes who he really is by playing who he's not, and the empty Jacob realizes who he should be.
The famously funny Carell finds sincerity in Cal. And Gosling, probably the best dramatic actor of his generation, moves out of his indie comfort-zone into the mainstream, looking every bit as comfortable while sporting a heartthrob bod that, as one woman exclaims, looks Photoshopped.
Still, this film is the total of all its parts, from the string-bean beauty Tipton to the sly adolescent Bobo and all the veterans. It's notable that no one — not even Bacon's character — is a villain in this film. They're all just people looking for, wrestling with and falling in love.
This is the sort of film that Oscar generally ignores come awards season. It shouldn't. "Crazy Stupid Love" is a crazy smart film.
Featuring an astoundingly strong ensemble of actors, a pingponging smart script from Dan Fogelman and perfect-rhythm direction from "Bad Santa" writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, this is surely one of the funniest and best films of the year, right up there with "Bridesmaids" and "Midnight in Paris."
It will surely be referred to as a romantic comedy, but it follows few rom-com norms. Instead of focusing on one couple, it spreads the love — and the jokes, and the insights, and the pain — every which way.
There's the babysitter (Analeigh Tipton), who's in love with the dad (Steve Carell). There's the son (Jonah Bobo), who's in love with the babysitter.
There's the mom (Julianne Moore), who has an affair with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon), and then dumps the dad.
And there's the smooth-talking lounge lizard (Ryan Gosling), who takes home a different woman every night, except the one who got away (Emma Stone).
But don't forget the woman (Marisa Tomei) who becomes the first of Dad's post-marital conquests. Dad sure won't, although he'll wish he could.
The story begins with Dad Cal and Mom Emily, teen sweethearts now in their 40s, out at dinner. Trying to decide what to have for dessert, Emily opts for divorce.
On the ride home, she confesses her infidelity to a stunned, silent Cal. He opens his door and drops out of the moving car.
After Cal moves out, he begins frequenting an upscale singles bar, loudly bemoaning his romantic woes, even though no one wants to hear them. After a few nights, the smoothest dude in the bar, Jacob, pulls Cal aside and offers to teach him how to be an operator if he'll shut up and stop drinking vodka and cranberry juice through a straw.
Meanwhile — and though there's no hard center to this movie, it never seems out of control — Cal's 13-year-old son, Robbie, is loudly proclaiming his love for 17-year-old babysitter Jessica; Jessica herself is trying to figure out a way to seduce an unwitting Cal; and Emily begins dating co-worker David.
At the same time, Hannah (Stone), the only girl to ever laugh off Jacob's advances, is studying to take the bar exam and hanging on to her dullard beau, Richard (Josh Groban). Hannah's relevance will become clear and crucial.
This is clearly the best ensemble cast, comedy or drama, of the year, especially when you add the great character actor John Carroll Lynch to the mix as Jessica's father.
Carell and Gosling have the most central roles, as age-reversed mentor and teacher; as the film progresses, Cal realizes who he really is by playing who he's not, and the empty Jacob realizes who he should be.
The famously funny Carell finds sincerity in Cal. And Gosling, probably the best dramatic actor of his generation, moves out of his indie comfort-zone into the mainstream, looking every bit as comfortable while sporting a heartthrob bod that, as one woman exclaims, looks Photoshopped.
Still, this film is the total of all its parts, from the string-bean beauty Tipton to the sly adolescent Bobo and all the veterans. It's notable that no one — not even Bacon's character — is a villain in this film. They're all just people looking for, wrestling with and falling in love.
This is the sort of film that Oscar generally ignores come awards season. It shouldn't. "Crazy Stupid Love" is a crazy smart film.
Labels: library
posted by Tom at
8:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home