Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa | 118 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Karolina Wydra, John Carroll Lynch, Crystal Reed, Joey King, Liza Lapira, Richard Steven Horvitz, Beth Littleford, Analeigh Tipton, Jenny Mollen

Since the mid-1950s, ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ has been a breeding ground for young American talent. Future stars were allowed to show their skills. Aspiring singers, actors, dancers and comedians arose. The show usually bled to death after a few seasons, only to be revived fifteen to twenty years later. In 1970 there was a first revival and in 1989 there was another revival. Especially from the last series, which lasted until 1996, many talents have penetrated the showbiz. For example, singers such as Britney Spears and Christina Aquilera were part of the regular cast in 1993 and 1994 (Jessica Simpson had auditioned but was rejected). Multi-talented Justin Timberlake and his former Nsync buddy JC Chasez were also part of the cast, as was actress Keri Russell. By far the biggest talent to come out of the Disney stable is Ryan Gosling. The Canadian born is increasingly profiling himself as a versatile actor and earned an Oscar nomination for his role in ‘Half Nelson’ (2006). He should have been nominated for his equally great roles in ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ (2007) and ‘Blue Valentine’ (2010).

Gosling has a knack for turning a mediocre to decent movie into a great movie. He provides the best example in the romantic comedy ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ (2011), in which he takes Little Cock Rosewater Steve Carell in tow. Carell plays Cal, who is dumped by his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) after a romantic dinner. After twenty-five years of marriage, she exchanged him for colleague David (Kevin Bacon). Cal walks with his soul under his arm. He and Emily have been together since high school and now he is unceremoniously worked out of his own house. To drown his sorrows, he goes to the local pub, where ladies man Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) takes care of him. Jacob knows exactly what to say to a woman to get her into bed and offers poor Cal his services. Before he can strike up a conversation with a woman, he needs to get himself a quick image, so Jacob takes his new buddy for a hilarious makeover. Cal is completely turned inside out, but his new image is soon successful, because before long the women fall for him, teacher Kate (great role by Marisa Tomei) leading the way.

“Crazy, Stupid, Love” has more to it than Cal’s metamorphosis. All the other characters in the film also struggle in love. Jacob, who can get any woman he wants, falls in love with the one woman (Emma Stone) who doesn’t accept his advances. Cal’s thirteen-year-old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) is head over heels in love with his four-year-older nanny Jessica (Analeigh Tipton). However, she doesn’t like him and prefers… Cal! Unrequited loves, secret loves, blossomed loves and cooled loves – they form the basis of a hilarious series of misunderstandings. The great thing about ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ is that the jokes don’t come at the expense of the characters (which seems to be the rule more than the exception in comedies these days). No one is insulted or laughed at. Maybe that sounds a bit tame, and maybe it is. That makes it all the more handsome for the directorial duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (who previously wrote the screenplay for the much less brave ‘Bad Santa’ (2003) and made their directorial debut with ‘I Love You, Philip Morris’ (2009)). that they exploit the situations their characters find themselves in so well that they don’t need a scapegoat.

A big compliment also goes to screenwriter Dan Fogelman, who previously mainly caused a furore with the screenplays of animation films such as ‘Cars’ (2006) and ‘Rapunzel’ (2010). He sketches striking situations and makes the viewers laugh without fainting. Moreover, halfway through he comes up with a nice plot twist that turns things upside down. However, the greatest asset of ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ is the excellent cast. As mentioned, Ryan Gosling steals the show. He knows how to portray the fragility of the invulnerable-looking Jacob flawlessly and it looks like it doesn’t cost him any effort. He also drags the film through the lesser moments. Steve Carell does what we are used to from him and we unfortunately see too little of Julianne Moore, but the younger cast members put their best foot forward. Emma Stone is one of the most talented and fresh young American actresses around right now. Surprisingly strong come the young Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo. The youth clearly have the future here.

There really is no such thing as a romantic comedy without clichés. Also ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ cannot escape the necessary platitudes. However, the way the cast and crew handle this is refreshing enough to make this romantic comedy above average. The fact that the actors also show their best side and that the exaggerated sentiment is kept to a minimum is more than a plus.