Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Quick Impressions:
I knew next to nothing about this movie, just that the preview had been funny and that I liked the cast. Oh, and by the time I saw it, I also knew that it was getting pretty good reviews (because while I don’t read other reviews now that I’m writing my own, it’s impossible to avoid seeing RT and Metacritic scores.)
To be honest, I had trouble working up the enthusiasm to go see Crazy, Stupid, Love. I kept thinking, Maybe I should just stay home and see my two-year-old instead. Maybe this will be one of those depressing, jaded, adult-themed comedies I never really connect with. But I’m extremely glad I went.
As summer winds down, I’m recently preoccupied with finding some way to rank the movies I’ve seen. In the back of my mind, I’ve been trying to come up with a best-to-worst list, and it’s proven surprisingly difficult. Hands down, the best movie I’ve seen at the theater this summer is Super 8. But what should come next? I’ve been struggling for some time to fill that slot with confidence. Now I know.
Without a doubt, Crazy, Stupid, Love is the second best movie I’ve seen this summer, and it’s definitely the best romantic comedy (which is saying something because there have been some fantastic romantic comedies this year).
The movie took a while to win my love, though. I didn’t feel this wild sense of all-encompassing adulation right away. In fact, I’d compare my experience here with the one I had watching Inglorious Basterds. I’d be intrigued, then bored. I’d like the movie, then hate it. I’d think it was great, then think it was ridiculous. I’d wonder, at times, why on earth I was wasting my time watching it. At some point near the end, I’d think, What??? This is the stupidest movie ever made! And then suddenly, I’d come to the conclusion that I totally loved it.
In movies that affect me this way, the ending can make or break the experience. (I’ve enjoyed a number of movies until the last scene when I’m filled with an overwhelming sense of hatred and the wish that I’d choked to death in a pool of my own vomit instead of watching that movie—Mystic River was like that for me, also any film directed by Roman Polanski.) I liked the ending of Crazy, Stupid, Love, and that made me love the movie.
The Good and The Great:
This is a beautiful story. You can’t appreciate that fact until you get to the end and understand what the story was actually about. It’s very moving, very real, and very funny. My husband was surprised by the strength of my reaction and asked, “You liked it better than Friends with Benefits?” (He knew I’d really enjoyed that one.)
This movie is light-years better than Friends with Benefits (a film I’d very much like to own and watch repeatedly). The difference is that Friends with Benefits is funny largely because every character is given such snappy dialogue. (They’re all far more clever than people can possibly manage to be continually in real-life situations.) In Crazy, Stupid, Love, the humor comes from not how well people express themselves, but rather, how poorly. Crazy, Stupid, Love makes Friends With Benefits seem like a pleasant appetizer to its substantial main course. (Again, I’m not trying to insult Friends with Benefits. But just because a movie is a favorite of mine, doesn’t mean it’s objectively the best.)
Bridesmaids (another great comedy this summer) has a comparably moving story, but, to me, Crazy, Stupid, Love’s story has a somewhat more satisfying conclusion, almost certainly because it involves more people, more protagonists, and a somewhat bigger picture than the one Kristen Wiig’s beautifully written and played character Annie can possibly see as one person still struggling to find her footing in life.
The script (written by Dan Fogelman who also wrote my daughter’s favorite movie, Tangled) is great, and the acting is amazing.
Jonah Bobo was so fantastic as thirteen-year-old son Robbie that he essentially stole the movie, brightening the screen every time he appeared. The character is wonderfully written and Bobo portrays him perfectly, with such simple, strong sincerity. It’s hard not to love Robbie. He makes us laugh, and he makes us want to love. The character speaks to everyone who embraces the power of love even knowing the terrible risks—stupidity and craziness come to mind. He’s like the newly-in-love adolescent trapped inside all of us, laughing in the face of humiliation because he so ardently clings to hope of the realization of love’s tantalizing promises.
The other characters are great, too—Cal and Emily, the parents in the process of a divorce, Jacob, the peerless womanizer, Hannah, the unhappily coupled lawyer, Jessica, the baby-sitter lusted after by the wrong member of the family, David Lindhagen, the undeservedly notorious home-wrecker—but it’s Robbie who’s at the heart of this story. He’s the son who wants so much to believe in his father, to believe in the love of his parents, to believe that their idealized past will be his bright future. He’s the boy who loves his dad so much that he manages to make the successful businessman pursuing his mother feel like some petty loser groveling at the feet of Vito Corleone. Robbie and people like him are what Crazy, Stupid, Love is really about, and it’s hard not to stand in awe of the power of love when Robbie is on the screen.
My husband and I spent much of the movie trying to place Bobo with no success, but at home, I learned that he’s the same young actor who played Danny, the younger brother in Zathura (2005), one of my stepson’s favorite movies. Bobo hasn’t had that many huge movie roles yet, but I have a feeling he’s about to.
Best Joke:
I laughed awfully hard at the principal’s suggestion to Julianne Moore’s Emily, the estranged wife of Steve Carell’s Cal and the mother of Robbie, who has just been sent to the principal’s office after giving a spirited and objectionable impromptu critique of The Scarlet Letter. The whole situation was funny, and Robbie’s suggestion for the true meaning of Hester’s A remained amusingly relevant for the rest of the movie.
Funniest Scene:
This is a movie that often makes you cringe when it makes you laugh. Granted, Cal and Emily lapse into some delightful banter when they’re talking about subjects lighter than adultery. (When they forget that they’re in the process of ending their unhappy marriage, they sound almost as witty as friends with benefits.) Still, any time you sense the delightful hilarity of a gigantic misunderstanding about to ensue, you also know that the misunderstanding will bring further misery to the characters. It’s like love takes a hit every time comedy reigns supreme. This instills an uncomfortable mix of anticipation and dread in the viewer. You feel almost guilty for laughing. People’s lives are being destroyed for your amusement. (What happens with Jessica, for example, is so truly emotionally devastating for everyone involved, yet the audience can’t really help laughing.)
That said, there are some times when it’s okay to laugh. When Hannah (played by Emma Stone) begins her drunken rant in the apartment of Ryan Gosling’s Jacob, you do wonder if something bad might be about to happen, but no crisis seems undeterably imminent. We can laugh with impunity.
Almost everything Robbie’s involved in made me laugh, too, and Marisa Tomei’s entire part is heart-wrenchingly amusing.
Best Scene:
I definitely liked the opening scene, how so much was shown through the feet. And as someone who has also made the poor choice to jump out of a moving car during an emotional moment, I really appreciated that scene, too.
What this movie really does well is show how quickly things can move from nearly satisfying to soul-wrenchingly horrible. Life is funny like that. You never know, as you’re living it, what will happen next. Innocent mistakes can turn into major calamities.
With that in mind, I thought parent-teacher night was really well-played by all involved. Cal and Emily seem on the verge of reconciliation, and then…
People do behave in stupid and crazy ways when love is in the mix. Few of us can manage to remain objective and rational when our hearts get involved.
Best Surprise:
The best thing about this movie is that it’s able to surprise the audience. You don’t go to a movie like Crazy, Stupid, Love expecting The Sixth Sense, and yet, the movie does have its unexpected moments. I’m not going to allude to any surprises because that will spoil them. (And no, I wasn’t hinting that Steve Carell’s character is actually dead) (even though he may remind some people of someone who is).
The Performances:
I’ve already singled out Jonah Bobo as Robbie, one of the strongest performances by a young actor that I’ve seen in a long time.
Steve Carell is really great in this role. He’s a wonderfully gifted comedian, but he’s also a pretty decent actor, and we get to see him shine here as blindsided soon-to-be-ex-husband Cal. You can always see why Emily fell in love with Cal. (Seeing why she fell out of love with him is a bit more difficult, though I’m not convinced it had as much to do with his appearance as Ryan Gosling’s Jacob seemed to think. His lack of confidence, however, was more of a genuine problem.)
This is my favorite performance by Ryan Gosling. He’s a great actor, but he normally chooses such depressing material. I thought he was fantastic as the charismatic but unhappy womanizer, Jacob. I’ve never watched him so attentively.
Julianne Moore really deserves an Academy Award, and I don’t understand why she doesn’t have one. Her part here probably isn’t substantial enough for Oscar consideration (I’d love to be proven wrong), but she does consistently good work and never wins anything. That seems unfair. She’s very good as the unhappily adulterous Emily, a character in many ways similar to the one she played in The Kids Are All Right, but in other respects completely different. (And it takes acting talent to show distinctions like that.)
Emma Stone is wonderful, and I think I would watch her in anything. She’s very captivating and shows here that none of her previous success was a fluke. She’s very funny, so good with comedy, and she makes Hannah, one of the more underwritten and somewhat mysterious characters in the script, very sympathetic and believable. And Liza Lapira is also quite funny as her friend Liz.
Analeigh Tipton is funny and fantastic as Jessica. Like Jonah Bobo’s, her acting career should take off after such a strong performance in this movie.
Marissa Tomei also gives a great performance in a role that’s somewhat of a departure from the parts she usually plays.
Kevin Bacon shows up, too. It’s too bad he’s not playing the character he played in X-Men: First Class here. He really could have used some help in his intimidating interactions with Robbie and frustrating dates with Emily. He plays David Lindhagen well enough, but (through no fault of Bacon’s) the character is always funnier when he’s off-screen.
The Negatives:
My main complaint with this movie is an aspect of its premise and fundamental to its success. Why does Cal so readily follow Jacob? I agree that he has to follow him in order for the movie to work, but I’m not entirely sure that we’re given convincing enough reasons for the character to make such a strange and dramatic choice.
I understand that as a newly and unexpectedly single man Cal feels so adrift and rejected that he’s eager to take any steps toward becoming someone people see as desirable. And yes, Emily’s request for a divorce completely blindsided him. He really doesn’t understand what happened.
Still that he so readily follows the orders of an insulting and controlling stranger seems very odd to me. (I can see that it may be a major flaw with Cal’s character, one that requires correction before the story can meaningfully progress, but I still struggle with its believability.)
I get that Jacob is so good at picking up people that he even manages to pick up Cal. I just don’t quite believe it. Then again, people do strange things when their emotions are involved, and Cal is in the middle of an unexpected crisis.
I completely understand why Jacob was drawn to Cal, and I understand, too, that his comments hit a nerve and prompted a desire for change within Cal. But I still think it’s unrealistic that Cal puts so much trust in Jacob (and his insulting mentoring method) so quickly. To me, that’s the one major flaw with the movie. Maybe with some rewriting, a more convincing reason for Cal to trust Jacob could have been included. Maybe I just don’t understand the behavior of recently divorced forty-something men. (I will allow that as a completely fair objection.)
But I thought this essential element of the beginning felt forced, and, honestly, though I forgave the movie because it had such a beautiful ending, I never really forgot.
Overall:
I’ve seen a lot of movies this summer, and I thought Crazy, Stupid, Love was the second best one. After reading my review, you might surmise that I identify with films told from the perspective of boys in middle school, perhaps true, and perhaps incentive for some psychoanalysis on my part, but this is still a great movie, and I recommend it heartily.
I’d invite almost anyone to watch it with one caveat—If you are going through or have recently gone through a divorce or a painful break-up, this is probably not the movie for you. It will dredge up too many intense emotions, and you may find the ending as frustrating and repulsive as I found it charming.