Review of Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

This is a romantic comedy with drama elements as well and it features themes including divorce, nervousness, pursuit, depression and anger. I found myself feeling sorry for the main character, Cal, quite early on, mainly due to how other people reacted to the news that he's going to be divorced. He's a very human character, in that he looks, sounds and clearly feels dejected and seems unsure quite how to react and how to move forward at first. There are various different characters, with differing personalities and the way they clash with him did make me feel quite sorry for him, although others in the film have the opposite reaction. There are the ubiquitous awkward social moments, aka the cringe-y scenes, which I found both amusing and embarrassing. Cast wise, this film has quite a good cast, with Steve Carrel taking the lead role of Cal, playing the slightly bumbly, nervous middle aged man about to be divorced. This is hardly a leap for him, given he's been in films such as 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' before but he does play the role well. I liked how he changed as the plot developed (I won't say anymore for risking giving out spoilers). Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling plays Cals friend (or presumed friend, he's a bit of a macho show off type, which is a turn off to me personally but anyway(!))) Jacob, someone who thinks he's (as they say in the USA) 'all that' and gladly offers his vast knowledge of pick up skills to help Cal to move on. Also present are Jualianne Moore, who plays Cals (soon to be ex) wife, Emily, Emma Stone, who plays Hannah and Kevin Bacon plays Emily's boss, David Lindhagen. Josh Groban also features at one point, playing a character called Richard.

There are hints of a moral aspect to the film but I didn't find it to be especially preachy. There are points in which I felt the characters (more than just one, to make that clear - its not all about Cal) were a bit overly whiny but I certainly enjoyed the film for the most part. There are some sub-plots present, as I say it isn't all about Cal and one of them seemed perhaps a bit inappropriate, or otherwise pretty random. Its a little quirky but I felt it to be fairly entertaining, amusing (I wouldn't say laugh out loud funny but pretty amusing) and it had a decent cast, so I enjoyed it.

Yes I'd recommend this film, as I found it both amusing and embarrassing at times, with a likeable central character and a good cast. It is a bit cheesy and has some moments wherein the characters seemed a little too whiny but for films of its type, its not awful, so yes, I'd recommend it.