Review of Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) by Chromate — 27 Nov 2021

It's true when they say that a terrible actor always makes their co-star look better. Steve Carrell's acting performance was so terrible that it made Ryan Gosling look like DiCaprio. Gosling's scenes with Carrell were incredibly cringeworthy--luckily his scenes with Emma Stone were really able to save the day.

The Gosling-Stone duo is iconic for the chemistry that they heatedly and repeatedly display on the screen, so props to the casting department for that one. To be fair, credit should be given Stone on her own, she stuns every role she is in.

Another point goes to the casting department for the casting of the child actors. When it comes to the "comedy" part of this rom-com, the Weaver kids (Joey King and Jonah Bobo) really pulled it all together.

Other than that, all other jokes fell flat. Most likely due to Carrell's presence that make everything feel like a drowsy dad-joke, when it seems like it was supposed to be delivered in a witty manner.

Carrell's character Cal is extremely uncharismatic that it makes the idea that he could attract any of the beautiful women in question utterly unrealistic. Another flaw: the scenes where he ogles women like a thirteen year old boy who is just begging to hit puberty just make the whole vibe uncomfortable and creepy.

Not sure if this was on purpose, but either way, it was weird. I could go on and on about what made Cal an unlikeable character, but when it comes down to it, I think it is simply because he is too similar to Steve Carrell's Michael Scott-- proving that Carrell just can't seem to get out of his comfort zone (which he still fails at).

On a positive note: I thought it would be bad, and it was. So at least it lived up to my expectations.