Review of Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) by Pablo E — 16 Jan 2014

Let me get this straight. Ryan Gosling starred in three movie hits of 2011?

He's insane.

I mean, nobody eats pizza as cool as him.

The main issue I have with this film is that, just like an Italian romantic comedy, it is plagued by disgusting "suburban" characters difficult to empathize with given their disgusting decisions. Everything circling around their minds is sex-related; so are their actions. Even Robbie's "graduation gift" from her babysitter is contradictory to the film's final message. Another major drawback I had was that the situations were too coincidental between each other not to consider them forced. I do believe in suspension of disbelief, even in romantic comedies, but situations were too far fetched and characters were forgiving things that would be nearly impossible to do for any human.

It is a good sign that Steve Carell has been trying to get out of his comfort zone since Date Night (2010), however, with some obvious inconsistencies in the way. Also, the film had (surprisingly) two climaxes, one comedic and the other one emotional, with a dramatic intermission in between. I won't argue that this surpasses 95% of romantic comedies that are released today, and it gets creative in some aspects instead of relying on a "sexually humorous and crude" screenplay written by American Pie screenwriters. On the contrary, it manages to be heartwarming in some bizarre and inexplicable way, and makes a nice role reversal twist between the Carell and Gosling's personas.

Who knows... Maybe at this pace, Carell will someday find his Punch Drunk Love and do something different, and Hollywood may have some alternatives beyond Apatow-like humor for the genre's survival.

57/100.