Review of Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) by Lasttimeisaw — 11 Jan 2012

After their ill-fated director debut, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS (2009), duo filmmakers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa comes back with this sleeper hit in the lukewarm summer last year, it is a G-rated rom-com, composed of run-of-the-mill scenarios, but exquisitely draws me head over heels for it.

It took 6 years for Steve Carell to upgrade his 40-year-old-virgin status to a 44-year-old-loyal-husband honor, whose sexual object has remained as singular form with his soulmate (then high-school sweetheart, now the wife for 22 years, who is submerging into a quotidian middle age crisis).

Steve exudes a tremendous bent of poker-face acting in this film, flavored with a whiff of sarcastic and knowing jokes; it is also a delight to embrace Julianne Moore back to a mainstream rom com since LAWS OF ATTRACTION (2004), her role is well-measured and no one will ever doubt her capacity to be competent for it.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone pair suffers from a shorter screen time for their corresponding story about an invincible womanizer meets the girl of his life; but Gosling has the qualification to stride swaggeringly in the Hollywood now because his filmography proves that he is the next George Clooney with a much earlier inception (judging fairly by his three films coming in 2010).