The film was like a different spin on "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", except in this one, Steve Carell's character is married with a family. When his wife (Julianne Moore) states she wants a divorce, he goes into a painful period of tutoring by consummate womanizer Jacob (Ryan Gosling), in order to learn how to pick up women. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a romantic comedy that raises eyebrows at times, but ultimately brings our guy Cal (Carell) full circle back to his one time high school girlfriend Emily (Moore) amid a series of rash encounters and undisclosed identities. It gets farcical at times, especially near the finale when Cal and Emily's backyard barbecue turns into a free for all when all the supporting players show up. A side story involving newly barred lawyer Hannah (Emma Stone) with Gosling's character seeks to exonerate his womanizing ways, while thirteen year old Robbie (Jonah Bobo) suffers the pangs of young love attempting to win a high school sweetheart. It's not made evident up front that Hannah has a connection to the troubled couple at the center of the story, but the astute viewer will make the connection before Jacob does. Some questionable scenes aside, the story works as an effective rom-com that ends on a positive note for all parties involved, though one might question seventeen year old Jessica's (Analeigh Tipton) parting gift to her not so secret admirer Robbie. That seemed a bit on the tasteless side.
Review of Crazy, Stupid, Love.
