Avoids Being Too Cliche
”Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Banko’s Grade: B (80% out of 100)
I might just be a sucker for romantic comedies, so take my reviews for them with a grain of salt. If you’re wondering the types that I like; “When Harry Met Sally” is a classic, and one of my top favorite movies of all time. “Annie Hall” finds itself in close contention, and a man can always waste time on a rainy weekend by secretly popping in “Sleepless in Seattle” but telling your wife you’re going to watch “Die Hard” instead. Also, it still might be difficult to not fall for Julia Roberts as the prostitute with a heart of gold in “Pretty Woman”. In terms of modern fare, I thought “500 Days of Summer” was a great and as a man who prides himself in making lists of his favorite things, “High Fidelity” is very underrated. Finally, if you liked Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock in “The Proposal” I found myself liking Bullock’s chemistry with Bill Pullman better in “While You Were Sleeping”.
In terms of “cookie-cutter” romantic comedies here’s a list of ones I can do without: “27 Dresses” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” are the first couple I pull from my hat. Also, “Made of Honor” you could be the perfect movie, just not the perfect movie for me. (A note to those of you who never saw “Made of Honor” I am in fact, poking fun at one of the film’s silliest quotes). Unfortunately, had you asked me a few years ago what I thought about “You’ve Got Mail” I probably would have told you that I had a secret affection for it, but having seen it again recently, it’s pretty darn hokey. However, if they made a key fob for Fox Books you’d find me attaching it to my chain without question.
So, with all that said, what need to do is figure out where “Crazy, Stupid, Love” fits into romantic comedy lore. The film at its core stars Steve Carell and Julianne Moore as a couple going through a divorce. Although it tends to be a bit dark at times, compared to other movies in this genre, and does lend itself to classic cliché, the latest from directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“I Love You Phillip Morris”) is both witty and cute. It is a film that is thoroughly enjoyable and a movie to look forward to for DVD release and a second viewing.
“Crazy, Stupid Love” is the story of Cal (Carell) and Emily (Moore). They were high school sweethearts who got married young, had kids, started their careers and then bought a home. All in all, they’ve lived the American Dream, but now Emily seems to be going through a mid-life crisis. Bored with her home life, she’s slept with another man from her office (Kevin Bacon) and has been keeping it secret. The guilt finally catches up, and her only reaction is that she wants a divorce. Cal, so taken aback by this news can’t think do anything but oblige Emily, pack up his things and move out.
Once he is on his own, Cal finds the dating game is pretty rough. He spends most of his nights at a bar, drowning his sorrows in his favorite drink, cranberry juice and vodka. At the bar Cal meets Jacob, a young stud who finds little difficulty picking up hot chicks using his suave style, mysterious charm and bad boy charisma. Jacob sees something in Cal and offers to help him. Basically, Jacob wants Stella to get her groove back, if she was a middle-aged white guy who played Michael Scott. Cal figures that his wife has moved to the arms of another man, David, the man she slept with from her office. So he figures there is not much to lose from teaming with Jacob. Besides, Jacob makes picking up chicks look oh so easy.
There comes a point where Cal has learned all that he can and he must go out and hunt on his own. He finds success in picking up women using a mix of his new style from Jacob, and a hint of honesty that’s all his own. Cal evolves from the hopeless romantic; a man who’s only slept with woman in his whole life; to a guy who’s the topic of local gossip, a new kind of lady’s man who is taking home strange women from the bar. Emily, who in fact did not run into the open arms of David, doesn’t know quite how to handle the information about her ex-husband. She begins to realize that she might still be in love with him after all.
Meanwhile, there are other love stories at play. Cal’s thirteen year old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo, “The Fox and the Hound 2”) is in love with his babysitter, seventeen year old Jessica (Analeigh Tipton, “The Green Hornet”) but Jessica is in love with Cal, because he’s the nicest man she’s ever babysat for. Jacob manages to fall hard for Hannah, (Emma Stone, “Easy A”) a young law student who’s too smart to fall for Jacob’s smooth tricks when she meets him for the first time. Emily still has feelings for Cal even though her coworker, David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) is trying to make his move. Through all this, Marisa Tomei makes a funny appearance as Kate, the first single woman that Cal manages to take home.
And sure, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” suffers from some old cliché. Cal gets caught standing in the rain after a disaster strikes at parent-teacher night at Robbie’s school. Hannah and Jacob literally reenact the final scene from “Dirty Dancing” as Jacob informs her that he does the lift for girls to get them to sleep with him. However, the film knows when it’s being hokey which only adds to its appeal. Screenwriter Dan Fogelman (“Tangled”) remembers to keep the cliché light by poking fun at himself throughout the script. For instance, Cal tells how cliché the rain is while it pours down upon him anyway.
What really makes the movie good is Fogelman’s third act. Rather than keep things simple, he throws one final wrench in the gears. For the most part up until the third act, the film feels pretty standard. Every character has a different story of love. They are all failing, but you’ve developed such a liking for them that deep down you know they’ll succeed. Then comes that overused movie moment, where something bad happens right before the characters can end up together. In Fogelman’s story though, something surprising happens. Details of this plot twist can’t be given without spoiling the surprise, but almost all of the main characters end up at the same place at the same time for a hilariously uncomfortable scene that leads to the film’s climax.
Also different, and perhaps more realistic, is that there is no happy Hollywood ending. There is no wedding spoiled by the guy who messed things up riding through the church on a horse to steal away the girl he finally realizes he’s in love with. Instead, things end a little more realistically. Cal and Emily don’t immediately fall back in love. Realistically she slept with somebody else. Cal is hurt and he is mad. They don’t know if it’s going to work out. Ultimately it’s up to the viewer to make their opinion of what will happen when they make their try. When the credits roll, there shouldn’t be any shortage of tears.
The film suffers from two things, one big and one small. The small problem it has may be Steve Carell. Yes, he’s played dramatic in the past (see: “Little Miss Sunshine”) and yes he’s played this type of hopeless romantic in the past (see: “Dan in Real Life”) but Mr. Carell may have stayed behind the desk at Dunder Mifflin for too long for moviegoers to truly accept him as the new Tom Hanks. This may be his best effort to date for the big screen; but he has got to get away from the gimmicks and mannerisms that he brought to Michael Scott, or eventually he’s going to end up typecast. The biggest problem for the movie is its overall feel. Most romantic comedies feel cute and light, that’s why they sell and that’s why they continue to make money. “Crazy, Stupid, Love” feels different than that, its darker. Two characters are going through a divorce. One character struggles with love against the awkward backdrop of middle school. Another finds comfort in the arms of an older man; which seems like a story destined for “Dateline NBC”. Then there’s when Cal is reborn as the lady’s man that’s a little difficult to accept, considering we really want him to find his way back to Emily. Sleeping with random women that he picks up at the bar seems a bit against his type.
The final act pulls everything together and amidst a summer full of swashbuckling pirates, aliens invading small Midwest towns, warring robots, apes taking over the planet, dudes getting hung over and the dirty deeds done by bridesmaids, there’s a little film that shouldn’t be forgotten called “Crazy, Stupid, Love”. It is by no means an instant classic, but you might just be crazy and stupid to miss it while it’s here.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” is rated PG-13 for adult language, adult themes and partial nudity (Ryan Gosling takes his shirt off).
