Crazy, Stupid, Love.
★ ★★★
Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a wonderful film to wrap around yourself. It's deeper and more complex than most rom-coms that you come across. It never fails to make you laugh and pulls off a hard feat of creating main characters that have major flaws, but who are all completely endearing. (Well, maybe except for David Lindhagen)
It's hard for a movie to not be charming with such an all-star cast consisting of Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon and Lio Tipton. Each one of them are stellar in their roles, but Carrell and Gosling steal the show. They are an unlikely, comedic duo and pull of the rare feat of both being the straight man. They are both seasoned enough to let the words of the script to do the heavy-lifting, but punctuate scenes perfectly with an extra glance or an improvised moment.
The screenplay is the core of this movie and I've always enjoyed a movie that can interweave characters' motivations seamlessly. This movie might have one of the most surprising and clever twists ever in a comedy. It doesn't feel cheap or undeserved and completely ramps up the stakes of an already emotional story.
The one thing that holds me back from giving this a five-star rating is some of the over-the-top comedic moments. I wrestle with these scenes because I think they are funny on their own, but in the context of the whole movie, it seems like a cheap way to get a laugh amongst an otherwise stellar script.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. does an amazing job of showcasing the different stages that one goes through in the journey of love and makes an excellent case for always letting your heart be worn on your sleeve. After it's over, you can't help but feel more optimistic about both life and love. What more can you ask for from a rom-com?
