Crazy Stupid Love

 

Crazy Stupid Love was not a film on my radar and when I saw the trailer my emotional interest peaked at “meh” so it was down to the enthusiasm of others that I was there on opening night.

PLOT:  Cal (Steve Carrel) is getting a divorce from Emily (Julianne Moore).  Jacob (Ryan Gosling) a major player on the one night stand scene meets and falls in love with Hannah (Emma Stone).  Jacob teaches Cal to be a man whore.  Cal becomes a man whore.  Emily sleeps with David (Kevin Bacon). Cal loves Emily.  Jacob loves Hannh. Robbie loves Jessica. Jessica loves Cal. No one loves Marisa Tomei and quite rightly so.  There is a plot twist which I shamefully didn’t see coming.  There are many declarations of love.  There are actually genuine laughs. There is a happy ending.  END PLOT

The plot of Crazy Stupid Love is surprisingly strong if slightly unoriginal but I suppose there is only so much you can do with a comedy of this style.  I have to admit that there was one twist in the film that I did not see coming which is a testament to how engrossed in the film I became.    

The laughs came usually when Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were at centre stage but unfortunately there seemed to be large portions of the film where they took a back seat.  The film would have been much stronger if they cut the Robbie/Jessica love story and just focused on the adults.

The cast were all very good and helped to lift a film which would have died a painful death if non funny comedy actors such as Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston had starred.

I have never been a Steve Carrel fan but he was very good as down and out Cal which makes me wonder if he might actually be a very good serious actor. 

Ryan Gosling is ridiculously attractive for a skinny blond man and had the charm to make his character work. 

Emma Stone hasn’t put in a bad performance in her career so far and Crazy Stupid Love has only cemented the fact that she is a great comedic actress.

Comedy is a genre I tend to steer clear of unless it is British but at least once a year a comedy sneaks in unannounced and is legitimately funny – last year it was Easy A (with Emma Stone) and this year it is Crazy Stupid Love.

The downside to the film is the length as Crazy Stupid Love is a staggering two hours long and I blame the Robbie/Jessica arc for adding unnecessary length to an already hefty film.  I will admit that although the film was long I was never bored I just feel that with better editing and a shorter running time it would have made the film much tighter. 

Crazy Stupid Love isn’t exactly a ground breaking addition to the genre but thanks to the performances of the cast it became a comedy with actual laughs which in terms of the never ending production line of shitty Sarah Jessica Parker infested filth it is a great achievement.  The film gets an 8/10 and will become an addition to the dvd collection if it pops up on a 3 for 2 offer.  The running length stops it from becoming a solid go to 90min film.