Saturday 24 September 2011

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.

8 comments:

  1. My general love of Emma Stone is enough to get me interested but then I heard this was a really strong film, missed it while it was at the movies but will give it a run on video, esp. since I know you've enjoyed it too!

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  2. This will only make you love her more as she is great in it.

    I was almost annoyed that I liked it as much as I did lol.

    Definitely worth a look on dvd when it comes out

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  3. I was also pleasantly surprised when i saw this movie...even IF Ryan is too skinny for my tastes haha...I love Emma Stone-in my opinion there is nothing that she can do wrong! Thanks for sharing this :)

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  4. Ryan is very charming but he isn't quite to my taste either!!

    Thanks for reading!

    K :-)

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  5. Interesting. I haven't had my interest piqued by this at all. It is screening here right now but funds are rather tight and I have to be somewhat selective.
    I'm having real troubles with your blog as the white background is disappearing on me and I can't read the text!! Arrrrggggghhhhh Blogger can be a real pain with it's glitches!

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  6. Brent - let me know if you have any more trouble with my blog in case there is something I can do to fix it (although my computer skills are poor!)

    I had no interest in this film at all so expectations were low but I was shocked by how much I was into it.

    It does sag in parts, mostly when the kids take centre stage, but other than that it is a strong comedy!!

    I am sure it was definitely better that Shark Night ;-)

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  7. I would say it is a Blogger glitch as I have the same problem on another blog as well. I have all sorts of problems when typing up reviews as the tool bar doesn't work properly and I have even had almost completed write ups wiped as I'm typing! And as for trying to add in pictures...by god my patience is tested!
    I can't turn back the clock but I was probably better off seeing this than Shark Night but then at the time I didn't think there was much between the two!

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  8. I will keep an eye out - can't say I've had any problems at the minute. They seem to be updating a lot of stuff with their site etc so it's probably all to do with that

    It's hard enough to get people to read my bloody blog without those who do not being able to!

    I get were you are coming from with your lack of interest in Crazy Stupid Love as that is how I felt about it too.

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