About 5 months back the trailer of Crazy, Stupid, Love released and I went nuts over it. But being a film of the majorly terrible (nowadays) romcom genre, I had some reservations about it. When I finally watched it yesterday, I was glad to see that the film did meet my expectations on most parts, and was just the kind of completely entertaining film I needed to break my movie-watching dry spell (I could not go through Eclipse okay).
The film basically centers around three plots about the craziness and stupidity of falling in and out of love. The first story is of Cal and Emily, a married couple of nearly 25 years who see their marriage coming to a standstill after middle-age has hit them, especially with Emily having had slept with a co-worker, David Lindhagen. The second is about how a rich ladies man named Jacob sees Cal in his pathetic, depressed state and decides to help him "rediscover" his manhood, and by that I mean wear a lot of expensive clothes and hit on women with utmost ease and then bang 'em. It is at this time when Jacob finds the awkward and gorgeous Hannah who starts to change his life and lifestyle too. The third story is about Cal's son, thirteen-year-old Robbie's love for his seventeen-year-old babysitter Jessica and her love for "like parent-old" Cal.
I liked how the different stories interlinked in the film. It could have been deadly generic, but it was fresh and funny. There is a part where it starts raining and I was like "What a cliché!" and then Steve Carell, who plays Cal, says exactly that. I think the film stayed very true with its title and showed love and all its facets in all age groups and many realistic scenarios. It was funny not in a slapstick or gross way, but in a relateable way, like how I mentioned above. I love pop-culture references and this one had quite a few of them...I mean I will never look at Dirty Dancing the same way again.
Obviously what really drives the film is the super attractive and well, effortlessly talented cast. Steve Carell is adorable here. From being all depressed to being goofy and then charming, and all throughout being a man who has never stopped or never will stop loving his wife, his character was very likeable and I sort of liked how they didn't show him reaching total rock-bottom, because they do that a lot. His wife is played by the beautiful Julliane Moore who is as naturally funny and sweet as she is dramatic and awesome. Both of them had such a real chemistry between them and their random jokes and conversations were very believable because that is how married couples are, or should be. Emma Stone, whom plays Hannah, is going to be a comic genius one day, I know it. She is so expressive and hilarious and awkward, but in an honest way, that she always makes one feel that they know her. Ryan Gosling plays the suave playboy extraordinaire Jacob. He was..ahem..good, ofcourse. I think I should leave it at that otherwise I will be slobbering all over my key board. I mean seriously it's like he'sphotoshopped unreal, and I am not going to lie- a HUGE reason why I enjoyed the film as much as I enjoyed it is because Ryan Gosling is a total sex-god in it who should be worshiped everyday, all the time. Marissa Tomei plays one of Cal's "conquests" and she is probably the funniest person in the film. I just love her. Kevin Bacon was Lindhagen, a universally hated character in the film. Robbie was played by Jonah Bob and he was a cute kid. I liked how he idealised love...in my head he grows up to be Tom Hansen. I was surprised to see Analeigh Tipton from ANTM there, but she was sweet and confused like all teenage girls should be. Also Josh Groban made his film debut in this, playing a bore. Lastly, I loved Liza Lapira as Liz, Hannah's best friend, because she reacted to everything, especially to Mr. Sex-on-Legs Jacob, as I would.
I personally thought that after the great revelation towards the end of the film, the film gets a bit boring. Especially with the Jacob-Hannah story. If they had ended it on a higher note, or atleast have an amusing ending, I would've liked it better. Also I want a spin-off with Marissa Tomei's character being the protagonist- "I am 5 years SOBER!" Still, the film was cute and enjoyable and keeps the romcom candle burning brightly. Watch...if not for anything else then for Ryan Gosling eating a slice of pizza like it was some sort of ambrosia and heis was a Greek god from heaven, in a suit.
The film basically centers around three plots about the craziness and stupidity of falling in and out of love. The first story is of Cal and Emily, a married couple of nearly 25 years who see their marriage coming to a standstill after middle-age has hit them, especially with Emily having had slept with a co-worker, David Lindhagen. The second is about how a rich ladies man named Jacob sees Cal in his pathetic, depressed state and decides to help him "rediscover" his manhood, and by that I mean wear a lot of expensive clothes and hit on women with utmost ease and then bang 'em. It is at this time when Jacob finds the awkward and gorgeous Hannah who starts to change his life and lifestyle too. The third story is about Cal's son, thirteen-year-old Robbie's love for his seventeen-year-old babysitter Jessica and her love for "like parent-old" Cal.
I liked how the different stories interlinked in the film. It could have been deadly generic, but it was fresh and funny. There is a part where it starts raining and I was like "What a cliché!" and then Steve Carell, who plays Cal, says exactly that. I think the film stayed very true with its title and showed love and all its facets in all age groups and many realistic scenarios. It was funny not in a slapstick or gross way, but in a relateable way, like how I mentioned above. I love pop-culture references and this one had quite a few of them...I mean I will never look at Dirty Dancing the same way again.
Obviously what really drives the film is the super attractive and well, effortlessly talented cast. Steve Carell is adorable here. From being all depressed to being goofy and then charming, and all throughout being a man who has never stopped or never will stop loving his wife, his character was very likeable and I sort of liked how they didn't show him reaching total rock-bottom, because they do that a lot. His wife is played by the beautiful Julliane Moore who is as naturally funny and sweet as she is dramatic and awesome. Both of them had such a real chemistry between them and their random jokes and conversations were very believable because that is how married couples are, or should be. Emma Stone, whom plays Hannah, is going to be a comic genius one day, I know it. She is so expressive and hilarious and awkward, but in an honest way, that she always makes one feel that they know her. Ryan Gosling plays the suave playboy extraordinaire Jacob. He was..ahem..good, ofcourse. I think I should leave it at that otherwise I will be slobbering all over my key board. I mean seriously it's like he's
I personally thought that after the great revelation towards the end of the film, the film gets a bit boring. Especially with the Jacob-Hannah story. If they had ended it on a higher note, or atleast have an amusing ending, I would've liked it better. Also I want a spin-off with Marissa Tomei's character being the protagonist- "I am 5 years SOBER!" Still, the film was cute and enjoyable and keeps the romcom candle burning brightly. Watch...if not for anything else then for Ryan Gosling eating a slice of pizza like it was some sort of ambrosia and he
I like your review. Very personal and honest. Your enjoyment, your sense of relatability and your idolisation of the cast really comes through. I love your reference to Gosling eating the pizza. He even made that look cool.
ReplyDeleteOh gee thanks :D This is really sweet.
ReplyDeleteGosling makes everything cool. Fact.