Crazy, Stupid, Love

My Grade:  A-

I wanted to see this film for the same reason everyone else did:  the cast.  I was worried, though, because of a film called Valentines Day that featured a cast which included... well, everyone, and was awful (I never saw it so I am just going on consensus here).  Somewhat surprisingly, though, Crazy, Stupid, Love (CSL from here on out since I’m already tired of typing the full title) is fantastic and, quite possibly, the funniest PG-13 rom-com out there.  It has its issues as all movies do, but it’s thoroughly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny, very well acted, and does some interesting things visually.  With all this said, you may wonder why there is a minus after the A... we’ll get there.

    

Before I get to the brilliant cast, I want to talk about a few things that I don’t usually talk about in my reviews (even though I should).  Those are cinematography and lighting.  I guess I don’t usually discuss these because they don’t stand out, which is good because they would only stand out if they distracted from the film.  In this film, the lighting stands out because it is cliche.  But it is SUPPOSED to be cliche and that is what is so funny.  In classic films, when the female lead enters, she is lit so perfectly that she seems to be glowing like an angel.  This doesn’t happen very often anymore with all the film noire influences of the femme fatale and such, but it has become a cliche.  Women are lit like this in CSL because of the cliche of making them look like classic Hollywood starlets and, with the perfect music choices at these moments, we can’t help but laugh out loud.

    

Cinematography, like lighting, tends to only stick out if it distracts (except in films in the vein of Black Swan or Limitless which one cannot help but be amazed at the visuals).  In CSL, the cinematography is not breathtaking, but it’s good.  One part, however, does stick out.  It’s no spoiler alert that everything goes horribly wrong at one point in the film (I mean, come on... it’s a studio movie).  After everything blows up and gets depressing for the characters, there is a sequence where the camera pans down through one scene, then cross dissolves to another scene where the camera continues to pan down, etc.  It’s evokes a feeling of everything sinking lower and lower and it is brilliant.  

    

Now onto what you really care about... the cast.  We will just go down the list.  Steve Carell is funny as usual.  I was a little concerned that he plays a similar role here as he does in 40 Year Old Virgin, but the character has different circumstances to deal with which makes it fresh.  Ryan Gosling is funny.  Very funny.  I didn’t know he could be funny, but he brings the majority of the laughs here.  And they shoot him like Michael Bay shoots Rosie Huntington-Whitley in Transformers:  Dark of the Moon, so ladies, enjoy.  His somewhat unlikable character has a believable arc that makes him endearing as well... so he’s not just eye candy for the ladies.  Julianne Moore, as always, is great, even though her character is one of my least favorites in the film.  

Emma Stone is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses out there.  We first met her in Superbad, then she slayed zombies in Zombieland, and she dominated the screen in Easy A.  In CSL she is one of the least cliche characters and she is fantastic.  Her Hannah is an independent woman that’ll make you laugh, make you cry, and bring about positive changes in all the characters around her.  I may love her.  Marisa Tomei is a brilliant casting choice here because she is a big-name actress in a role that is little more than a cameo.  It’s brilliant because the audience keeps expecting her character to come back up, but she doesn’t.  It keeps us on our toes.  Finally, Kevin Bacon is despicable but great as David Lindhagen... a name that you will remember after this film.

    

Holding their own on screen alongside all of these heavyweights, are two relatively unknowns:  Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo.  Tipton (Jessica) plays Bobo’s (Robbie) babysitter and they have the most nerve-wracking, tumultuous relationship which borders on ridiculous at times, but becomes one of the more heartwarming aspects of this film.  Robbie is the voice of reason in his parents’ lives and brings some of the most touching lines that are delivered to perfection by the young Bobo.  Jessica, the self-conscious babysitter with a dark secret is straight from the cliche handbook, but Tipton brings the cliche to life with some quirky charm that makes her likable.  Her character arc, however, seems to come out of nowhere and just happens because it creates a nice feel-good scene for the end of the film.  This is one of the reasons why I gave CSL an “A minus” rather than an “A.”

    

Overall, this film is packed with cliche characters in somewhat cliche circumstances, but the characters and circumstances come together in surprisingly fresh ways that make this film a joy to watch.  A fantastic cast with great chemistry makes it all possible and allows two up-and-comers (Tipton and Bobo) to shine beside some Hollywood greats.  Despite the over-the-top and sometimes downright silly scenes, there are enough great scenes that you will laugh, cry, gasp, and leave the theater smiling as you talk about your own crazy, stupid love.