Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Well, it's a bit "meh", actually. There are some nice scenes from time to time, but it's all a bit empty. For a film with "love" in its title, there is precious little affection displayed here. I can't help but feel sorry for Marisa Tomei's character, who gets used and dumped in such a heartless way. Difficult to enjoy and even more difficult to recommend.

Becoming a boring husband after 25 years of marriage, Cal is asked by his wife (Emily) to divorce because she cheated on him with a work colleague. From this moment, his life is about to take a dramatic turn which coincides with a new friend, Jacob. He will teach Cal how to become a real man, impressing women and asking them out in order to make his wife regret her decision. All goes according to plan but Cal isn't convinced he's doing the right thing so he slowly tries to come back together with Emily. At the same time something strange happens to Jacob. He gets "assaulted" by a girl with whom he falls in love and tries to become the man Cal was before the transformation.It's a puzzling story which follows dramatic changes of attitude from lots of characters throughout this picture. Despite being an interesting story, it gets boring more often than I can neglect and although it tries a lot to be funny, it doesn't actually manage most of the time. It's a good movie nevertheless but there were some moments which almost made me skip so I can't give it a better rating. Too bad!

Couldn't watch past 30 minutes of this movie. I found it very offensive (to men but especially to women) from a woman's perspective. It sells the idea that every woman will go to bed with any guy that is suited up and has nice shoes and slick hair. It becomes pretty predictable that Cal will deal with his failing marriage by becoming a womanizer and going to bed with random women he will 'learn' to pick up thanks to a stranger. The little backstory we get as to why his marriage falls apart is incredibly shallow. He actually refuses to even talk about it. Very empty, unlikable characters. Not a romantic movie, not a comedy movie. I hope this is a satire towards relationships and women/men and I just didn't get it, because if not, there's something really wrong with it.

I admit, I would never have wanted to see this movie if it hadn't been for the amazing cast that caught my eye. Romantic comedy just isn't my kind of movie.What I Liked: The cast definitely made the movie worth watching. In fact, the film would have sucked without the likes of Steve Carell, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei and Julianne Moore. Carell's comic timing is excellent, Stone and Gosling's chemistry beautifully on point, Moore and Tomei's acting strongly committed to their characters. The end/climax "fight/confrontation was the best thing about the movie. It was funny, busy, outrageous, and satisfying. I loved it.What I Didn't Like: Everything was watered-down; the comedy, in particular. As a whole, the film felt bland, very boring, and the cinematography was equally dull and lifeless. I was very bored until that end confrontation. I barely laughed, I barely smiled, and I even considered turning the film off. It was boring. Just to bear in mind, this film was prompting all the wrong things: adultery, unhealthy fixation, sleeping with whoever you like whenever you like, and it was, some times very much so, sexist. A number of times the attitude displayed from the men was "if you want it, get it." More accurately, "if you want her, get her." Admittedly, it ended well with everyone realising their mistakes and changing that original attitude slightly. The adultery didn't win, nor did the playboy lifestyle. Carell and Moore's characters reconciled, which was a refreshing take on what you'd expect, and Gosling's character finally realised the error of his ways and started a healthy relationship with Stone's character. Crazy, Stupid, Love was a twist on what you'd usually expect from a story like this, but to fully work it needed more humour and more action.