What’s one of the main reasons relationships end? Women think they can change men—and men generally don’t change. Men, on the other hand, think the girl they married will stay the same. But women change. They can quickly outgrow men. A guy showing up for date night in comfy, schlubby dad sneakers is asking for trouble.
After 25 years of marriage, Emily (Julianne Moore) asks her husband, Cal (Steve Carell), for a divorce. She’s had an affair with her boss, David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon). Cal’s a great dad, a solid family man, but he’s gotten too unexciting, habit-bound, and predictable. It didn’t help that they married out of high school and had their first kid at age 17. Cal didn’t know he needed to change—so change came to Cal.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” is about being hit in the heart with Cupid’s arrow, along with a wide range of crazy, stupid things people do to chase love down, their attempts to keep it, and what happens when someone pulls out that arrow and throws it in the trash. It’s not really a romcom, a comedy, or a drama. It’s real-life-ish, with quite a bit of excellent comedy, and forgivable, over-the-top situations that tie up loose ends a bit too neatly. It’s a movie you’ll want to see a few times.
A Three-Tiered Multigenerational Sort-of-Romcom
There’s something for everyone! Take the whole family! Actually, this isn’t really a harmless family movie, but the filmmakers have all aspects and ages of crazy, stupid love covered.For the middle-aged, there’s Cal and Emily. For the 20-somethings, there’s Jacob (Ryan Gosling)—a dapper, Brylcreem-ed lawyer and incorrigible, prolific player in bespoke suits, with ripped abs—who eventually (and incredibly satisfyingly) falls head over heels for soon-to-be-lawyer Hannah (Emma Stone) who, herself, recently dumped her bland, noncommittal boyfriend (soft-rock musician Josh Groban).
And for the teens, Cal and Emily’s tween son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) has an overwhelming crush on his 17-year-old babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), who, to bring it full circle, has a hugely inappropriate, massive crush on … Cal. As much as we’d like to ignore it, this dangerous dynamic runs rampant all across our fine nation (my high school was rife with it), but luckily it’s played here strictly for laughs.
Cal’s Makeover
After Cal gets the boot, he begins drowning his sorrows in cranberry and vodka at a local hotspot, loudly and pathetically telling anyone who will listen about being cuckolded, which is a particular bit of loser-ish business that resides squarely in Steve Carell’s wheelhouse of affable, loser schlubs.
Lothario Jacob takes pity on Cal, taking him under his wing and accompanying him on a makeover spree. He informs Cal that one of the advantages of being a middle-aged schlub is that Cal has the financial wherewithal to drop a ton of money on a brand-new extensive wardrobe and a $60 haircut.
Then, Jacob, taking the role of Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid,” has Cal watch and learn, quickly turning him into a (more or less) smooth operator.
Jacob’s Makeover
Back to Jacob and Hannah: Hannah insists on going home with Jacob, intending not to have a PG-rated night, and Jacob falls for Hannah in what might be one of the most delightful date scenes in romcoms. The two actors have enormous natural chemistry—which Hollywood later cashed in on with 2016’s Oscar winner “La La Land.” My favorite bit of dialogue goes something like this (all from memory):
There are lots of twists and turns, and turns of the knife that hurt, but I cared about all these characters and their loves, both lost and gained. I wanted them all to be happy in the end. I’m pretty sure you will too.
