Director: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris)
Screenplay: Dan Fogelman (Cars, Tangled)
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 118 min

(3.5/5)

If Steve Carell is using Crazy, Stupid, Love to prove to the world that he’s going to continue to have a long career in Hollywood movies now that his days on The Office are over, then all I can say is this: Mr. Carell, point made. While he is no stranger to the Hollywood scene, all eyes are on Carell to see what his next few moves will be now that he has left one of the most popular shows on television and a role that won him a Golden Globe and brought him five Emmy nominations. In choosing to do what is being marketed hard as the must-see summer romantic comedy, Carell has surrounded himself with the likes of critical darling Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon – and with this talent, as well as a smart, adult script, he carries Crazy, Stupid, Love on his shoulders, helping create one of the better, more adult romantic comedies in recent memory.

In Crazy, Stupid, Love – which is, I might add, a crazy, stupid title – the film opens up with the revelation to the father-of-the-year Cal Weaver (Carell) by his wife (Moore) that she not only wants a divorce after 25 years of marriage, but she has also cheated on him with a coworker (Bacon). Despondent and lost, Cal begins frequenting a local bar, where after numerous nights of telling his sob story to whoever will listen, a smooth, well-dressed ladies man named Jacob Palmer (Gosling) takes notice and decides to take Cal under his wing.

While this sounds like the perfect set up for a Hangover type fratboy comedy, what follows is a mature, sometimes sad, tightly woven tale of sex, love, and loneliness in our fast-paced, modern, and often superficial society. Despite the by-the-numbers premise, the film does not follow a predictable trajectory, the laughs, sometimes screwball, are carefully crafted, and despite all of the talent around him and the expectations of many, it is Carrell, not Gosling, who carries the film.

Like many, I have followed Carell since his stint on The Daily Show. Since then, I have enjoyed him when he has been his usual silly self (Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin), but I have loved him when he has taken the more subdued, darkly comedic roles (Little Miss Sunshine, Dan in Real Life). Here, you can put Carell in the latter category and he gives what is probably his finest performance to date, not so far away from his comfort zone that he’s blowing minds, but doing what he does best: subtle comedy with flashes of sadness. In the many other threads weaving throughout the film, the rest of the cast all shine as well, with Gosling masterfully slipping into the playboy mold so easily it’s angering for a twenty-something guy such as myself (let’s not even mention those impossible abs), Stone again proving that she is one of the hottest young talents in Hollywood, and even young Jonah Bobo, who plays Carell’s confused son, captures all of the intricacies of a thirteen year old discovering sex and love.

This film doesn’t set a new bar for romantic comedies. It won’t win any major awards. It isn’t the perfect date movie – although it’s a damn fine choice. What it does do is provide solid entertainment appropriate for the mainstream in a genre plagued with recycled junk. If you need some light comedy with the perfect touch of melancholy and want to watch some great performers at work, you will enjoy the hell out of Crazy, Stupid, Love.