Story: The Weavers, Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore), are the perfect couple, living out the American dream with a nice suburban home, nice jobs and two nice kids. But one seemingly innocuous dinner date turns out to be a disaster when Emily declares she has slept with her office colleague (Kevin Bacon) and wants a divorce since the high school romance between the huband wife duo seems to have lost its magic. Singleton status however suits neither, as Cal begins to spend wild, albeit soulless nights in lounge bars, under the tutelage of his newfound swinging bachelor friend (Ryan Gosling) and Emily leads a lonely, miserable life. Add to this two more love stories and you have a montage on the varied colours of romance.
Movie Review : It may be a romantic story all over again but there is a freshness to Crazy Stupid Love which makes it eminently watchable. The characters are familiar: a middle-aged couple, a young couple and a teenage couple. Yet, their trajectory of romance is not so familiar. The middle-aged, much-married and recently separated Weavers try hard to go their separate ways but being quintessential soulmates, they never end up distanced and truly divorced. The 25-year old romance which began in high school with a chocolate mint ice cream is impossible to write off, however tempting the new options may seem. After all his heady encounters, which include one with wild cat school teacher Marisa Tomei (hilarious), Cal always ends up at Emily's doorstep, tending to their garden in the dead of night.
The other love tracks include a teeny bopper one where Cal's 13-year-old son (Jonah Bobo) falls crazily in love with his 17-year-old baby-sitter (Analeigh Tipton) who in turn, harbours naughty fantasies for the father. Equally zany is the one-night stand between swashbuckling Ryan Gosling and the yuppie lawyer (Emma Stone) which ends up on a fiery note and doesn't take long to get transformed into a till-death-do-us-part affair. But nothing, just nothing is run-of-the-mill here, neither the characters nor the screenplay. The drama is finely nuanced with little touches that raise the emotional quotient to a high level while the humour is subtle, bordering on mild amusement. Steve Carell and Julianna Moore make a fine couple, lending both dignity and vulnerability to their roles while Gosling and Stone are perfectly mismatched (quite appealing). Young Jonah and his babysitter too lend a fine performance and never get thwarted by the adults and their affairs. In fact, the 13-year-old ends up as the torch bearer for the confused lot, enunciating the true credo of love and all that jazz.
A charming watch, don't forget to take time out for Crazy Stupid Love, despite the crazy, stupid title. |
