– for coarse humor, sexual content and language.
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes
Theatrical Release Date: July 29, 2011
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 1, 2011 (Amazon.com)
Official Site
Plot Summary
At fortysomething, straight-laced Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is living the dream—good job, nice house, great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart. But when Cal learns that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has cheated on him and wants a divorce, his perfect life quickly unravels. Worse, in today’s single world, Cal, who hasn’t dated in decades, stands out as the epitome of un-smooth. Now spending his free evenings sulking alone at a local bar, the hapless Cal is taken on as wingman and protégé to handsome, thirtysomething player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). In an effort to help Cal get over his wife and start living his life, Jacob opens Cal’s eyes to the many options before him: flirty women, manly drinks and a sense of style that can’t be found at Supercuts or The Gap. Cal and Emily aren’t the only ones looking for love in what might be all the wrong places: Cal’s 13-year-old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), is crazy about his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), who harbors a crush on Cal. And despite Cal’s makeover and his many new conquests, the one thing that can’t be made over is his heart, which seems to keep leading him back to where he began… (from MovieWeb.com)
Film Review
Romantic comedies often have their own formulas and rules for execution, but every so often, a film emerges with an almost entirely different approach to the genre. For Crazy Stupid Love, the film takes a complicated look at love from various walks of life and age groups by honing in on one central family and those affected by love and each other. It intertwines pretty elaborately through the family — from the husband/father to the young teenage son on down to the baby sitter — and shows how crazy love can be… and how stupid we can get when we’re in the thick of it.
From the opening sequence, we see Emily tell her husband Cal that she wants a divorce, while their 13-year-old son Robbie is caught by their 17-year-old baby sitter Jess pleasuring himself in his bedroom. Robbie then confesses his undying love for Jessica at the moment a shellshocked Cal and distraught Emily return home to blurt the news out to Jessica… with Robbie in earshot. What ensues is a convulted mess that is often funny and often heartwrenching, but not without a blunt and coarse approach to the topic of sex and love that is established right from the start.
It’s tough to get into what kind of messages Crazy Stupid Love is trying to convey without looking at it as a big picture. To do so, I’m going to reveal some important plot details that may ruin it for some, but are key to discuss to really understand what this movie stands for. So if you’re looking for a spoiler warning, that was it. Upon hearing from Emily that she wants a divorce after she has an affair, Cal moves out and starts frequenting a bar called Plus where he spends a few nights drunk and ranting about his wife leaving him and sleeping with another man. Self-absorbed womanizer Jacob then steps in and tells Cal he needs to man up and take control of his masculinity and move on. Jacob then turns Cal into a pet project of sorts. Up until this point, Cal was a one-woman man who’d married his high school sweetheart and never been with anyone else. Through Jacob’s direction, Cal ends up bedding a woman that becomes the first of almost a dozen in his attempt to move on. He changes, not for the better, and things get pretty hairy when he tries to patch things up a bit with Emily (and has a run-in with that first woman in the process). Our “hero,” Cal, is now no better than his wife who cheated on him and it becomes difficult to fully sympathize with a man who loses his integrity in response to being hurt by the woman he loves.
Meanwhile, Jacob has a run-in with a girl who he had previously tried to take home one night but had refused him. In a fit of frustration with her own personal relationship, she seeks Jacob out for a one-night-stand. She isn’t able to go through with it, and in the process, the two spend the night talking, leading Jacob to fall in love with her. Through this intimate exchange of communication that actually doesn’t lead to them sleeping together, we find out why Jacob is the way he is, and his transformation into a human being begins. At the same time, we have the baby sitter taking bad advice from a classmate who is known for sexual relationships with older men who tells her how she can win over the object of her affection – an unsuspecting Cal. This advice leads Jessica to take nude photos of herself with the intent of sending them to Cal in hopes to win him over. Granted, this doesn’t lead in that direction, but it does play a part in the plot where everything sort of hits the fan at once in an over-the-top but surprising turn of events.
I found myself having a problem with several aspects of all of this. You can easily use the argument that none of us are perfect and a lot of the ugly sides of these relationships really aren’t far from reality, however, when it comes to a story where you want some goodness to cling to, there isn’t much to be found here. It’s tough to side with any one character when almost everyone in the film seems to be making bad or simply messed up decisions at some point in the story. At first, the story glorifies the sexual pursuits of Jacob and Cal, and glorifies the womanizing practice, but things do unfold where it all comes back to haunt them and you see the consequences of their actions taking shape. The messages that the film end with are more appropriate than what it starts with (basically “love is worth fighting for”), but it still takes strange and somewhat icky turns regardless (Another spoiler: In the final scene, Jess hands Robbie an envelope that apparently contains the nude photos of her to “get him through high school”… ?! They never show us the photos, but it’s pretty clear by his reaction and the way she presents them to him what the photos are).
As can be expected from all that’s mentioned above, the content is pretty rough for a PG-13. There’s one “F” word, used nonsexually by Emma Stone’s Hannah in response to seeing Jacob’s ripped physique. Other than that, there’s a handful of “S” words,” at least 30 uses of God’s name in vain, as well as a few of Jesus’s, and quite a bit of sexual dialog, that includes the word “bang” used in place of the “F” word and a bunch of other colorful words and phrases. The movie does have its romantic moments as well as some genuinely funny and clever moments (especially if you’re a Steve Carell fan), but I personally felt more “icky” than sweet with the character behaviors in the film. It has some great things to say about sticking with your soulmate and the ones you love and to fight for your spouse when foundations start to crumble, but some of the peripheral side plots and details muddied up the core theme.
When all was said and done, I was glad I didn’t go out of my way to see this in the theater and wasn’t really thrilled I saw it at all. It’s not a bad film; although it wouldn’t be hard to point out how contrived certain things were (I didn’t even reveal everything in my detailed plot analysis above), it’s a unique story that’s very well acted and directed. Still, without a quality “hero” to be rooting for in this story, it’s difficult to really get involved as much as you need to be to be truly invested in a story like this one. And at just around the two-hour mark, it starts to feel like there’s too much being stuffed into a story that would have been stronger if we’d been given characters we could look up to and feel for in a more stream-lined presentation. Sure these flawed characters may be “realistic” in some circles of our society today, but giving characters that we could aspire more to be like would really give us a film worth investing in.
– John DiBiase, (reviewed: 10/26/11)
Blu-Ray and Special Features Review
Crazy Stupid Love is available on Blu-Ray and DVD and in a nice combo pack that also includes a digital copy for those who really want the whole package. Along with three viewing options are two featurettes and a stack of deleted scenes…
Deleted Scenes (12:27) – There are quite a few deleted scenes included here, but very few bear any real relevance to the film. In the first snippet, we see Hannah and Liz talking about Hannah’s boyfriend and Jacob
(1 “a” word), while in the next scene, Liz gushes to Jacob that she’d “do” him and send his “junk to the morgue” (1 “s” word, 1 “G-d,” 1 “cr*p”). In the third one, we see Cal as he goes to rent his apartment after Emily kicks him out and it’s a brief and rather depressing scene. Next we see a scene where Cal and Jacob first meet in the bathroom at the stalls and Jacob tells him off for confronting him in an awkward setting. In the fifth scene, we see Cal at the bar getting drinks and he asks the bartender for advice and he doesn’t say anything to him. The following scene shows Cal pulling out of his driveway and he hits the brick entrance, destroying part of it (1 “s” word). Next, we see an extended version of when Jacob throws Cal’s shoes in the mall, with additional lines (1 “h*ll”). In the eighth scene, we see Jacob trying to help Cal dress better (1 “G-d,” 1 “balls”). Next, we see additional texts from Robbie that Jess receives (1 “s” word). In the tenth scene, there’s an extended sequence where Emily wrestles with the copy machine at work as it continues printing pages that are too dark. In the next one, Emily comes home to Jess watching Robbie, and Jess reassures her that the kids are okay. In the twelfth scene, we see a very brief shot of Cal’s youngest daughter not wanting Cal to turn off the TV and she yells in protest. The thirteenth one is a longer scene of Cal shopping at Lowe’s with his kids. Lastly, there’s an alternate ending where Cal tries to catch Emily in their house, Dirty Dancing style (4 “G-d”). None of the deleted scenes were especially interesting (except maybe some of the additional dialog between Jacob and Cal at the mall), and most of these were barely worth including on the Blu-Ray.
The Player Meets His Match (5:40) – The first of two featurettes covers Jacob’s womanizing character and sort of walks us through scenes in the film – in the final version and on-set footage – as he interacts with Cal and Hannah. We hear from Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as they talk about their characters as well as their thoughts on love. They do examine a bit of why Jacob is the way he is and deconstruct that a bit along the way. However, with it running just under six minutes, it plays more like a promo for the film than a featurette. (1 “G-d,” 2 “J-sus”)
Steve and Ryan Walk Into A Bar (6:40) – This is a candid interview with Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell sitting at the bar set and just chatting about the film and their characters and co-stars. Most of what they say is nonsensical and funny, but some b-roll footage and trailer clips are spliced in to bring some cohesiveness to it. It’s a fun watch. (2 “G-d”)
The special features for Crazy Stupid Love were surprisingly thin and disappointing (there isn’t even a commentary track from anyone), but fans of the film will probably still enjoy what was included.
– John DiBiase, (reviewed: 10/31/11)
Parental Guide: Content Summary
Sex/Nudity: Jessica walks in on while Robbie apparently is masturbating (We don’t see this). He later tells her he thinks of her while he does it; Emily tells Cal she slept with a David; Hannah girl tells Liz she’d have Conan O’Brien’s babies. Liz asks her if she’d really “do” Conan; Jacob tells Hannah that she wouldn’t regret sleeping with him; Cal tells a random girl at a bar that his wife is having intercourse with a guy that isn’t him. He repeatedly says to himself that she screws him; Emily asks Cal when they stopped being “us,” and he says “maybe it’s when you screwed David Lindhagen?”; Cal rants that David “cuckolded” him over and over; Jacob calls Cal over and gives him a hard time about his behavior and appearance. Jacob then tells him to stop sucking on a straw cuz it looks like he’s sucking on a “tiny schwantz;” Jacob tells Cal that the bags under his eyes ball sacks; Jacob gives Cal a hard time for only being with one woman his whole life; Robbie and Emily talk about her crying at night and how he didn’t know what to do to help her, so he googled “mom crying in bed” and found “weird” videos. He starts to get ready to describe them and his mom stops before he gets graphic, realizing they’re weird adult videos and she teases him for being perverted; Jacob stands naked in front of Cal in two different scenes, but Cal’s head blocks any views of Jacob’s genitals (we do see the side of his bare leg/thigh there though). Jacob tells Cal that he should be uncomfortable because he’s been staring at his “schwantz” for 20 minutes. At one point, Cal passes out and his face hits into Jacob’s nude crotch; Jacob mocks Cal’s inabilities and encourages him to ask out Kate; Cal mocks Jacob that he tells women to come home with him and make “sweet love” to him; Cal and Kate go back to his apartment and very passionately make out. He tells her he’s afraid she might have AIDs but then says he doesn’t think that. It then cuts to the next morning where it’s obvious they’ve slept together. The next scene is a montage of him talking to different women in a bar, sometimes walking out with them; Jacob tells Cal about a girl heckling him during sex; Hannah’s friend Liz calls her and tells her to sleep with Jacob and that she should be studying his ceiling. She then says he should be hitting her head into the headboard until she “sees God.” Liz then says she should be studying the curviture of his – what sounded like – “c*ck,” but Hannah stops Liz before she finishes saying the word; Jess confronts a friend and asks her how she sleeps with older guys. She tells her it’s cuz she has a “huge rack.” She tells Jess she has a small “rack” and then tells her to send the older man that she likes a dirty picture. Jess then makes an erotic face and sound in an example pose for her; Cal has a nightmare that Emily is lusting after David who is mowing her lawn and we see her lick her lips at David and Cal then wakes up; Kate says she went “downtown” on Cal because he was nervous; Cal and Emily fight and he admits to sleeping with Kate and a total of 9 women since they split; Hannah walks into a bar where Jacob is and passionately kisses him and encourages him to leave with her; Hannah says she is going to “bang” Jacob. He asks if people still say “bang.” She makes him take off his shirt and reacts in awe to his figure. He tells her she needs to take her shirt off now and she refuses since she can’t compete with his body; Hannah asks what Jacob’s “big move” is to get girls to sleep with him and he said he works Dirty Dancing into the conversation and he picks them up like they do in the movie and afterwards the girls want to have sex with him each time. She then gets him to do it to her and it turns her on. Jacob climbs on top of Hannah on a bed and kisses her while she nervously talks. The camera pans over their bodies slowly (she’s clothed, he just has his pants on); Jacob asks Hannah to ask him a question and she says “then we bang?” and he says “yes!” but they don’t end up sleeping together; Jess tells Emily she doesn’t want her “slutty money” after babysitting for her while Emily dates David; Jess primps herself and dresses up nicely and then drops a robe for a camera (we just see her bare legs and from her shoulders-up). She then takes nude photos of herself that she intends to send to Cal. She then prints one out and puts it in an envelope; Cal jokes that Jacob is going out with Hannah and her mom and it’s very “Wilt Chamberlin-esque”; Jess’s mom finds her nude photos and shows them to the father who is furious. She confronts Jess and asks if Cal is “sexting” her (he’s not); Robbie declares at his middle school graduation that he loved Jess even when she walked in on him as he was “under the covers”; Jess gives Robbie and envelope with, presumably, the nude photo of herself in it (we don’t see it though)
Vulgarity/Language: 1 “F” word, 10 “S” words, 35 derivatives of “G-d,” 3 “J-sus,” 1 “J-sus Chr-st,” 1 “a” word, 13 “a–hole,” 1 “S.O.B.” (and another incomplete one), 3 “h*ll,” 1 “d*mn,” 4 “cr*p,” 1 “d*ck,” 1 “sucks,” 2 “schwantz,” what sounded like 1 incomplete “c*ck”; Kate gives Cal the finger
Alcohol/Drugs: We see people drinking in a bar in many different scenes; Cal is visibly drunk at the bar; We see Hannah guzzle gin in response to some bad news; Jacob makes drinks with Hannah and she guzzles both
Blood/Gore: None.
Violence: Cal gets out of the car while Emily’s driving and he rolls across the pavement; Jacob slaps Cal in the face several times; Jacob punches David in the face; Jess’s Dad tackles Cal and there is a big brawl; Cal slaps Jacob in the face a couple times