Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Steve Carell leads an all-star cast including Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, and Emma Stone in this unconventional and definitely innovative romantic comedy. Cal (Carell) is a newly divorced husband coming to terms with the difficulties of balancing a single life with his family duties and quality time with his children. Managing his son’s raging hormones and crush on the babysitter turns out to be a challenge in itself, especially considering the babysitter’s own crush on Cal.

Struggling with singledom after decades of married life, Cal turns to bachelor and ladies’ man Jacob (Gosling) to help him adjust his style and flirtation skills, only to find that when true love calls, it’s Jacob who ends up begging Cal for advice. Meanwhile Cal remains in touch with his ex-wife Emily (Moore) and attempts to decipher what went wrong in their relationship and whether any of it can still be salvaged.

Quirky and fresh, the film moves quickly and confidently, allowing us to bask in its clever humor. It is by no means predictable in terms of its place among other romantic comedies, and so always keeps its viewers gripped through its sheer originality. The performances are all sharply spot-on, with Carell showing a depth of character and thoughtfulness that is unlike anything he has presented in previous roles. He makes a mid-life crisis seem at once hilarious and touching, and above all, relatable in terms of finding meaning in the crazy ride that is life.

More profound than it may at first appear, Crazy, Stupid, Love. forces us to ponder just how much or how little we are willing to do to hang on to the real thing, and for that alone it merits the ticket fee.

Ana Pereira-de-Souza