Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Not your standard romantic comedy. The humor was more subtle, the story was more fleshed out (I even thought it would hold up until the finale for a while), the dad was played by a very convincing Steve Carell, and even the corny plot with a life/relationship coach sort of worked for me. At first, the only thing that slightly spoiled my overall good impression was the lovestruck teen. I was going to give it a four, but it turned out I was too much of an optimist. Although the filmmakers had been resisting it, the film eventually slipped into the standard clichés and melodramatic speeches in the end. I did manage to see the bigger picture so I’m giving it three stars as I surprisingly had a good time most of the time. / Lesson learned: You aren’t exactly a great athlete? There's always miniature golf. Or chess. 3*- (2022-09-20)

Once again, a film full of quality humor and great lines. I don't think anyone in the cast is up to Ryan Gosling’s standard, but Steve Carell shone exceptionally. There are plenty of scenes that made me laugh out loud and a few that made me melt a little. The music was also well chosen. I appreciate films like this in this day and age. The only thing that kept it from perfection for me was a bit less of an American ending. 4.5 stars. (2011-12-08)

Such a stellar constellation, and such a shallow result. What does it matter that actors like Carell, Moore, Emma Stone or the new hearthrob Ryan Gosling shine in front of the camera, when they are part of a script so naive and shallow that it was impossible to ignore. The three romantic storylines fit together beautifully and the first face-to-face meeting of all the characters raises the film to a slightly higher level, but with the exception of Gosling's affair, the stories are not very interesting, in some respects they’re downright far-fetched (I would have shot that little boy), and also blindly predictable until the final reconciliatory happy ending. I don't want to criticize too much, because this comedy certainly doesn't deserve it, but as much as I was looking forward to and expecting an American version of Love Actually, in the end I had to put up with just another routine movie that was neither very funny nor original. 70% (2013-03-14)

For three quarters of its run I was really thrilled with Crazy, Stupid, Love, but that clichéd happy ending made me lose that feeling very quickly. Carell, Gosling, Moore, et al. are fantastic, I had no problem liking everyone. It’s certainly a very nice film, but if you want to see a truly great one, turn it off after the “meeting in the garden” scene. (2011-10-24)

There's loads of these brisk, funny, situationally attuned, brilliantly shot comedies with polished casts in precisely fitting jackets, and no less precisely fitting roles. And if there is also an interesting dramatic subtext and some wisdom from life, much better. It should be noted, however, that Crazy Stupid Love entertains just a little bit more than its contemporaries. It's hard to say what it is, maybe the directorial dynamics, maybe the immediacy of the main characters, in any case, it’s great. (2017-01-06)