Crazy, Stupid, Love.

          So far on this blog I think it's safe to say that I have reviewed a fair amount of romantic comedies, especially lately. But then again, I think that term is thrown around too loosely sometimes, or used too technically. I've done it myself. For example, when you talk about Wedding Crashers are you saying its a comedy or a romantic comedy. My bet is most people say comedy. I do, but if you wanted to get technical you should label it the latter. Any who, my point is that when the term romantic comedy is used, most people expect some cheap, cheesy, gimmicky movie starring Hugh Grant or Katherine Heigl, that in all honesty is probably a chick flick. However, every now and then a movie comes along that fits the title of its genre, but does not go by its specifications. Crazy, Stupid, Love is one of those.
           Crazy, Stupid, Love is about....well...love. DUH! It's about first loves, lost loves, new loves, and everything in between. This movie follows many different people that all become connected in some way, but mainly around Cal and Emily Weaver, played by Steve Carell (Despicable Me) and Julianne Moore (Chloe). They're married high school sweet hearts and the movie opens on them at dinner. It's quite obvious the two have fell in a rut, but no more than a couple minutes into the movie does Emily drop a bombshell. She wants a divorce and has slept with a coworker named David Lindhagen, played by Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class).
          At this point Cal is quite depressed as expected, and begins going to the same bar every night where he drinks heavily and complains about his life. Here he meets womanizing, smooth talking, playboy Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling of All Good Things) who vows to take Cal under his wing and show him how to pick up women and get him over his ex-wife. All the while, Jacob had his advances spurned just a tad earlier in the film by an attractive young woman named Hannah (Emma Stone of Easy A) who seemed to have really caught his eye. From here we watch as Jacob helps transform and revitalize Cal into a new found image and persona. But through it all Cal still suffers as he goes through his divorce and deals with not only his longing love for Emily, but his son's love issues as well.
          Though this story focuses centrally around Cal and Emily and their relationship, everyone else involved has their own love and relationship to figure out too. It's how all of these people intertwine with each other and connect in some way that makes this story so good. It's really quite clever how the writers were able to put it all together and that just adds onto how funny the movie is. The trailer is loaded with laughs, but those aren't the only ones in there. Steve Carell is hilarious as usual and Ryan Gosling portrays his character perfectly. It's an all around great effort by a superb ensemble cast and everyone gets in on the laughs. Though my favorite line might be one by Cal midway through the movie, where right as you think the movie is falling into a gimmicky cliche, he drops a line that totally calls the movie on it and makes fun of itself; and as you all know I love when a film is able to do that.
           In reference to the ensemble cast, I do not want to leave out Marisa Tomei (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Kevin Bacon's characters. Though not seen much, they both make the most out their short screen time. Tomei is hysterical and perfect as a slightly crazy hookup of Cal's that comes back to haunt him, and Bacon is funny as Emily's moving to fast boyfriend who is quite frankly, just a douche.
          Overall, this movie had everything one good ask for. It appeals to a mass audience and both genders. It's funny, touching, clever, and provides a few unexpected twists to keep the viewer quite entertained. Plus, it's not overly long with running time of 1 hour and 58 minutes.
           I give this movie a thumbs up and 3.5 out of 4 stars. If you haven't seen it, do so. It's a great date movie. If you have seen it, see it again. Heck, I'll probably go buy it. As you could guess this movie is out on DVD and Blu-Ray and is also available at your local Redbox. Enjoy!

Editor's Note:  As I said in my previous post from this point until the Oscars I will be more than likely only posting reviews of Best Picture nominated films, though who knows something else could slip in. My next review will be on the nominated Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams.

Despicable Me

            Alright I know I said this would be out a few days ago, but it has been kind of a hectic week. But whatever, so here it goes. Today, I am reviewing the highly successful, family oriented, animated feature Despicable Me. I had heard many good things about this movie going in, from other reviews from actual critics as well as from friends. Thankfully, the movie was not over hyped as I enjoyed it a lot as it was smart, clever, funny, and very entertaining.
             The movie is about Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), an evil super villain, who might just be past his prime, as new rival super villain Vector (voiced by Jason Segel), seems to be out doing him at every opportunity. In order to out do Vector once and for all and prove he is the world's greatest super villain Gru must steal something from Vector's hideout. In order to do this he adopts three orphan girls to help him infiltrate the place.
              Of course, a super villain with three orphan girls is an odd match up and quite a struggle for Gru to deal with at first. Over time however, the girls and Gru settle down as Gru gets into the groove of being a father and becomes quite attached to the girls. In the end he has to come to a decision of what he cares about more in his life; being a father or the world's best super villain?
               Through all of this plenty of hilarity ensues through Gru's high jinks. There are also of plenty of other celebrity voice appearances throughout the movie. Julie Andrews lends her voice to Gru's mother, Russel Brand plays Dr. Nefario, Gru's friend and helper, and then there's Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Miranda Cosgrove and others. Probably the best bit players in the movie though has got to be all of the minions. These are the little yellow guys with the high pitched voices that are Gru's helpers. They are all over the place during the movie and might just be the funniest part through out.
                Overall, if you are like me and somehow haven't seen this movie yet, then I completely recommend you see it very soon. It is a real good time and I think does something better than most other animated movies of this nature do. And that is appeal to the adult audience with more humor aimed at them. There's plenty of humor for the kids, but I believe this movie did a good job of consistently throwing in some adult related humor that the younger people viewing won't even notice.
                It's time for the grades now and I definitely give this movie a thumbs up and three stars out of four. It's a well written story and I see how it made the amount of money it did at the box office. Go see this whether it be for the first time or a repeat viewing.