It is what it is

Deciding to watch a movie called “Crazy Stupid, Love” means you know a bit already what you are addressing your Saturday evening towards: a cheesy, cliche show to watch with the thrill and fear that you might like it.

But despite all the effort I put in finding some deep reason for which the film might be considered a underrated masterpiece of modern cinematography, 5 minutes into the movie I realised that maybe I had to take it as is, a light didactic Hollywood comedy on divorce, dating, and teen love.

So without any reason to justify my pick to my intellectual artsy cinephile girlfriend, I had to enjoy a 113-unnecessary minutes long film about the love journey of an American middle aged man, interpreted by Steve Carrell, in duo with Ryan Gosling, rehearsing a performance that would have fit much better four years later in “The Big Short” and that, in the end, is the only thing that works in this movie.

The characters are stereotypical and flat. That might do good in some comedies but not much in the ones where you are expected to sob a little in the tearjerking finale.
However, the acting of the cast is what keeps the movie sufficiently enjoyable for the most part, at least until the plot degenerates in some improbable and cringe parade of twists that, however, speed up a bit the low-pace of action.
The main themes of the story are explored shallowly, with irony not playing any part in it
and the comedy per se is mainly left to the actors’ charisma and skill.

At the end of the day, you are left with what you expected, a cheesy cliche show that you did not like much but that kept you sufficiently engaged in your lonely Saturday evening.