Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
When his wife (Julianne Moore) unexpectedly divorces Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell) after many years of marriage, Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell) has to figure out how to get along in a world (meaning: meeting women) as a single person. The fact that Cal is a completely clumsy, average guy when it comes to flirting doesn’t help either. Luckily for him, he meets the self-proclaimed Doctor Love Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) in a bar – and he is the polar opposite of Cal: handsome, confident, charming, a womanizer. The two team up, unaware that they are triggering a wild love affair.
Lively, fast-paced, cheeky, sexy, ironic: “Crazy Stupid Love” stands out pleasantly from the rom-com uniformity, you don’t get to see (too much) kitsch here. Instead, the film scores with pointed dialogues, wonderfully playful actors and a smorgasbord of definitions of what people call “love”. There’s one or the other piece of wisdom on top of that. Finally a romantic comedy that appeals to both genders equally.