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Crazy, Stupid, Love. Review

Movies.com Critics

2.5

Dave White Profile

With a side of warm milk. Read full review

4.0

Grae Drake Profile

Marry me, movie. Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    68

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Nothing more (or less) than an enchanting light comedy of romantic confusion... It's a movie that understands love because it understands pain.

    Read Full Review

  • 63

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    Sometimes Crazy, Stupid, Love captures the complexity, humor and sweetness of relationships. But in several scenes, the film takes that insight and replaces it with farcical coincidences and strained scenarios that undercut the poignancy and wit.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    The New York Times A.O. Scott

    The movie, true to its own PG-13 rating, opts for mildness, modesty and chastened optimism. At the same time, though, it seems to know that a crueler, more cynical rendering of its story - a "Bitter, Hopeless, Love" - lurks between the lines.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    Village Voice

    Shooting on grainy, high-speed film stock with an often handheld camera, working with a suite of actors who are game to both play light and silly and dig deep, Ficarra and Requa lend a naturalism to highly contrived, patently absurd situations.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

    The movie suffers perhaps from too many characters and subplots but all the actors appear to have fun with their characters.

    Read Full Review

  • 75

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    The strength of the movie, however formulaic its structure, is that it is slightly more thoughtful about its characters. It's not deep, mind you, but it considers their problems as more than fodder for comedy.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Variety

    Old-fashioned as that might sound, there's a fresh, insightful feel to this multigenerational love story.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

    Between the writing, acting, directing and the rest, it works. Not crazy, not stupid, and filled with love. Period.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Time Mary Pols

    The movie's biggest surprise is the revelation of Gosling as cunning comedian.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    The movie also fights for what it wants - to touch us in the course of entertaining us - and it succeeds, with its zinger-studded script that transcends clumsy mechanics and a spirited cast that includes Marisa Tomei as a nymphomaniacal middle-school teacher, and Jonah Bobo as a lovesick eighth-grader.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Crazy, Stupid, Love. reviews at Metacritic.com

For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 14+

Heartfelt dramedy has strong story and characters.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this affecting, refreshing dramedy about a man re-entering the dating life after decades and finding himself in the process deals head-on with some mature subjects, including infidelity and the art of seduction. Plenty of scenes show a guy teaching another how to pick up women and then actually doing so. That said, the actual sex scenes, which involve no nudity beyond a guy taking his shirt off and clothed couples kissing and straddling each other, are fairly tame. There's also a fair bit of social drinking and swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), and a teen character takes risqué pictures of herself.

  • Families can talk about how the movie portrays marriage problems. Is it realistic or "Hollywoodized"? How do problems between spouses affect a family?
  • Why is Jacob's seduction formula so successful? Does the movie glamorize this, or is it making a statement about such trickery?
  • A teen character takes some racy pictures of herself. What are the real-life consequences of that kind of action? Parents, talk to your kids about sexting and other potentially inappropriate behavior.

The good stuff
  • message true3

    Messages: The movie's key message is that relationships are living, breathing things that require tending to thrive. Also, you need to take care of yourself first before you can truly care for others.

  • rolemodels true2

    Role models: Though they're very different, Cal and Jacob form a deep friendship and are loyal to each other.  

What to watch for
  • violence false1

    Violence: A man lunges at his friend and attempts to knock him down; he's oblivious to the chaos that ensues.

  • sex false3

    Sex: Couples are shown flirting, kissing, straddling each other (no nudity), making out heavily in bed, and discussing how they'll have sex. Some couplings are played for laughs. A teenager takes risqué pictures of herself to print and give to someone else.

  • language false3

    Language: A fair amount of crass language and swearing, including "s--t," one "f--k," "ball sack," "a--hole," "bang," "d--k," "crap," "hell," "damn," and "oh my God."

  • consumerism false2

    Consumerism: Some logos/brands are name-dropped or shown onscreen, including Google, AMC, Borders, Sbarro, and Macy's. One character believes that it's important to dress well and invest in luxury products to feel good about yourself (or at least help you get there).

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of social drinking at bars and restaurants, sometimes to buzzy excess; one character emboldens herself by drinking before hitting on a guy.

Fan Reviews provided by

4

Crazy Stupid Love: B+ by MattH306
Great cast. A few flaws but worth seeing.

5

Wow! As Good as it Gets! by ebenoff
I'm pretty critical when it comes to movies and I must say this is the best production I have seen in a long, long time. It is American Beauty on comedic steroids. Every attribute of human emotion is twisted and turned in this magically composed film. Firget about your typicall american made romantic comedy as this film has redefined the way in which romantic comedies will be made in the future. Be ready... be ready to be impressed!

5

by ktshelley

5

Crazy, Stupid, Love review by CoyBoy
Funny, witty, and ryan gosling is yummy. I loved it!

4

Crazy Stupid Love by carog424
The movie was a little slow to start but when it did it was funny and touching with some surprizing twists. Over all it was a cute movie.

5

Unexpected by Bethany_Bell22
I thought that this movie would be like so many other chick flicks. I am happy to report that it is far from what I expected. I for sure Must Go!

3

good but not great by browningsm
Crazy, Stupid, Love is good but not great, I'd say. Has some cute, funny, poignant moments. Gosling is good at anything he does, carrell good choice for role, not crazy about emma stone. she's better when she's a little chubbier. marisa tomei is always a hit in anything she does. she's gorgeous and funny and glad she had a role in this one. overall good with some comedic moments but not great.

5

Crazy, Stupid, Love review by BREHZZZ
I loved it. The movie took me to a totally unexpected and marvelous place. The movie is superb an nothing like you might expect. You'll feel amazing after watching it. MUST SEE.

4

Not quite Love, Actually by entropicangel42
For some reason this romantic comedy fell short of awesome for me, despite an outstanding cast and some great writing. Moments of inspiration follow some painful application of cliches, but all-in-all I enjoyed this multi-generational, ensemble look at relationships.

5

Crazy, Stupid, Love review by Punk_Kanellis
Stunning. I just saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was kind of like coming off a roller coaster. Full of entertainment and suprises. With a star-studded cast, no wonder it was so good! (Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Steve Carell) Emma Stone was so good in this movie. She acted like her usual self, which is good but she was also hilarious at the same time. Ryan Gosling was hooottt! (As always.) But, he always seems to be. He was funny, too. Julianne Moore was sort of the serious part of the movie. Eh… I could of lived without her. But, Steve Carell? He made the movie! Just like usual, he made me laugh so hard! I literally don?t think I?ve laughed like that ever in a movie. If I was you, I?d see it. Two words: tiny schvantz.

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