Crazy, Stupid, Love Review

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a lot like one of the main characters in the film, Robbie, played by Jonah Bobo. It’s trying way too hard to being sweet, cute, funny, and make an impression on you. It’s very needy and wants you to constantly notice how sweet it is. It’s overly cutesy, fake, and wastes its incredible cast, which includes: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Maria Tomei, Kevin Bacon, and Julianne Moore. At the end of the day, the film knows very little about love. The film has the first two parts right. It’s crazy and it’s stupid.

Our film opens up by introducing us to Cal and Emily, played by Steve Carell and Julianne Moore. They are eating dinner together, but it’s clear that their relationship is in the dumps. They don’t communicate at all and appear to be on autopilot. She announces that she wants to get a divorce, which prompts Cal to jump out of a moving vehicle. In the words of his wife, Emily, they stopped being “us.”

Cal moves out, gets a small apartment, and spends most of his nights at bars feeling sorry for himself and drinking the night away. One night, he runs into Jacob, played by Ryan Gosling. He’s a smooth talking Casanova that knows to go home with a different girl every single night. He takes poor Cal under his wing and transforms his image from a nerd machine into a sex machine.

His younger son, Robbie, is just about as clueless as his father. He thinks stalking and obsessing over his babysitter will win her over. Maybe he’s never really had anyone to teach him the right way to act around women. It’s clear that his father is no expert in the film. Emma Stone also appears in the film and is pursued heavily by Ryan Gosling’s character Jacob. She wants nothing to do with him, as she can clearly tell what his intentions are from the get go.

Crazy, Stupid, Love had me thinking about a better romantic comedy that is currently out, Friends with Benefits. There are not a lot of authentic or genuine moments in this film. Everything feels like a crazy movie play, such as Carell jumping out of his car, the love struck teenager who loves the older babysitter, and the nerd turned stud muffin angle that we have seen before in countless other movies. This movie borrows and steals from other movies and has nothing original on its own to say. When a major plot twist is revealed in the third act, things get even worse for this film. It all appears manufactured and copied.

The only character here who gets away with his dignity in tact is Ryan Gosling. His character is smart, layered and more than your average movie pimp. Kevin Bacon is wasted in this movie, as this is really a nothing role for him. I love Steve Carell, but between this and Dan in Real Life, his dramas leave a lot to be desired. The first hour of the movie is also horribly paced and leaves you feeling restless and anxious. When things finally do pick up, it’s a little too late, and it takes a complete wrong turn. 

Crazy, Stupid, Love is not without its moments of humor and insight, but they are spread out unevenly. If you are looking for a smart, funny, and edgy romantic comedy, check out Friends with Benefits. It’s a lot better than this flick.

Grade: C

How should you see it? Rent it

Larry Crowne Review

Tom Hanks is the star and director of his new film, Larry Crowne. Even though Tom Hanks is the director and the star of this project, it's very much an ensemble comedy, with a great supporting cast including Julia Roberts, Rob Riggle, Rita Wilson, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, George Takei, and Bryan Cranston. As much as I have enjoyed summer movies like Green Lantern and Cars 2, it was a nice break to rest and relax with Larry Crowne: an easy-going, fun, and light movie.  It does exactly what it's supposed to do with its cast, premise, and plot.

Tom Hanks plays Larry Crowne, a middle-aged man working in retail that is one day fired because of his lack of college education. This prompts him to go to community college for the first time. At first, it's quite daunting for him as he's completely unprepared for the experience. He does befriend a biker gang, led by Wilmer Valderrama. They take him under their wing and teach him to dress cool and act cool. His teacher in speech class is Julia Roberts, a hardened drunk that is suffering through a horrible marriage with the porn-addicted Bryan Cranston. His economics teacher is played by George Takei in a very funny turn.

Larry Crowne becomes especially close to the Julia Roberts character, as they are both going through a mid-life crisis. They realize that sometimes change is a good thing, even if it's painful in the meantime. The supporting cast also keeps it entertaining, especially Cedric the Entertainer, as Larry's hard bargaining neighbor. He will argue over a penny at his yard sales. Everyone really works together nicely in this cast, and they all play off of each other beautifully. Nothing here is groundbreaking or all that unique, but it goes down easily on a hot summer night. It's nice to just watch a movie with good actors and to watch them act.

Larry Crowne, as I mentioned above, is a simple movie, and I don't mean that as an insult. It's an adult comedy about adult situations, such as losing your job, divorce, and money. When you have good actors in a movie, most of the time, it's going to be an enjoyable experience on the big screen. This is a nice movie and nice is not a bad thing. When it was all said and done, I felt good after Larry Crowne.  Sometimes it's nice to feel good after a movie is over with. Larry Crowne is one of the feel good movies this summer. If you are looking for something as an alternative to big screen popcorn movies, Larry Crowne is a great start.

Grade: B

How should you see it: Either on the big screen or as a rental

Bad Teacher Review

If you have seen the trailer for Bad Teacher, you have seen most if not all of the funny parts of the film. We have the dodge ball scene, the Jordan/LeBron argument between the gym teacher and the student, and of course some of the more humorous lines. At the end of the day, this film is all about the shock value of seeing Cameron Diaz behave badly as a self-centered and sex crazed teacher.  That’s it.  There is no real plot or conflict here, whatsoever.  Because of this, the film runs a little long in the tooth, even at 92 minutes.

Our anti-hero in this film is Elizabeth Halsey, played by Cameron Diaz.  She’s rude, crude, and selfish to the bone.  After her sugar daddy realizes that she only loves him for his money, he promptly dumps her, with the help of his mother.  This forces Elizabeth to return to her job as a teacher, where she is known for going on autopilot and drinking the day away while putting on movies to distract her students.  Her new goal is simple: to raise enough money to get breast implants.  Yes, that’s the “conflict,” if you will.  While teaching at this school, she befriends a likable gym teacher played by the always funny Jason Segel and a nerdy substitute teacher played by Justin Timberlake. 

The principal at this school is played by John Michael Higgins in an interesting turn as a clueless dolphin lover.  The real star in this movie, however, is Lucy Punch, who plays Amy Squirrel. She brings a crazy energy to what could have been a simple role: the goody two shoes teacher.  She hams it up and brings new life to this otherwise thankless role. Every time she was on screen, she produced genuine laughs with her willingness to commit to the role.  Phyllis Smith from the Office, Molly Shannon, and Thomas Lennon round out a solid supporting cast of characters.  Sadly, the screenplay doesn’t give them anything funny to say or anything funny to do.  The film is a series of random scenes that begin and end with no real rhyme or reason.

At the end of the day, Bad Teacher is not a bad movie.  It’s an uninspired movie that never really puts the pedal to the metal and takes off.  It lingers around, producing laughs every ten to fifteen minutes, but not nearly enough to keep your interest.  When the movie ends, it sort of erases from your memory instantly.  Nothing memorable really occurred, but you can’t say you hated it, either. 

I’ve never been a big Cameron Diaz fan, and this film did little to change my mind.  Yes, she’s saying some vulgar and off color remarks, but I didn’t feel like it was something her character would have said.  It felt like the screenplay just put them in there to gain a forced laugh. Timberlake is forgettable as the nerdy sub.  He’s just there because he’s Justin Timberlake.  Jason Segel made me smile every time he was on screen, and I wish he had a bigger role because he’s effortless with his comedy.  Actually, I would have loved to have seen a movie with just Jason Segel and Lucy Punch.  Their characters and their brand of comedy would have made an interesting movie.

Grade: C+

How should you see it? Rent it.