The main plot of the story of the movie is about a man named Cal (played by Steve Carrell) whose wife named Emily (played by Julianne Moore) divorces him, so
the man gets his own apartment and starts hanging out at a hip bar as he sulks in his sorrows. A young man named Jacob (played by Ryan Gosling) takes him under his wing and updates his look, changes his attitude, and teaches him how to pick-up women, so that he will get out of his pathetic state. Then there are sub-plots like the 13-year-old son named Robbie having a crush on the 17-year-old baby sitter named Jessica, while the baby sitter has a crush on Cal. Another subplot involves a young woman named Hannah (played by Emma Stone) who thought her life was going perfect with finishing law school, preparing to take the bar exam and expecting a marriage proposal after that. Her and Jacob eventually meet and fall in love. The movie had a light mood with sprinkles of zaniness that bought to me nostalgic feelings of watching Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Breakfast Club which are John Hughes movies. Plus, the simple portrayals of losing love, finding love, first crush love, whatever, reminded me of a small-scale version of Love Actually. It was a fun and enjoyable movie in a movie season full of big special effects.
The characters were well written and the casting was great. Steve Carrell does a great job playing his stereotypical character of being an uncool, 40-something working man, who goes through a transformation to someone hip and with the times. He’s one of the few 40-something actors that can pull this character off being humorous but not totally ridiculous.
Ryan Gosling does a good job with being a playboy, and the best part about his character is that he doesn’t look like a douche bag from Jersey Shore that just sees woman as meat. The character is a young, rich-via-inheritance, intellectual man who loves woman, but never met that right woman who can make him second guess himself, until he meets Emma Stone’s character.
Emma Stone plays a young, ambitious girl aspiring to be a lawyer, who she thinks that her boyfriend is going to propose to her, completing her circle of life of career, marriage, and possible family. When that didn’t happen, in a rage of rebellion to her character, she hooks up with Ryan Gosling. Even then, her logical approach to things takes over which throws Ryan Gosling for a loop. Not being on the receiving end of a dominant character, the two find fall in love.
The other main character is the wife played by Julianne Moore. Her character was great because she plays a 40-something wife going through a mid-life crisis. In a stale marriage, her overwhelming guilt of betrayal pushes her to confess to Steve Carrell’s character she slept with a co-worker. You can see that she didn’t love the co-worker but her marriage was in a rut, and she was confused of what she wants in life. She asks for a divorce as a means of change to her confused life, which puts the movie into play.
As for my Chazztastic Thoughts, this movie was already fun and humorous, so I can comment on the humor.
• Josh Grobin is the surprise character in this movie. The way that people perceive him totally fits the character.
• The apex of the movie where all the storylines crossed was hilarious.
• Lastly, the end was cheesy, but every romance comedy has to have their BIG MOMENT in getting the girl back.
I rate this move: MOVIE THEATER. It’s the perfect date movie, but it’s also a fun movie to watch with friends. It’s a movie that afterwards, you will not feel ripped off for spending your money on the movie prices.
The following is my video review on this movie:
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