Review: Crazy Stupid Love

After the likes of Drive, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson - you could be forgiven for forgetting that Ryan Gosling first big breakthrough was in the classic noughties sob-fest The Notebook.

Crazy Stupid Love is the closest he's got to returning to that territory in that its your by the numbers rom-com with few surprises to be had, but it always remains a step above the rest thanks to a classy ensemble cast and steady flow of funny jokes.

Steve Carell has the lead role as a father going through a mid-lfe crisis of sorts following the break up of his marriage and being taken under the wing of Womanizer Jacob (Gosling). The film gives him ample chance to show how Carell has moved on from the frat-pack comedy like Anchorman that first brought him to fame and he's now settled into the type gentle comedy roles like Bill Murray used to do in the nineties.

Comparisons have been made to Carell's best work, Little Miss Sunshine, but that's probably more due to the fact both films feature precocious kids - Crazy Stupid Love falls short of that standard by being a little too long (the whole babysitter lusting after Cal stuff could've been dropped) and the ending is a bit too cheesy and ties everything up too neatly it threatens to spoil the film a little. Emma Stone also disappears for too long for my liking as well

The likes of Kevin Bacon and Marissa Tomei turn up for cameos, but its good to know somebody's watched Josh Groban appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks as he's perfectly as Emma Stone's douchey boyfriend Richard.