by Blender Dumbass

Aka: J.Y. Amihud. A Jewish by blood, multifaceted artist with experience in film-making, visual effects, programming, game development, music and more. A philosopher at heart. An activist for freedom and privacy. Anti-Paternalist. A user of Libre Software. Speaking at least 3 human languages. The writer and director of the 2023 film "Moria's Race" and the lead developer of it's game sequel "Dani's Race".

I decided to give myself somewhat of a Ryan Gosling marathon, after re-watching Drive the other day. I gave myself a challenge though. I didn't want to watch the stuff I already like. I didn't want "Only God Forgives" ( which I will review soon ). I didn't want "Blade Runner 2049". I wanted something else. Something that I personally would not select normally. And therefor I put Crazy, Stupid, Love.

I was pleasantly surprised. There is a great ensemble cast in this film. Apart from Gosling there is Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Emma Stone making it a discount La La Land, just to name a few. But I guess the coolest role of the movie was played by Jonah Bobo a 13 year old boy who... I won't spoil. But he rocks. Oh... And there is also Steve Carell.

The premise is interesting. It's about a guy who lived all his life with one woman and now facing a divorce. And so Ryan Gosling is now teaching him to pick up girls at a bar. You can already imagine a million or so jokes that can come out of this setup alone. There is character growth, which is interesting. Everybody seems to have a proper arc. But to be honest, I don't like the ending too much. It is trying too hard to be this melodramatic speech type ending, where the cast is listening to a different person giving a heartwarming and tear-dropping essay about all of the lessons learned. They tried to make it interesting by subverting a few things. But ultimately it is a bit forced. Though what happens right after it is absolutely insane and I love it. Even though it breaks all logic, if you think too much about it. Jonah Bobo is the man!

It is a very well acted movie. It is almost entirely holds on acting. Ryan Gosling portrays his womanizer character so well that it is insane. And the interactions he has with Emma Stone are pure cinematic gold.

The directors of the film, though, aren't that great. I mean... The movie works. But it feels a little too much studio controlled. It had two directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, but it is as if either they were clashing with one another, or they did not have any actual vision. Because the movie stylistically is just about what you'd expect. It isn't trying to be nothing more. It's is not an Auteur film.

Also it seems like the movie is making a case that stalking is cute.

Happy Hacking!!!


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