Carousel Productions (II)
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Joey King, Liza Lapira
While out on the town, and trying to decide what they want, Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) decides on Creme Brulet and his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore) wants a divorce. As it gets worse, Cal finds out she’s been cheating on him, so he separates and tries to make a life for himself in an apartment. Naturally there are kids involved and they don’t want the parents to divorce. But in trying to find himself, Cal becomes friends with super-playboy Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) who is willing to teach him all his best moves to turn Cal into a ladies man.
This is one of those romantic comedies, with lots of emphasis on the comedy, where there are 3 or 4 sub stories going on and eventually everything, though completely disjointed, comes together in a chaotic laugh fest of an ending. There’s plenty of misunderstandings and people jumping to conclusions and the ending is really a hoot. This is an extremely funny film, with a lot of seriousness in it too. Steve Carell is the best at breaking your heart as a sad, lonely guy, and cracking you up as a hysterical comedy at the same time. He can turn it on and off like a switch. Everyone else is really good as well. This is one of Steve’s better films. It’s rated PG-13, but it is rather edgy. Nothing much is shown, but it’s probably not really good for younger kids as it’s a little raunchy in subject matter. But for older teens and adults (especially adults) it’s really funny with a lot of punch behind it. A good mix of comedy and drama, I highly recommend this film.
