Movie: Crazy, Stupid Love

I only recently started watching the US version of The Office, having been a long time holdout because of my worship of the flawless original. I had seen an episode here and there in the past as my ex was a fan and watched it regularly, so I knew it wasn't a bad show, but I was surprised to find when I finally watched it from the beginning how much I liked it. And having seen the first few episodes of the latest series, I think I've realised why I liked it so much: Steve Carell. This is a man who can do sadness like no other. As annoying and obnoxious and sometimes downright hateful as Michael Scott is in The Office, when his feelings have been hurt or he is upset about something, it is heartbreaking - thanks to the talent of Steve Carell.

He brings this talent to the fore in Crazy, Stupid Love, where he plays Cal Weaver, a man whose wife of 25 years (Julianne Moore) suddenly announces that she wants a divorce. After spending several nights in a hip local bar talking loudly and sadly about how his wife slept with a man at her work, he is taken in hand by a young lounge lizard called Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who teaches him to "get his manhood back". Bring on the clothing change montage! In the meantime, Jacob falls hard for a girl (Emma Stone) who has rejected his smooth patter once before, and Cal's teenage son is constantly declaring his love for his babysitter, much to her discomfort.

Crazy, Stupid Love is nothing more than a sweet, funny movie about three relationships, but I really enjoyed it. I've never thought much one way or the other about Ryan Gosling, but he did well as a superficial charmer who doesn't know what to do when he finally falls in love. The only thing I was confused about was that if he (and later Cal) were constantly picking up one night stands in the same bar, why did they never run into those women again? But maybe I'm just overthinking it.