Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) ft. Reed Arnold
- Thomas Duncan
- Aug 2
- 5 min read
Guests:
Cast:
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, Directors
Dan Fogelman, Writer
Andrew Dunn, Cinematography
Christophe Beck and Nick Urata, Music
Lee Haxall, Editing
Steve Carell as Cal Weaver
Ryan Gosling as Jacob Palmer
Julianne Moore as Emily Weaver
Emma Stone as Hannah Weaver
Marisa Tomei as Kate Tafferty
Kevin Bacon as David Lindhagen
Jonah Bobo as Robbie Weaver
John Carroll Lynch as Bernie Riley
Lio Tipton[a] as Jessica Riley
Josh Groban as Richard
Karolina Wydra as Jordyn
Liza Lapira as Liz
Joey King as Molly Weaver
Beth Littleford as Claire Riley
Julianna Guill as Madison
Crystal Reed as Amy Johnson
Dan Butler as Cal's boss
Background:
Crazy, Stupid, Love was released on July 29, 2011 - 15th anniversary.
On a budget of $50 million, the film would gross roughly $145 million to finish #58 at the worldwide box office for 2011.
Reviews at the time were mixed but mostly positive with some critics even including it among their best films of that year.
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 288.
Crazy, Stupid, Love currently holds 79% among critics on RT, a 68 score on Metacritic, and a 3.7/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: Up next is a film from 2011 that takes the age-old Hollywood trope of the cinematic makeover and turns it completely on its ear. It’s Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Now, when we meet Cal Weaver—played with a wonderful, understated desperation by Steve Carell—he is a man whose comfortable, suburban life has just evaporated over dessert. His high school sweetheart and wife of twenty-five years, played by a luminous Julianne Moore, announces she wants a divorce. Suddenly, Cal finds himself cast adrift in the unfamiliar and deeply hostile waters of the modern dating scene.
Enter Jacob Palmer, a suave, cynical, and impossibly sharp-dressed bachelor who treats the local lounge like his own personal kingdom. He’s played by Ryan Gosling, channeling the kind of effortless, magnetic charisma that would make Cary Grant proud. Jacob takes pity on our broken-hearted protagonist, deciding to mentor Cal in the fine arts of tailored suits, confident posture, and the precise chemistry of the pickup line.
But what makes Dan Fogelman’s screenplay so compelling isn’t just the transformation of Cal. It is how the film expertly weaves multiple generations of romance into a single, chaotic tapestry. We see Cal's teenage son harboring a fierce, agonizing crush on his older babysitter, who in turn harbors her own secret affection. Meanwhile, Jacob—the ultimate, uncatchable playboy—finds his own defenses completely dismantled by a sharp-witted law student, played with incredible comic timing by Emma Stone.
It’s a film that balances the slick, sophisticated banter of classic 1930s screwball comedies with a raw, very contemporary vulnerability. It reminds us that no matter our age, experience, or wardrobe, love has a way of making fools out of all of us.
Did You Know:
While rehearsing for the scene of Ryan Gosling lifting Emma Stone in the air Dirty Dancing (1987)-style, Stone didn't realize she had a phobia of being lifted high up until the first time Gosling did it. She had a full meltdown, which Gosling described as "like a possum falling out of a tree and trying to scratch your eyes out." Afterwards she ran away crying and had to lie in bed watching "Labyrinth" to calm down. Her phobia came from when at age 7 she fell off the high bars in gymnastics and broke both her arms. They ended up using a body double for the lift, but they did use the recording of Stone's real screams.
Emma Stone is a mere three days older than Lio Tipton. However, her character Hannah (approximately 24-25 years old) is seven to eight years older than Tipton's Jessica (17 years old).
Kevin Bacon and Ryan Gosling are distant cousins. They are both descendants of the English Baldwin family.
Jacob criticizes Cal for the imagery involved by him sipping his drink through a straw. At the mall restaurant where Richard toasts Hannah, only Hannah and Liz drink directly from their glasses. Everyone else at the table drinks through straws.
The part where Marisa Tomei's character props her leg on the coffee table and you can see Steve Carell framed by her legs is an homage to The Graduate (1967).
Emma Stone's character, Hannah, is a law student. Steve Carell originally wanted to be a lawyer, but he reached a question on an application form that said, "Why do you want to be a lawyer?" He could not think of anything.
Best Performance: Steve Carell (Cal)/Ryan Gosling (Jacob)
Best Secondary Performance: Ryan Gosling (Jacob)/Jonah Bobo (Robbie)
Most Charismatic Award: Steve Carell (Cal)/Emma Stone (Hannah)/Marisa Tomei (Kate)
Best Scene:
Cold Open
Male Makeover Montage
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Dirty Dancing Montage
Nannah
Graduation
Favorite Scene: Male Makeover Montage/Nannah
Most Indelible Moment: Nannah/Parent-Teacher Conferences
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Cal: I have loved her even when I hated her. Only married couples'll understand that one.
Jacob: Are you the billionaire owner of Apple Computers?
Cal: No.
Jacob: Oh, OK. In that case, you've got no right to wear New Balance sneakers, ever.
Hannah: Fuck! Seriously? It's like you're Photoshopped!
Jacob: Maybe you remind me of someone.
Jacob: The war between the sexes is over and we won, okay? We won the second women started doing pole dancing for exercise. But even though we won, they still deserve our respect. Make them feel beautiful, listen to their problems, open the door for them.
Jacob: Let's talk about how many women you've been with.
Cal: Sexually?
Jacob: Yeah, no. I mean break-dance fighting.
Emily: When I told you I had to work late? I really went to go see the new "Twilight" movie by myself, and it was so bad.
Jacob: Cal, my schwantz is in your face for 20 minutes. If it's not bothering you, we've got a bigger problem.
Jacob: You're sitting there with a Supercuts haircut, you're gettin' drunk on watered-down vodka cranberries like a 14-year-old girl, and you're wearing a 44 when you should be wearing a 42 regular. Honestly, I don't know if I should help you or I should euthanize you.
Cal: I'm so mad at you. I'm really mad at you for what you did. But I'm mad at myself too. Because I should not have jumped out of that car - I should have fought for you. Because you fight for your soul mates. At least, that's what my 13-year-old son tells me.
Jessica: I don't want your slutty money!
Jacob: The skin under your eyes is starting to look like Hugh Hefner's ball sack.
Cal: I was supposed to say that you are the perfect combination of sexy and cute, which is actually something that I used to say to my wife. But now it's become corrupted. And I have 18 layers of clothes on. I'm wearing a shirt and a tie, and a sweater, and a suede jacket that just seals in all the heat. Seals in all the juices. I'm just--it's all sweat under here. This is just sweat from here down. I'm--this--this sweater, this is called "slim cut", but it feels like a scuba suit. And I'm looking at your breasts. What's that about?
Jacob: Can I buy you a drink?
Hannah: No.
Jacob: You say no a lot don't you?
Hannah: No.
David Lindhagen: I'm this accountant who's wakin' up every morning excited to go to work. And that just does not happen for accountants--ever. I--I checked with other accountants.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 5.5
Impact/Significance: 7
Novelty: 6.5
Classic-ness: 5.17
Rewatchability: 6.83
Audience Score: 7.6 (7.4 IMDB, 78% RT)
Total: 38.6
Remaining Questions:
Why does Jessica give Robbie those photos at graduation?
Do Cal and Emily ever reconcile?
Is Cal or Jacob ever given a restraining order?
Would you be wooed by Jacob Palmer?
Does Jacob's confidence come from his lack of need for money or something else?
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