Crazy, Stupid, Love. 2011

Critics score:
78 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It never gets crazy or stupid enough to make you truly fall in love with it. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: The workmanship and effort are evident in every straining moment, but the end result is so completely phony as to be without value. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is, on balance, remarkably sane and reasonably smart. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: The directors show a great talent for jagged-edged farce. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The movie has an unexpectedly high proportion of delights to groaners, and it's full of actors you'll want to see... Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Fills its scenes with bright surprises while making an appealing new case for the old-fashioned notion of soul mates. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Hampered by contrivances and the awkward melding of romantic comedy and family drama, the film falters. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's a tonic for those beaten down by years of bad rom-coms. Love conquers all -- and so, I suspect, will this movie. Just try to resist it. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: For most of the way, Crazy, Stupid, Love coasts more than agreeably on the talents of four hugely charismatic actors and a tart, knowing script that tweaks the rom-com formula just enough to seem fresh. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Carell is his dependable wounded-puppy self, always likable, but Gosling and Stone are fantastic. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Requa and Ficarra encourage grand statements and enormous reactions. They want pyrotechnic feeling, and their shamelessness works. It has no pretensions of depth, just more feeling. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The episodic plot encompasses a series of familiar gags about casual sex and finding your soul mate, few of them delivered with much enthusiasm. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Crazy, Stupid, Love" connects its characters in unexpected ways. But line to line, the script lacks wit and sophistication. Read more

Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: There's strong, fleetingly powerful stuff in Crazy, Stupid, Love., but like its awkwardly punctuated title, the movie jerks to a halt just when it's beginning to flow. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Sorry, dudes. It seems we can't do anything right, but we're still funny. Sometimes. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: This is the sort of film that Oscar generally ignores come awards season. It shouldn't. Crazy Stupid Love is a crazy smart film. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Crazy, Stupid, Love is the perfect combination of sexy, cute, wise, hilarious, and true. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: A multi-threaded and well-organized comedy full of pleasant surprises and appealing characters. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: The movie suffers perhaps from too many characters and subplots but all the actors appear to have fun with their characters. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: This grand romantic gesture about grand romantic gestures conjures up the bittersweet magic of first loves, lasting loves, lost loves and all the loves in between. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: A genial, messy comedy of marital discord and mismatched lovers. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: During a summer when most of the other romantic comedies haven't been either, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" provides a fairly smart and sensible date-night choice. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: In a genre where outright imbecility generally prevails, a film investigating craziness and stupidity qualifies as a cut above. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: I laughed all the way through, thanks to both consistently clever dialogue and deft delivery from Carell and Gosling, who clearly relished a chance to flex his comic muscles. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Pity the crowds expecting another cute comedy like "Date Night" who wind up at "Crazy, Stupid, Love." It'll be like asking for a burger and getting served escargot. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: None of this is much fun to watch. The pace drags. The acting is without contrast or color. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: A Midsummer Night's PG-13 sex comedy. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This is not the ultimate romantic comedy - the one that makes you fall as hard for the characters as they do for one another while savoring their every interaction - but it seems fresher and less recycled than much of the product out there. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a sweet romantic comedy about good-hearted people. Imagine that. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a pleasure to come across the sharply funny and touching Crazy Stupid Love. It's a live one with a dream cast that keeps springing playful surprises. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It gets better and funnier after a labored and lumbering start, which is entirely the opposite of most Hollywood comedies. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Carell carries the comedy, while remaining grounded in the pain of the character, and so we care. It's also astonishing what good clothes and a haircut can do for a guy. There's a lesson in that for all of us. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's romantic, touching, a little risque and screwball, yet reassuringly down-to-earth. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Every moment of mature insight in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is answered by a scene of formulaic farce. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: [A] pleasant surprise. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Crazy Stupid Love veers schizophrenically between daring, jaw-dropping comedy and gooey sitcom cliches that weigh it down. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: The movie's biggest surprise is the revelation of Gosling as cunning comedian. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: This is witless, saccharine and lifeless... Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The movie squanders its potential with a sloppy script chock full of false notes. Even the bumptious score intrudes, often bumping into important dialogue. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Old-fashioned as that might sound, there's a fresh, insightful feel to this multigenerational love story. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: Carell and Gosling, each willing to take his character to the point of caricature in order to find the truth in him, have a nicely barbed chemistry together. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Adult dramas and comedies should at least have a toe in their audience's lives. Read more