1. You’d think that Crazy Stupid Love was a romantic comedy, which in some ways it is. But it’s actually more of a drama about a middle-aged man trying to find what he wants in the shadow of his crumbling marriage. At times, Crazy Stupid Love doesn’t know what it wants to be, warbling from serious-faced romance, to farcical-like comedy, to heavy-handed drama, and is kept afloat simply because the stars are so appealing in their roles. It’s a weird movie that in a lot of ways, doesn’t succeed at any single thing it tries to do, but the sum of its parts forms a fairly entertaining and engaging movie. I don’t know how that works, but that’s what it is. 

2. I’m not entirely sure if Steve Carrell will ever escape the shadow of his Michael Scott schlub-ness, maybe it’s all he can do effectively. But there’s way too much familiarity in Carrell’s performance as Cal Weaver, a man beaten down by life’s circumstances. It’s an odd pairing with Ryan Gosling playing Jacob, the womanizing man-coach, that helps bring Cal back from the brink, and in a weird way, they play really well off each other. Also, whoever decided Julianne Moore and Emma Stone should play a mother/daughter duo is a genius. 

3. Indie soundtracks have got to be stopped. For a film that had a budget of $45M, it just didn’t feel right in this movie. It made the movie feel more like a television show. Not in the good way. 

4. There was literally a moment in the movie that if I was in the theater, I would’ve wanted to cheer. It was Gosling-related. 

5. I watched this movie simply to complete my Ryan Gosling trifecta from 2011 (Ides of March, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive), and it was worth a lazy night. Nothing more than that.