Crazy Stupid Love

Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa. Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, John Carroll Lynch, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo 15A cert, gen release, 118 min

Love matters, hurts... and whatever you're having yourself in a broadly played dramedy that will please all of the people at least some of the time, writes TARA BRADY

FOR AT LEAST half of its extended run time, Crazy Stupid Loveis a sleek, perfectly formed high concept comedy from the makers of I Love You Philip Morris. Cal, a stiff tailor-made for Steve Carell is not aware that his marriage is in crisis when Emily (Julianne Moore), his wife of 20 years, tells him she wants a divorce. It gets worse: she's recently had an affair with her co-worker. And worse again: her co-worker is played by Kevin Bacon.

Crushed, Cal takes up residency at a local bar, where a smooth womaniser (Ryan Gosling) agrees to tutor the reluctant divorcee in the science of uncomplicated courtships. Complications ensue.

For about a quarter of its running time, Crazy Stupid Lovestrikes a pose as a sweet indie- schmindie romance. Gosling, Hollywood's most in-demand leading man, plays a confirmed love rat who meets his nemesis in feisty Emma Stone, Hollywood's most in-demand leading lady. The A-list clout and the $50 million budget cast a shadow over the project's independent credentials, but that doesn't completely detract from the appeal of the couple's plausible riffs on Dirty Dancing.

For a tenth of its running time, the film apes John Hughes with a storyline about a 13-year-old (Jonah Bobo) nursing a painful crush on his 17-year-old babysitter (Analeigh Tipton of America's Next Top Model). For about a fifth of its running time, the same film is Kramer vs Kramer, a full-blown, three-ply weepie detailing the pains of divorce.

And for the entirely of its duration, Crazy Stupid Loveis a broad French-style farce where everybody seems to hang out in the same bar and everybody else is related. The film's wild shifts in tone are fun but frequently discombobulating. Marisa Tomei's shrieking harpy seems to have wandered in from a Fatal Attractionspoof; cuckolding Kevin Bacon is clowning, then considerate.

Huh? There’s plenty – perhaps too much – to enjoy here, but one can’t help but feel that this strange Frankenstein flick is the unholy result of a backroom experiment to please all known demographics.