GENRE: Comedy, Drama, Romance
RATING: PG 13 for coarse language & sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 58 minutes STARRING: Steve Carell (Dan in Real Life, Date Night)
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Julianne Moore (The Kids are All Right)
DIRECTORS: Glenn Ficarra & John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris)
WRITER: Dan Fogelman (Cars, Tangled, Fred Claus)
PLOT: A sudden divorce leaves a father rattled and in need of a suave ladykiller to help him get back on his feet.
FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 Steve Carell is fantastic as always. He is as good playing the silly parts as he is the emotional ones. You really feel for this guy. Ryan Gosling is not too bad either. It’s fun seeing his more comical side even as he smooth talks his way through this film.
2 The story is very well told and tries it’s hardest to avoid the common rom-com clichés. There’s a scene where they mention the backing up of a vehicle and they don’t go for the obvious gag. And when a cliché rainstorm happens, they make a point of mentioning its clichéness. It's a story where the stakes are high enough and there are no easy outs. Nice job Dan Fogelman.
3 As a teacher I get pretty judgmental when it comes to how teachers are displayed on film. Never had a parent-teacher meeting go like the one in the film, but I’m thinking there would be some more severe consequences for that teacher.
4 There is a fun comedic scene where everything comes together in utter chaos. It’s wonderfully done.
5 I usually don’t point out the music but Christophe Beck and Nick Urata do an excellent job of setting up characters with the perfect score. Gosling’s mall intro is wonderfully suave and in control. Carell’s turn-around in the club is priceless.
RECOMMENDATION: Watch the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Our Idiot Brother
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