Crazy, Stupid, Love.: A Light Tour Through the Not So Serious Tribulations of Romance

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Directed By: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Written By: Dan Fogelman

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, Marissa Tomei, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, and John Carroll Lynch.

Director of Photography: Andrew Dunn, Editor: Lee Haxall, Production Designer: William Arnold, Original Music: Chrsophe Beck and Nick Urata

Rated: PG-13 for some language and some (light) sexual content.

            While most people who see the new romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love. (the anemic inducing punctuation is correct) will discuss the jokes or the actors, the one thing I could not help but notice was the lighting. Few films in more recent memory have employed such soft lighting throughout, with such brightly lit rooms that shine perfectly upon the actors no matter the place or time. Back in the 1940s, such lighting styles were typical for the first close-ups on an actress, as it would make her skin seem more delicate, her hair more glowing, and simply stun the hell out of anyone watching it. So what is a lighting style like that doing in every frame of this movie?

            Well, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have a story on their hands that is light, frothy, heartwarming, and barely tips into a side of serious issues for maybe a matter of minutes. Working from a script by Dan Fogelman, Mr. Ficarra and Mr. Requa understand that such narratives about the inane and absurd world of relationships is not exactly groundbreaking material, and treat it accordingly so. Thus, Crazy, Stupid, Love. goes down like a frothed butter on warm chocolate cake: it’s sweet, delicious, and never too serious—which works both for and against it.

Friends With Benefits: Thrusting New Life into a Dead Genre, Over and Over

Friends with Benefits

Directed By: Will Gluck

Written By: Keith Merryman, David Newman, and Will Gluck, from a story by Keith Marryman, Harley Peyton, and David Newman

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, Nolan Gould, Jenna Ellfman, Andy Samberg, and Emma Stone.

Director of Photography: Michael Grady, Editor: Tia Nolan, Production Designer: Marcia Hinds

Rated: R for all the perks that come with having benefits

            Friends with Benefits is a new romantic comedy that tries to be the Scream of the genre—a self-aware film that wants to both poke fun at, as well as indulge in the tropes of the genre. One of the best moments comes with the film’s stars—the attractive and fun Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis—watch a cheesy romantic comedy starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. They point out everything the film fails at—the terrible music, the masking of Los Angeles to look like New York, and the hordes of clichéd lines—but Ms. Kunis can’t help but mouth every word. Everyone wants that storybook ending in the end.

            And thus the film, directed by Easy A helmer Will Gluck, attempts to have its cake and eat it too. It starts with a simple enough twist of a premise about two emotionally damaged people who try to remove any emotion from what happens in the bedroom, and then balloons exactly as you would expect. This is of course the same premise of No Strings Attached, which came out earlier this year. But Mr. Gluck, Mr. Timberlake, and Ms. Kunis have more genuine fun with the premise, and while the script seems rushed and in need of some polishing, it’s a frankly enjoyable romantic comedy, a rarity these days.