Source: fanart.tv
I thought this romantic comedy would be annoying and painful to
watch. I was wrong. Even though I am not a huge fan of Steve Carell, he pulled
together a project here that stands out from the crowd. His performance is
genuine and heartfelt, and even though he toes the edge of his brand of humour
at times, he keeps himself in check and stays on the serious side of acting.
The ensemble cast surrounding him is excellent, too. Ryan Gosling seems so much
himself – like he is not acting at all - as a serial womanizer that it’s mind-boggling
it is all a performance, albeit a very natural one. Emma Stone is delightful as strong-willed law
student. I’m becoming more of a fan every time I see her. The same goes for
Julianne Moore. By now, I really appreciate her, and though her role as a
cheating house wife didn’t give her much to work with, her chemistry with
Carell was genuine and she fit in with her colleagues perfectly. Funnily
enough, she also had great chemistry with Kevin Bacon, who gave a memorable,
surprisingly likeable turn as the fling from work. Great casting all around! (I should also mention Josh Groban, who delivered a surprisingly solid performance.)
The script was surprising as well. What looked like a run-off-the-mill romantic comedy as a concept on paper worked beautifully on screen. The twists were mostly unpredictable, and even where I saw them coming, they were not cringy. The same goes for the humour: I had a few genuine, good laughs here, both at the dialogue and the situational comedy, and I don’t remember when the last time was that I saw a film that was able to do that. Yet, the script was full of authentic emotions, too, and they were not played for laughs. This serious undertone helped the film make a memorable impression.
The technical side of things was handled impeccably. Not much more I can say about that. 4/5
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