With Cowboys & Aliens, The Smurfs, and Attack the Block hitting theaters on the packed weekend of July 29th, Warner Bros. thinks it can rival some of the biggest films of the summer. At the beginning of the year the studio moved its romantic/comedy/drama Crazy, Stupid, Love. from an April release to this date, citing “overwhelmingly positive test screening results” in which “audiences loved” the film. With its poster debut (via Yahoo) after a very promising trailer, we take a look at the facts thus far to see if this could be more than just your average rom-com. Check out the poster below followed by many more details and screening impressions.
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who helmed the severely underseen I Love You Phillip Morris and scripted Bad Santa, the ensemble cast includes Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Jonah Bobo, Analeigh Tipton, Josh Groban, Liza Lapira, and Joey King. Screenwriter Dan Fogelman (who has projects with Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Seth Rogen, and more coming up) was paid $2.5 million for this baby. So, what’s the big deal?
In our first set of impressions, /Film delved into the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly where the film is called the “Best Romantic Comedy Ever Made (Recently)” and then “favorably compared to Jerry Maguire and About a Boy.” They go on to say their staff “already feel[s] evangelical about the movie” and an appropriate tagline for the film is “It’s better than everything else. No, shut up, it is.”
They even say the film, packed with heart, is “kind of Richard Curtis and Jim Brooks smooshed together with Cameron Crowe.” Our lead Carell is “the lonely center around which a funny and touching constellation of love stories revolves.” They make note of the grand chemistry between all the characters and “you get the sense even the actors are surprised by the variety of sparks flying” before wrapping up with “Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a keeper, and it says something true and complicated about love.”
While it can be strongly considered a bias since her brother Vance DeGeneres produced the film, Ellen DeGeneres also was able to check the film out and wrote about it on Moviefone. Her raving comments range from “amazing” to “incredible” to “heartbreaking” to “hilarious” and you can see some extended thoughts below.
What I love most about this movie is that it has something new and interesting to say about love. Lots of movies try to say something about love. (I can’t say every movie since I haven’t seen ‘Saw IV.’) But just when you think you’ve heard it all, this movie will surprise you.
‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’ has something for everyone. If you’re happily married, starting a relationship or still playing the field, there’s something beautiful for you to take away from this movie. And if none of those things are for you, there’s always Ryan Gosling’s abs. Seriously, that’s something everyone can enjoy.
See this movie. You will love it.
To add to the biased reactions, our directors Ficarra and Requa recently spoke with Movieline about the process of making a film they feel is an “antidote” to summer blockbusters. Check out some of their comments below.
On Ryan Gosling:
We just met, and he was fiercely funny, and we had a great time. He is fiercely smart as well. He had me at hello. He walks into the room and within five seconds I’m like, “This is our guy.” He oozes charm. And he’s a very physically imposing guy, too. He’s over six feet. He’s smart. He’s very smart. One of the smartest actors we’ve ever worked with. I think he really elevated the character from something that was a bit of an archetype to a real personalized, complex human being.
On the film and Steve Carell:
It’s not a typical romantic comedy. It’s bigger than that, it’s more complicated than that. Everyone delivers 200 percent on that — filling out their characters and delivering powerhouse performances. Steve is a really incredible actor, and I’m pretty confident in saying that this is the best he’s ever been. I think he’s amazing.
On opening in the summer:
In a summer of men in capes and tights, running around in outer-space, we’re the movie about people; where you get a laugh and fall in love with [the characters]. And with the most talented actors in the business. We’re not worried about it; we hope we can push through the background noise, but we feel confident that there’s not another movie like this coming out in the summer.
I don’t even see movies like this very often. In the past couple of years, there’s just not a lot of movies for grown-ups. Even young adults. It’s all kind of the same.
It’s definitely for all ages, but it’s not the same old, same old. I think that cast — it certainly doesn’t speak to our ability to attract people. It speaks to the script and the story, which is so strong, that we attracted really top talent.
The movie is a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to watch; it’s very funny. And that’s kind of what it was like to make. It was a joy to go to work every day. Which is not always the case.
Lastly, for some unbiased comments, we’ve rounded up impressions from the first test screenings via IMDb. Check them out below.
Just saw it at a pre-screening in Burbank and it was great. Such a hilarious movie. Steve Carell was great. Went a bit typecast in character for a while but broke out with some great acting the last 3rd of the film. Marisa Tomei was amazingly funny. Good break out comedic role for her.
Ryan Gosling does a starmaking turn in this role. It’s like he’s Tom Cruise in Rain Man. Funny, subtle, and uber-cool in his skin.
I expect an Academy Award nod for this role. He’s just that funny, good, and on-point.
i just saw a screening of this movie in Glendale today, this was probably my favorite Steve Carrell movie.
I saw it tonight too. A funny and enjoyable movie. Could use a few more tweaks imo but I’d still recommend it.
Damn what a funny movie. I am glad I saw it. Really worth seeing.
It’s such a great cast of actors, and it comes together nicely in the end. It felt a bit disjointed for a while, but it was also in early edits. That’s all I’ll say for now.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. hits theaters July 29th, 2011.
What do you think of the poster? Could this be the sleeper hit of the summer?