How can a film with Steve Carell, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling be anything less than likeable and watcheable? Well, it cant, but three scenes apart this is a sticky mess of a romantic comedy which over-relies on its acting talent and takes way too many liberties with a paper-thin plot.
Its a simple set-up Carell is a version of his 40-Year-Old Virgin character, but now married. His wife, Moore, reveals shes having an affair with Kevin Bacon and wants a divorce. His life falls apart and he takes to drinking in the same bar night after night, telling anyone who will listen basically no one about his woes. Eventually Goslings ladies man, who picks up girls in the same bar, takes pity on him and coaches him into how to pull women. Gosling smartens Carell up (Youre better than Gap), ups his confidence and gets him back on the dating scene. When Gosling falls in love however, its Carells turn for a bit of life coaching.
Theres also a toe-curlingly bad subplot involving the babysitter being in love with Carell, and his son being in love with her, which eventually all plays out at a school ceremony in a sub-Richard Curtis-like avalanche of cheesy lines. The film is a bit all over the place, but there are three sequences that remind us how good these actors can be with even the thinnest of material. Two involve Carell and Moore reminiscing about their marriage and where they went wrong, one of those is simply a phone call about fixing the boiler but it drips with emotional charge.
The other is a scene between Gosling the man of the moment and his new sweetheart (played by Emma Stone) which, with the thinnest of lines, plucks at the heartstrings. Gosling is usually the king of indie but clearly enjoys this moment in the mainstream an improvised scene where he is telling Carell of his latest conquest is delightful but he knows this will not be remembered among his finest work, especially after Half Nelson and Drive. Bacon and Marisa Tomei are pretty much wasted in cameos.
Overall verdict: Throwaway romantic comedy that wont linger in the memory, but worth catching for masterclasses in acting from its three leads, and a handful of half-decent jokes.
Reviewer: Mike Martin