Crazy, Stupid, Love

Can a film be worth seeing for a single scene? There’s a moment midway through ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ – a seduction scene between brash but likeable ladies’ man Ryan Gosling (in his second film this week after ‘Drive’) and nervy, alcohol-fuelled Emma Stone – which is one of the most witty, truthful, beautifully acted scenes in any film so far this year. It’s an out-of-nowhere heart-grabber in which script, performance and tone find a truly perfect balance.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is a mess. This is one of those literate, star-stuffed family comedies of which Hollywood is fond at the moment – think a more phallocentric ‘The Kids Are Alright’. Steve Carell (pictured left) splits from wife Julianne Moore when she has an affair with Kevin Bacon, leading Carell to pal up with Gosling for a ‘Hitch’-style character reinvention.

Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa rose to prominence with the script for scabrous Christmas classic ‘Bad Santa’, but they’ve fallen hard here: this is witless, saccharine and lifeless – all except for that one, glorious scene.