Crazy Stupid Love

There’s a pivotal scene during the second half of the ensemble comedy Crazy Stupid Love that for many viewers could determine their enjoyment level of the film.

By that time, you might have emotionally invested the characters and their romantic travails to the extent that the miniature-golf sequence in question provides a welcome release of tension.

Others might find the slapstick elements out of place, and the huge plot twist that follows requires an unreasonable suspension of disbelief.

Either reaction is understandable, but here’s betting the witty script and sharp performances will allow most moviegoers to overlook the film’s rough edges.

The film opens with Emily (Julianne Moore) telling her longtime husband, Cal (Steve Carell), that she’s been having an affair with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon) and wants a divorce. The news fractures their family and sends Cal into an emotional downward spiral.

Enter Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a slick ladies’ man who gives Cal a makeover and starts taking him to singles bars so he can win back his self-confidence through cheesy pick-up lines and one-night stands. The plan works for a while, until Cal realizes that the woman he really wants is Emily.

Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris) and screenwriter Dan Fogelman (Fred Claus) don’t try to offer any grand insights into contemporary romance, but they offer up some amusing characters and memorable dialogue.

While the film bogs down in melodramatic tendencies in the second half, the cast is smart and deep enough to keep things lively. Carell has evolved from an on-screen goofball into a convincing family man, and Moore conveys a mix of strength and vulnerability.

Even the smaller roles have some punch, with Marisa Tomei playing an impetuous schoolteacher and singer Josh Groban popping in as the object of affection for Cal’s older daughter (Emma Stone). Jonah Bobo steals many of his scenes as the precocious middle schooler who makes clumsy passes at his babysitter (Analeigh Tipton), who instead likes older men, such as Cal for example.

Everybody seems to have feelings for somebody else. But more than anything, Crazy Stupid Love is agreeable lightweight fare that doesn’t really match any of the three words in its title.

Rated PG-13, 118 minutes.