Amor, Estúpido e Louco (2011)

A middle-aged husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.

Directors:

Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Writer:

Dan Fogelman

Stars:

Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Carell	...	Cal
Ryan Gosling	...	Jacob
Julianne Moore	...	Emily
Emma Stone	...	Hannah
Analeigh Tipton	...	Jessica
Jonah Bobo	...	Robbie
Joey King	...	Molly
Marisa Tomei	...	Kate
Beth Littleford	...	Claire
John Carroll Lynch	...	Bernie
Kevin Bacon	...	David Lindhagen
Liza Lapira	...	Liz
Josh Groban	...	Richard
Mekia Cox	...	Hip Hairdresser aka Tiffany
Julianna Guill	...	Madison

Storyline

Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore) have the perfect life together living the American dream... until Emily asks for a divorce. Now Cal, Mr Husband, has to navigate the single scene with a little help from his professional bachelor friend Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). Make that a lot of help...

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | male objectification | marriage | bar | one night stand | 

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Taglines:

This Is Stupid

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

M/12

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emma Stone's character, Hanna, is a law student. Steve Carell originally wanted to be a lawyer, but he reached a question on an application form that said, "Why do you want to be a lawyer?" He could not think of anything.

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Goofs

When Robbie is texting Jessica during school hours the time on Jessica's phone says 9:04 P.M.

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Quotes

Hannah: Will you take off your shirt... fuck! Seriously? It's like you're Photoshopped!

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Connections

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Julianne Moore/Sturgill Simpson/Khaled Hosseini/Sean Kinney (2018)

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Soundtracks

Loops
Written by Tobias Winterkorn, Elias Araya (as Araya "Elias" Assegahegn) and José González (as Jose Gonzalez)
Performed by Junip
Courtesy of Mute
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Better than expected!...

I actually found it quite engaging eventually; it was a little hard to get into at first but when the narrative began to settle down I could see a structure there that had potential. Brief summary: When Emily Weaver (Julianne Moore) announces to her husband Cal (Steve Carell) that she wants a divorce, his world collapses around him. She had slept with another man, David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) and Cal finds that hard to take since they had been together since high school. He takes to going to bars to drown his sorrows and is taken under the wing of Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) who shows him how to dress, behave and (most importantly) how to pick up women. At this he is quite successful (eventually) but he feels there is still something missing. Meanwhile there are a couple of other sub-plots going on. One involves Cal's son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), who has become infatuated with his babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton). She, meanwhile is holding a torch for Cal… With me so far?... Also, there is law student, Hannah (Emma Stone) who Jacob had been unsuccessful in picking up when we first meet him (I can't really say any more about her without giving too much away, so here I'll stop). All these threads eventually tie together in what (at times) appears like a French farce, but which does ultimately have a very valid point.

All the performances were very good with Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Julianne Moore taking centre stage. I thought Kevin Bacon was slightly underused, and more could have been made of Emma Stone's character. Over all, it's pretty well made but the narrative does tend to wander in places. An endearing film that does have quite a strong message about love and about soul mates. I freely admit this old romantic found it quite relatable.

SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.5/10

You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 2011 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Amor, Estúpido e Louco

Filming Locations:

Red Carpet Wine & Spirits - 400 East Glenoaks Boulevard, Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,104,303, 31 July 2011

Gross USA:

$84,351,197

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$145,051,197

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carousel Productions (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1