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'Crazy, Stupid, Love' Soars - 'Aliens and Cowboys' Crashes

A double feature look at a mature rom-com and a genre combination that should never have been.

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a delightful surprise. Here's a lively, well-acted, deeply honest look at love, family and romance.

If you've seen a movie in the past six months, you've almost certainly seen the movie's trailer- I know I've seen it dozens of times. The movie is not only much better than the mediocre preview would indicate, but doesn't end nearly as predictable as you may have thought.

Steve Carrell stars as a suburban dad whose wife (Julianne Moore) confesses in the film's first scene that she's had an affair (with co-worker Kevin Bacon) and wants to leave him.

Fans of Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" will perhaps be disappointed to learn that this time, Moore's confession of an affair is not delivered while naked from the waist down.

Newly single and lonely, Carrell begins unsuccessfully frequenting singles bars, where he meets womanizing lothario Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who decides to teach Carrell how to dress better, pick up women and otherwise reclaim his manhood.

Meanwhile, Gosling meets a young woman (current it Girl Emma Stone), while Carrell's 13-year-old son attempts a clumsy pursuit of his slightly older babysitter.

The plot makes "Crazy, Stupid, Love" sound like a relatively straightforward romantic comedy/drama. But it rises above that, thanks to a witty script by Dan Fogelman, super-sharp direction from Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.

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It's often laugh-out-loud funny, and biting without being too cynical. The directorial duo also wrote "Bad Santa" and co-directed last year's little-seen gem "I Love You Philip Morris," which starred Jim Carrey in the real-life story of a gay con man.

The performances are also especially strong from top to bottom. Carrell is playing a role very similar to that of his first big movie part, in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," but adds a more grown-up seriousness this time. Moore, too, is playing a role that recalls her part in last year's "The Kids Are All Right," although both her character and the movie itself ring much more true this time around.

But the film really belongs to Ryan Gosling. Coming off a transcendent performance in last year's great "Blue Valentine," Gosling's role here is almost a complete 180; it's almost a wonder these two characters were played by the same person. Not only that, but he seems to be doing a full-on impression of author/professional pickup artist Tucker Max, even borrowing Max's haircut, mannerisms and facial expressions.

Stone is very strong as well- playing a law school graduate just six months after playing a high school student in "Easy A"- while Marisa Tomei has a terrific small role as a woman Carrell meets in a bar. Kevin Bacon has some fun in sleaze mode as Moore's lover, and there's even a decent part for singer Josh Groban, as an early lawyer boyfriend of Stone's.

The only place the movie really steps wrongly is a scene at the end of the second act in which there's a major plot twist, leading into about three minutes of door-slamming farce. It's funny, but the tone doesn't really match that of the rest of the movie.

Regardless, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" is supremely sweet, entertaining and funny.

Also this week...

"Cowboys and Aliens"

It's been a long summer of mediocre, effects-laden action pictures, and "Cowboys and Aliens" is one of the most mediocre of all.

Directed by Jon Favreau, who also made both "Iron Man" films, "Cowboys and Aliens" has almost none of the fun or artistry of the first movie, but all of the overstuffed, dead-on-screen aspects of the second.

Based -you guessed it- on a graphic novel, and credited to five screenwriters, "Cowboys and Aliens" is about exactly what you think it is. It's 1873, we're in a Wild West town, and outlaw Jake (Daniel Craig) is being pursued by a lawman (Harrison Ford.)

The movie's first third is basically "Deadwood" without the cursing, shot exactly the same as that show was and even casting Keith Carradine. But then, as you may have gathered, the aliens arrive, and the the two sides spend the rest of the film fighting each other, borrowing all of the most stale cliches of of both genres. The aliens, in particular, sport a shockingly unimaginative look- "Aliens" came out 25 years ago! Are we still copying that?

Craig takes the "strong, silent" thing to such an extreme that he's almost a non-entity, while Ford plays his part as if he really, really wanted to be cast as Rooster in last year's "True Grit" remake, is upset that he wasn't, and therefore sees this film as his second chance to give the performance he would've given.

The film wastes other opportunities with its cast. Paul Dano is established in the early scenes what looks to be a great, whiny villain, but he all but disappears soon afterward. And while it's great to see the great TV actor Walton Goggins in a movie for once, his part is way too small.

What does it say about "Cowboys and Aliens" that its lack of a 3D release is worthy of high praise?

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  • The Silver Screen Rating for 'Crazy, Stupid, Love': 4.5 stars (out of 5)
  • The Silver Screen Rating for 'Aliens and Cowboys': 1.5 stars (out of 5)

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Roll Credits: "Crazy, Stupid Love"

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Starring: Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hours and 47 minutes

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Roll Credits: _'Cowboys and Aliens'

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Noah Ringer, Paul Dano

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hours and 58 minutes

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Both films Appear at:

, 1210 Bethlehem Pike North Wales

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