Love Stories

Y'alllll. I went and saw Crazy, Stupid, Love.

It's not, despite what the trailers would have you believe, a romantic comedy. It's just straight romance. Don't get me wrong, I laughed. I laughed a lot. Probably more than the other six people in the theater with my mother and I. (There is something amazing about going to the movie theater in Daly City in the middle of the day... We also now always cheat and get the kids pack of popcorn and a small soda. It's like getting a happy meal. You feel like you're ripping them off but really it's still not a fair trade, I'm sure. Next time I want to bring a burrito with me. I used to love eating burritos in movie theaters when I was in high school. Anyway, I digress.)

Um. I had my heart broken about twenty different times during the movie. I didn't see the twist coming, which I won't divulge, even though I was at one point thinking, "But wait..." about the characters and then twist was revealed and I was all, "AHHH!" And just...

Sorry, deep breath, I'll try and type in actual sentences now.

I'm not going to tell you the plot but the basics are that Steve Carell gets dumped by his wife, Julianne Moore. He meets Ryan Gosling who teaches him how to be a player only Ryan Gosling then falls in love. Role reversal! Life lessons!

I was just pondering the other day how I had finally come to terms with being brunette. This is the first time in a very long time I've just been brunette. No honey or cinnamon or caramel highlights (those are actual descriptions I have used to tell the hairdresser what I want done to my hair). And then I see Emma Stone and I want her hair. Covet. Deep auburn, the color I used to constantly aspire to. Which is hysterical because she's a natural blonde. Actually, who am I kidding? I want to be Emma Stone. I have skin that tans so I'll keep that, but the raspy voice and the big blue eyes and the amazing laugh and the skinny and she always plays these totally no nonsense characters who say what they think and cause trouble.

There's this scene. The her and Ryan Gosling's abs scene. And I was laughing and grinning and relating because the way she was talking and what was going on...geezus, the amount of times I have done that. The amount of times I continue to do that. And those teeny tiny things that are so the way I act and remind me of guys I have met, the ones that amuse me and actually matter, not the ones I just tolerate. Plus, her character was a girl studying for the bar so, nah, I have no idea what that's like.

I know some of you hate romantic comedies, even as I consider it one of the great paradoxes of my personality that I love them. And I totally get that. They are usually awful and predictable and portray women as weak or crazy. But this movie wasn't treacly or schmaltzy. And like I said: not a romcom. More interpersonal relationship study with a heavy dose of wit. It was just well done and painfully on point and really all I got is one of my long drawn out le siggghhhs.

It is something of our impatient nature nowadays that I want the instant gratification of being able to buy something I love on iTunes immediately. I feel that way about Crazy, Stupid, Love. And that's about the best endorsement I can give it.