‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ Showed Off Ryan Gosling’s Charisma

Before the release of Crazy, Stupid, Love in 2011, Ryan Gosling wasn’t exactly known for portraying the charismatic romantic lead. The actor felt more at home in offbeat roles like Lars and the Real Girl or playing deep and depressing drama like his achingly great turn in Blue Valentine, avoiding a romantic comedy even though, aesthetically, he was perfect for the genre. For all the right reasons, Gosling never really leaned into his good looks. In fact, he seems like an actor who doesn’t really see what the masses see when it comes to his looks, because his talent more than speaks for itself.

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman, Crazy, Stupid, Love plays like a big-budget sitcom with an exceptional ensemble cast. The film follows interconnected love stories that are centered around Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), a middle-aged man whose wife Emily (Julianne Moore) not only asks for a divorce but also admits to having an affair with her co-worker David (Kevin Bacon).

He also loses his best friend Bernie (John Carroll Lynch) because his wife has no love for Cal and, without him being with Emily, she wants to sever ties. Cal’s predicament puts him in the crosshairs of Jacob Palmer (Gosling), a womanzier, after he begins frequenting a bar and speaks loudly about his divorce and his problems. Jacob ultimately feels sorry for Cal and decides to teach him how to pick up on women.

Ryan Gosling Expertly Leans Into the Vapidness of the Character

Warner Bros. Pictures

Playing a womanizer is probably why Gosling’s performance in Crazy, Stupid, Love works so well. He utilizes a charm he hadn’t really tapped into at the time. He portrays Jacob with a sense of confidence and charisma that has been absent from his previous roles. It works in large part because he’s playing into the superficiality of his movie star good looks and using them to his utmost advantage to effectively bring Jacob to life. It’s easy to see why Cal would, in his own way, be enamored by Jacob because he’s giving off the aura of what every guy dreams they could be. He exudes self-worth, and he has no trouble romancing women, at least on the surface.

He’s an accomplished smooth-talker who plays to his strengths. He knows women, and he knows how to look good as he navigates a mall with the best of them. In playing Jacob, it’s as if someone finally convinced Gosling that he was good-looking, and he decided to try on that suit for a bit to see how it felt. From what is known publicly about the actor, he’s pretty much the opposite of this character and seems to be a bit shy to fall back on his looks. He’s a performer through and through who cares about his craft. The fact that he can play Jacob’s vapidness so well is just another testament of his talent.

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Gosling gets to tap into another aspect of his charm in his push-and-pull relationship with Stone’s Hannah Weaver in the film, who appears to be the first woman to turn down Jacob’s advances. Hannah is refreshingly down-to-earth and completely unmoved and unbothered by Jacob’s techniques. It’s only after she has a particularly bad night of her own that she impulsively finds herself throwing herself at Jacob, which leads to her realizing there’s more to him. They end up having genuine chemistry with one another, in large part because Jacob shows a tender side of himself that is goofy and also lonely. As the two confide more and more with each other, they have their own meet cute that is based purely on the honesty that they are sharing.

In these scenes, Gosling proves he can be a romantic lead with depth. On top of the look worthy of old Hollywood, the actor has a sincere ability to make the audience swoon beyond anything shallow. Gosling finds the truth in playing Jacob, showcasing that a lot of men who fall back on casual relationships usually have a deeper reason for doing so.

Ryan Gosling Gives His Character Depth

Ryan Gosling smiles in Crazy, Stupid, Love — Warner Bros. Pictures

In Jacob’s case, the relationship with his parents plays the main role in who he has become as an adult. His mother saw his dad’s kindhearted nature as a weakness and that’s why Jacob finds it to be a major hurdle to let his guard down, especially in a romantic relationship. This also, in a pretty beautiful way, shows why Jacob was so willing to help Cal in his time of need, because he saw another kindhearted soul who had been beaten down by life.

Instead of becoming a kindred spirit with Cal initially, he decided to make him a womanizer in his image because that was easier for him rather than speaking with someone else about his insecurities. Gosling manages to give heart and soul to a character that appears one note at first glance, and he allows you to see into Jacob’s heart as he tries to navigate his own shortcomings.

Emma Stone as Hannah and Ryan Gosling as Jacob in Crazy, Stupid, Love

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Gosling makes the transition of his character work as we watch Cal become more of a womanizer while Jacob takes on a more levelheaded relationship with Hannah. The chemistry between Stone and Gosling is impeccable, and it’s clear that they build on this even more in La La Land. You believe that Jacob learns how to be a better man because of his relationship with Hannah and that’s largely due to the connection that Gosling and Stone build with one another. Gosling even handles the ridiculousness of the evolving plot with total conviction as it’s learned that Hannah is, in fact, Cal’s daughter, and he’s stuck in the middle of a very awkward family situation. Through all of it, Gosling finds the truth in the situation, and he makes you believe in his connection to Hannah but also his loyalty to Cal as a friend.

Crazy, Stupid, Love works because of the work of its entire ensemble cast, but it’s Gosling who seemed to find a new groove for himself with this film. Even though he had accomplished a lot as an actor at the time, this film allowed Gosling to show a confidence on screen he hadn’t shown before.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is available to stream now on Netflix.