If it weren’t for a little bit of sharp writing and some solid performances, Crazy, Stupid Love would be just another routine romantic comedy. The movie turns out to be a little more fun than that.

Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, are terrific in larger roles (when are they not?), Marisa Tomei is featured (she’s consistently good, too), and new to me actors Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo are strong in roles that would be easy to botch.

The storyline is not so different from what you’ve seen in the preview trailers.  Steve Carell’s character is dumped by his wife, a role played by Julianne Moore, at the beginning of the film.  A smooth-talking womanizer, Ryan Gosling, meets up with the depressed husband in a bar and shows him how to reinvent himself and meet women.

But, despite this conventional set-up, there are a few surprises and some surprisingly poignant moments.