Emily Weaver (Julianne Moore) tells her husband (Steve Carell) of 25 years that she wants a divorce; after first jumping out of a car, he eventually takes control of his life with a little help from a womanizer (Ryan Gosling) he met in a bar… There’s a lot more to the story than that, as we follow the awkward and often funny romantic adventures of several characters, including Carell and Moore’s son who has a crush on his baby sitter (who secretly loves Carell). Contrived to be sure, with one major plot twist revealed near the end, but writer Dan Fogelman makes this charming comedy about the nature of love work.

2011-U.S. 118 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa. Screenplay: Dan Fogelman. Cast: Steve Carell (Cal Weaver), Ryan Gosling (Jacob Palmer), Julianne Moore (Emily Weaver), Emma Stone, Jonah Bobo, John Carroll Lynch… Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Josh Groban.

Trivia: Co-produced by Carell. Groban’s feature film debut.

IMDb