Regular bloke gets advice on smartening himself up and winning over the ladies from confirmed player but learns actual life lessons about himself in the process. It sounds like the high concept pitch for a romantic comedy drama, and it is, in fact, the basis for Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s Crazy, Stupid, Love, which just premiered its first trailer over at Apple.
But from the looks of this, Crazy has a little bit more depth to it than your average Katherine Heigl or Adam Sandler film. Steve Carell plays Cal Weaver, a painfully ordinary bloke whose wife Emily (Julianne Moore) has just asked him for a divorce.
Staggered by the news (his co-workers overhear him crying in the loo at work and think he’s got cancer), his life implodes and he finds himself mournfully hanging out at bars. But then he watches the studly Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) winning over the women and asks him to teach him a few tricks. Soon, Jacob is putting Cal through a My Fair Lady-style program of better fashion, new haircut and gym membership, all the while encouraging to recapture what made him a man in the first place. Cal starts dating again, but also realises what he really wants is his wife back.
Oh, and then there’s Hannah (Emma Stone), who Jacob might just be falling for and who has a connection to Cal…
With a script by Tangled/Bolt writer Dan Fogelman, the film should be out here in September. You can watch the trailer over at Apple– let us know what you think.