Crazy, Stupid, Love.

From the moment I saw the trailer for Crazy, Stupid, Love. I thought it was going to be love at first sight.

C'mon! Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling all in the same movie! It promised to be a riveting, Oscar contending movie to watch them deal with the angst and exhilaration of love. Yet, I didn't experience true love. I just want to be friends with Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Carell stars as Cal - a good natured guy whose world is about to be blown up. Married for years to his high school sweetheart, Emily (Julianne Moore), she has decided to ask for a divorce after having an affair with a co-worker, David (Kevin Bacon).

Now, Cal has started going to a local bar where the playa of all playas, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), decides to teach the old dog some new tricks to attract a new woman or two or three. Of course, when Jacob's world is rocked by possible true love with Hannah (Emma Stone), he will have to turn to Cal for some sage advice about being a dedicated dude.

Will Cal move on from Emily, or win her back?

Can Jacob change his doggy bachelor ways to win the heart of what could be true love?

This could have been a great buddy movie if we got to see more of Jacob and Cal interacting and getting to know each other.

It could have been a better romantic comedy if we got to see more of Cal trying to win back Emily or Jacob off his game when confronted by true love.

However, Crazy, Stupid, Love. is just an OK movie with some funny moments, but it never soars to the amazing heights I expected it could and should. Writer Dan Fogelman gives us some good twists and turns, but, instead of being a mind blowing film, it's a pleasant diversion that could have used more heart, soul, snappier dialogue and fewer, but better developed subplots. Everything is rushed and not explored enough because directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have too much territory to cover and not enough material to make it happen.

Gosling continues to prove he is one of the best actors working today as he creates a character and energy that is running circles around everyone else. Carell is solid as the everyman, but could have benefited from a better script, while Moore, Stone and Analeigh Tipton are very good in roles that are too limited, especially Tipton, whose character seems to promise so much more if anyone wanted to expand her role in the movie.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is rated PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language.