Cal meets the charismatically cool Jacob Palmer (Gosling) at a local bar where he is uninvitingly told that he is a poor excuse of a man and Jacob is here to sort him out. And sort him out he does. Cal goes through the typical male resurrection from blubbering mess to brazen ladies man. On the side, we're introduced to Hannah, a suave, intelligent student about to sit the Bar test. With her extremely funny side kick (who I personally think does not get enough screen time in this film), she meets Jacob in the same bar Cal frequents but does not fall for his whims like all the other girls Jacob encourages Cal to practice on.
For a while, you think you know exactly where the film is heading - Cal gets his balls back + sleeps around + realises what he's missing = goes running back to the wife who incidentally enough, has had enough of being a single woman. Add to this Jacob throws his weight around pretending to be this awesome player + meets girl who changes him + falls in love = lives happily ever after. Done deal. Now quite. The film is much more complicated than that and as a result, much more entertaining.
Intersecting the subplots of Cal's son's devastating crush on his babysitter, said babysitter's crush on Cal, the various interactions between Emily and the man who broke up her marriage (Bacon), and you have a slightly distracting narrative which carries you a long right until THE BIGGEST TWIST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A FILM SINCE I CAN REMEMBER!!!
I'm not going to reveal what it is because I don't believe it spoilers but trust me when I say this, its worth watching. Other elements of the film that are worth watching is the great balance between exploring contentious issues (stalking, child pornography, infidelity) whilst adding comedy to the mix. The script is well versed and the producers have done well to obtain a great cast that know how to deliver comedy. Gosling was an interesting choice for this one but I think its his conviction within his character to remain true to type set against the more slapsticky-comics of Stone and Carrell that makes him brilliant too. A final touch to the film is the fact that it doesn't get preachy - no one is "punished" for their actions and most things go back to how they began, with some major memories to boost. The film for me was a refreshing example of what the rom-com is designed to do and filmmakers abound should take note of its ingenuity.
