Stuck in Love (2012)

Occasionally a love story that is not a “chick flick”, but looks like one, will fall through the cracks.  Stuck in Love looked like one of those stories.  The movie falls through the cracks because people assume it is a “chick flick” and they dismiss it immediately.  I almost did the same thing because I’m not a fan of “chick flicks.”  I’m not a fan of
“chick flicks” because well, I’m not a chick.

“Chick flicks” are so prevalent in the movie world these days that they are like a cancer that has spread.  They are everywhere and their whole existence is killing the industry that they thrive on.

Stuck in Love is a dysfunctional drama about a semi-popular author (Greg Kinnear) who finds himself unable to get over his ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly), even after being divorced for more than 2 years.  His son and daughter, who are also writers, are having their own struggles with love.

The film was written and directed by Josh Boone and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Lily Collins, Kristen Bell, Logan Lerman, Nat Wolff, Liana Liberato, Stephen King, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.

I have always enjoyed movies about writers, because I have always wanted to be a writer.

The movie is only slightly formulaic and just a little bit predictable.  It is not like “chick flicks” that are completely predictable because they always follow the same formula.

The film is rated-R for language, drug use, sexual situations, and adult drama.  The movie is as much a teen drama as it is an adult drama.

There is a lot of language in the film, but that has become reality.  You would like to think that people don’t always talk that way, but that is how it really is.  We are a society that has become de-sensitized and the absence of language in the movie would have made it less realistic and less practical.

I was a little surprised when watching this movie because I thought it was going to be more about the parents in the story, rather than the kids.  When, in fact, the film was just as much about the adults as it was about the kids.

The young actors in the movie did a better job than I anticipated.  However,
the presence of Kinnear and Connelly help to make Stuck in Love a quirky, heart warming drama worth watching.

Once again, my dysfunctional childhood was probably the reason why I was drawn to this movie.  Maybe it is just because I can relate to the craziness that is going on in the movie and that is why I like it.  Growing up as the youngest in a big family, it’s hard to avoid the drama.  Maybe that is why the movie seems more real to me, because dysfunction is more honest than perfection.  Madness is more entertaining than predictability.

I rate this move a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Buy, rent, or run?  Rent.

If you liked Stuck in Love, then you may also enjoy The Big Wedding (2013), Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), and The Way, Way Back (2013).