Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is living the dream — he's got a good job, nice house, and great kids. Cal gets the surprise of his life when he learns his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) has been cheating on him with a coworker, David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon), and wants a divorce. After moving into his own apartment, Cal begins grieving at a bar night after night talking to himself about his situation where he meets a young man named Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). Jacob is a womanizer who successfully beds women each night, although he does take a particular interest in a young woman named Hannah (Emma Stone), the only woman to resist his advances. Not wanting to watch Cal keep drowning his sorrows night after night, Jacob agrees to teach him his trade so that he can have the confidence to earn Emily back. Because Emily is the only woman Cal has ever been with, Cal doesn't have much experience, so Jacob gives Cal a makeover and has him watch his tricks at the bar.
On Cal's first attempt to seduce a woman, he meets a teacher named Kate (Marisa Tomei), who rejects his awkward advances. Initially told not to talk about himself, he alienates her, but then begins to mention his marital problems when prodded to talk about himself. She's impressed with his honesty which she finds refreshing and she ends up going to his apartment and having sex with him. After that, Cal manages to successfully seduce multiple women night after night. He meets Emily for the first time since the divorce at a parent teacher conference at school. Cal admits that he got lazy during their marriage and should have fought to keep her. However, the teacher they are meeting with turns out to be the rather neurotic Kate, who berates Cal for not calling her, although all they had was a one night stand. Emily learns of Cal's recent womanizing, to which he responds he's been doing it to try and move on. Emily leaves in disgust and begins dating David. Wikipedia