The Five-Year Engagement (2012) Directed by Nicholas Stoller. Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt & Alison Brie. IMDB says: “A comedy that charts the ups and downs of an engaged couple’s relationship. “
Tom and Violet are a ridiculously cute couple brought to the screen by the always endearing Jason Segel and increasingly enjoyable Emily Blunt. They’re not just a pair you immediately root for (I’m talking first 10 minutes of the movie root for) but actual drawn out characters with well-rounded identities. Their engagement is filled with very normal issues and emotions you can buy for the most part based on a script that does its job working in great humor.
The script it also where the biggest complaint you’ll see about this movie is–it’s way too long and in desperate need of editing. Running over two hours, this film becomes flawed by all that it tries to include. The supporting cast is huge, and while I liked how realistic this film was in filling out the lives of Tom and Violet including their family, friends, and coworkers, it dragged the movie out a bit. Chris Pratt and Alison Brie have easily the best supporting roles, especially Brie as she stole most scenes she was in. The host of other supporting actors have their moments, but just have too much to do in this.
As the dynamics of Tom and Violet’s relationship changed over the five years some phases stuck better (see the well-done fifth year) than others (see the fourth year beard misstep). At times I wish things had been written a bit differently, but at the heart of the story Segel and Blunt kept me excited and invested in how things would turn out. They surprised me with their chemistry, and Blunt was better than I’ve ever seen her. The romantic moments were at times so tender, I got a little emotional (it might just be because they used Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing” so effectively but I won’t discredit them).
The anticipation of another Jason Segel/Nicholas Stoller collaboration had me quite excited to see their latest effort and it didn’t disappoint. Maybe underwhelmed would be the better word. Even that isn’t really adequately putting it because it’s a very enjoyable film. Comparing it to Forgetting Sarah Marshall is really where any of my disappointment comes from. That film certainly would be close to my favorite comedy over the past 5 years–and this just doesn’t stack up. As far as romantic comedies go, this one is really excellent, fun, and crazy sweet but it isn’t necessarily be a film I can glow over.
