Rated
R (Sexual Content, and Language Throughout)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 4 Minutes
Cast-
Jason
Segel-Tom Solomon
Emily
Blunt-Violet Barnes
Chris
Pratt-Alex Eilhauer
Alison
Brie-Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer
Rhys
Ifans-Professor Winton Childs
Mindy
Kaling-Vaneetha
Randall
Park-Ming
Kevin
Hart-Doug
Chris
Parnell-Bill
Dakota
Johnson-Audrey
Lauren
Weedman-Chef Sally
Mimi
Kennedy-Carol Solomon
David
Paymer-Pete Solomon
Jacki
Weaver-Sylvia Dickerson-Barnes
Jim
Piddock-George Barnes
Directed
by Nicholas Stoller
 |
| Jason Segel and Emily Blunt just can't seal the deal in "The Five-Year Engagement." |
The
movies have always provided an escape from the doldrums of everyday life where audiences
often just want to snuggle up to a film that ends with happily ever after. The
romance genre is particularly guilty of this but real life is fraught with
turmoil and rarely, if ever, gives the happy ending people yearn for. What
happens once the guy ends up with the girl of his dreams? This is the central
premise of “The Five-Year Engagement” which reunites producer Judd Apatow with
writer/director Nicholas Stoller and co-writer/star Jason Segel of “How I Met
Your Mother” fame. Apatow is currently one of the biggest names in Hollywood
with several of his comedy films receiving both critical and box office success
such as 2005’s “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” 2007’s “Knocked Up,” 2008’s “Forgetting
Sarah Marshall,” and last year’s “Bridesmaids.” His track record hasn’t been flawless
as there are a handful of duds such as 2009’s “Year One” and “Funny People,”
which failed to connect with audiences and received only mildly positive
reviews. “The Five-Year Engagement” won’t be remembered as one of the best of
Apatow’s productions due to its meandering pace, extraneous subplots, and
overlong running time but the film still manages to offer up quite a few laughs
thanks to its relatable cast while taking an honest and refreshing look at modern
relationships and the sacrifices it entails.
Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) and
Violent Barnes (Emily Blunt) meet on New Year’s Eve at a ‘dress as your own
superhero’ costume party in San Francisco and the two form an instant
connection. They become engaged after dating for one year and happily plan for
the wedding but discover that many of the venues are overbooked or have strange
requirements. In the meantime, the couple throws an engagement party held at a
bed-and-breakfast pub called The Drunken
Pig but Violet discovers to her embarrassment that her sister Suzie (Alison
Brie) spent the night with Tom’s best friend Alex Eilhauer (Chris Pratt), whom
she deems a ‘moron.’ Tom and Violent find themselves having to put off their
wedding when Violet is accepted for a post-doctorate position in psychology at
the University of Michigan instead of Berkeley. Since the program lasts only
two years, Tom agrees to move to Michigan with her, giving up his position as sous-chef
at the trendy restaurant he works in but he becomes disheartened when he learns
that his boss had planned to make him the head chef. Suzie later reveals that
she is pregnant after sleeping with Alex and the two hastily get married. Tom
and Violet move to Michigan and discover that it is a big adjustment from San
Francisco, especially during the winter. Violet easily settles in and is warmly
greeted by the other graduate students led by a likable professor named Winton
Childs (Rhys Ifans). However, Tom has difficulty getting used to life in
Michigan and after facing several rejections, he manages to find employment at
a popular deli. He continues to become more disillusioned with putting his
career on hold and spends much of his time hunting deer with the other ‘faculty
husbands.’ Tom and Violet finds their relationship strained the longer they
stay in Michigan and begin to doubt whether they made the right choice in
deciding to get married in the first place.
Written by Nicholas Stoller (who
also serves as director) and Jason Segel, “The Five-Year Engagement” is one of
the few romantic comedies that offer an honest exploration on modern
relationships and the sacrifices that couples make for each other in order to
keep that initial spark alive. Part of the film’s appeal is that Tom and Violet
are treated like real people who make mistakes because of their love for each other. Tom cares about Violet so
much that he is willing to give up his successful career as a chef but a
relationship (especially a marriage) cannot survive with one half always doing
the sacrificing. Both have to compromise and find a middle ground because there
will never be the ‘perfect’
relationship or marriage where nothing ever goes wrong. You have to actively
work hard to achieve happily ever after. This is the main strength of “The
Five-Year Engagement” and it is refreshing to see a mainstream film offer up a
romantic comedy that is instantly relatable to adults but also has something
intelligent to say on what constitutes a successful relationship. Unfortunately,
the film suffers from a meandering pace with too much screen-time devoted to
side characters that have little to no bearing on the overall plot other than
to provide a few laughs. Granted, there are some genuinely funny moments to be
had but outside of a lively conversation where Blunt and Brie imitate the
voices of the Cookie Monster and Elmo, the comedy is rather low-key and can
come off as awkward and out-of-place given the dour mood in the second half. This
creates a feeling of inconsistency with jarring tonal shifts from scene to
scene. At 2 hours and 4 minutes, the film begins to feel like a drag around the
ninety-minute mark as there are fewer laughs to be had and would’ve benefited
from some tighter editing.
Despite its problems, “The Five-Year Engagement” is
elevated by its great cast with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt making for an
appealing and believable couple thanks to the excellent chemistry they share. What’s
amazing is that both effortlessly convey a wide range of emotions from
happiness to frustration in a way that rings true and allows the audience to
root for them to come through even when their relationship threatens to go off
the rails at any moment in time. Lifted from various popular comedy shows such
as “Parks and Recreation” and “Community,” the supporting talent is equally as
strong even if their function in the story can come off as largely superfluous.
Chris Pratt and Alison Brie serve as a hilarious foil to Segel and Blunt’s
characters, with Brie sporting a spot-on British accent that is adorably quirky.
The banter between the graduate students, played by Mindy Kaling, Randall Park,
and Kevin Hart provide some individually funny moments that keeps the film from
being too depressing. Finally,
there’s Rhys Ifans (starring in this summer’s “The Amazing Spider-Man”), who
gives a solid, if unremarkable, performance as a suave psychology professor who
inadvertently puts another dent in Tom and Violet’s already-crumbling relationship.
Released on April 27, 2012, “The Five-Year Engagement” has received mildly
positive reviews with 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics admitted that the film
was ‘certainly overlong [but it] benefits from the easy chemistry of its leads
and a funny, romantic script with surprising depth and intelligence.’ Although
initially pegged to take the top spot during opening weekend, it ended up in fifth place with a disappointing $10.6
million but Apatow has dealt with his fair share of low debuts as this February’s
“Wanderlust” also flopped with $6.5 million (it went on to earn only $20
million worldwide). The culprit lies with the deceptive marketing as Universal
likened it to last year’s critically acclaimed “Bridesmaids” and even went so
far as to use the same colors and typeface for its posters. The initial
previews also proved to be less than compelling which led to disinterest among
moviegoers, many of which decided to just wait an extra week for “The
Avengers.” Fortunately, the film’s production budget was only $30 million so
it’s not a big loss for the studio compared to “John Carter” for Disney. With a
shorter running time and tighter pacing, “The Five-Year Engagement” could’ve
been another winning Apatow-production rather than settling for above-average. Jason
Segel and Emily Blunt are excellent thanks to their likable chemistry and
heartfelt script but the comedy and drama never gel into a cohesive whole,
making for an inconsistent film.
Final
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
“I
don’t think we can figure out all of our problems before we get married but I
promise you that I will just love you every step of the way.”
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