The Five-Year Engagement Review

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.”