The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

Genre


Director


Country


Cast

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Mimi Kennedy, David Paymer, Jacki Weaver, Jim Piddock, Rhys Ifans, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Randall Park, Brian Posehn, Chris Parnell, Lauren Weedman, Tracee Chimo, Dakota Johnson, Tim Heidecker, Molly Shannon, Tiffany Liu, Da'Vone McDonald

Storyline

Exactly one year after meeting, Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) proposes to his girlfriend Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt), but unexpected events keep tripping them up as they look to walk down the aisle together.

Opinion

Months ago, maybe a year ago, I tried to watch this film, but I switched off after about thirty minutes, because I literally couldn't deal with another minute of it. The other day I decided to give it a second try, and I've managed to watch the whole thing, but I struggled. A lot.

Sold like a comedy, The Five-Year Engagement is more like an overlong, tedious and unengaging drama with some comedic elements, that aren't even that funny.

With a great cast and beautiful locations, Nicholas Stoller couldn't fail, but he did somehow. The film could have been a great portrait of modern day conflict of a couple with two careers, questioning about how willing would be one of them to accept the compromise. Unfortunately something went wrong in the writing process. 

As said before, the story is unengaging. At first you are going to wonder if they will eventually get married, but after thirty minutes you will completely lose interest, and you won't know if you are willing to make a huge sacrifice and get to the end, or turn it off. I feel like the film would have been so much more interesting if it was focused on Chris Pratt and Alison Brie characters.

Also, it is predictable since the several - too many - funerals and sad moments are emphasized with rain, and it is pretty obvious something is going to happen. The sexual, religious humour barely works here, and I found it offensive using vulgar language in presence of children.

The cast is completely wasted. I don't like Jason Segel, still I thought he couldn't fail, but even he couldn't pull off those bad jokes. Emily Blunt is generally a great actress, but apparently comedy is not her thing. And there is no chemistry between the two of them, they don't even look like a real couple. The supporting cast is decent, with Chris Pratt, and a brilliant Rhys Ifans.


Quotes

George Barnes: The first important thing to remember about marriage is that it requires commitment. The second important thing to remember about marriage is that so does insanity.

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