The Five-Year Engagement, Review by Alyn Darnay

A Very

Funny

Romantic

Comedy

Review by Alyn Darnay

• Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
• Written by: Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller
• Cast: Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie

 

If I ever wanted the brother I never had, I would want him to be Jason Segel. I just love watching this guy, his “everyman” persona, constantly being trampled to death by an unyielding world. For me it started with “Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)”, then I cemented my “fan-ship” with the Bro-mance “I Love You Man (2009)”, even enjoyed him in “Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011)”, and “The Muppets (2011)”. I think this guy is the genuine article, a true talent who can write, produce, and act, while making relevant and humorous observations on foibles of modern life.

Reteaming with “Sarah Marshall” director Nicholas Stoller under the tremendously successful Judd Apatow banner, we find Jason again suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as he tries to find his way through the maze of marital engagement and all it encompasses.

Here’s a simple overview of the story: One year after Tom Solomon (Segel) meets Violet Barnes (Blunt), he plans to surprise her with a ring and get married. Their plan goes off the track when another wedding ultimately overshadows their engagement, so they postpone their own. Then Violet is offered a two-year position at the University of Michigan so Tom, benevolent lover that he is, passes up a career making opportunity to become head chef at a trendy San Francisco modernist bistro, to follow her to the snow and cold where they can figure out their life and plan the perfect wedding. From this point on any Plan they decide on goes wildly off track, as does Tom’s total existence. To watch his disintegration is the joy of a Jason Segel performance, rife with pathos and laughter, made all the more wonderful by the terrific chemistry Emily Blint brings to her role as his paramour.

The supporting cast is made up of a strange brew of screwball characters who add loads of comic situations that will get and keep you laughing every time you think the pace or problem presented is becoming too much or lasting too long for you to handle. It’s an enjoyable trip following this journey, and I’m glad I took it.

You should enjoy the film a lot, its sensibilities are more adult in its presentation than most and you’ll feel every joy and agony right along with Violet and Tom. More to the point, it’s a darn good date film.

“The Five-Year Engagement” – Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)

TRT: 124 minutes

R (for sexual content, and language throughout)