Review: The Five Year Engagement

Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Written by: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller
Cast: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie and Rhys Ifans
Genre: Comedy
MPAA: Rated R

The director and writer/star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall reteam for the irreverent comedy The Five-Year Engagement.  Beginning where most romantic comedies end, the new film from director Nicholas Stoller, producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Rodney Rothman (Get Him to the Greek) looks at what happens when an engaged couple, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, keeps getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle.  The film was written by Segel and Stoller.

No one will ever claim marriage is easy. Commitment is tough especially in our current relational climate where more then half of marriages end in divorce. However who would’ve thought the turbulence of the engagement process would be so difficult…and yet so comical. Jason Segal and Emily Blunt star in “The Five Year Engagement” the latest crude, yet oh so sweet romantic comedy from the Apatow brand.

Violet (Emily Blunt) is an achieving psychologist pursuing to advance her education with various doctorate programs across the country. Tom (Jason Segal) is a chef working at a high-end seafood restaurant. The couple gets engaged and everything goes wrong. Alex (Chris Pratt) is his good buddy who provides hysterical comic relief consuming almost every scene with obnoxious humor and a wily smirk. When Violet receives an offer to obtain her doctorate at the University of Michigan, they decide to move. Tom sacrifices his career to provide for his fiancé’s future blossoming career.

Life situations get the best of the couple as they adapt to life in Michigan. They slowly grow apart and face tribulations. Violet is consumed with work and Tom struggles to define his career and re-evaluates his manhood. Tom befriends a colorful cast of characters including stay at home dad Bill (Chris Parnell) with a taste for ugly sweaters and Tarquin (Brian Posehn) a fellow sandwich artist at his new job. Both Violet and Tom struggle to seek an ideal situation for them to finally tie the knot. Violet’s mother (Jacki Weaver, Oscar nominated for “Animal Kingdom” who deserved the win over Melissa Leo) pressures the couple to get married providing nagging comic relief. as various funerals become the tasteless running gag of the film.

Director Nichola Stoller re-teams with his star and co-writer Segal who collaborated on the very funny and heartfelt “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Here, comedic situations and hysterical jokes are like lightning that strikes twice. One of “Engagement’s” strongest moments is a bedroom fight between Violet and Tom in the middle of the night (“I just want to be alone with you here.”) The plot faces the harsh realism of the economic climate and directionless careers of my generation can affect a relationship. When men cannot be the “bread-winner,” it effect masculinity and questions their self worth. Few comedies go into this territory and “Engagement” is better for exploring this. One gripe is Kevin Hart so electric in “Think Like a Man,” he is more sanitized and subdued in a ‘token’ roll. However, it is Emily Blunt who really shines transforming from quirky smaller rolls into confident and self-assured leading lady. Expect more from here in future rolls.

Just as funny as last year’s “Horrible Bosses” or “Bridesmaids,” this “Engagement” is something couples dare not miss; a rare, tailor made near perfect date movie which balances what both men and women enjoy in a comedy. “Engagement” is well grounded from a serious parent to child conversation between Tom and his parents to a sister conflict expressed through the voices of Sesame Street characters. Audiences will enjoy the raunchy crowd pleaser as a relief from both big budget blockbusters and wedding season.

Rating 7 out of 10