The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

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  May 13, 2012

  fb100001048934982

  'Five Year Engagement' is the clear frontrunner for the best comedy of the year, so far, of course. The two leads are hilarious, witty, and unfaltering. Segrl is as amazing as he always is, and Blunt is nothing but with her charm and astounding comedic talent. Not only are the le... read moreads great, but every single supporting player is guaranteed to deliver quite a few funny lines. I never wanted this movie to end, i loved it so much. Witty, poignant, and hilarious, please witness the funniest movie you've seen so far this year.

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  May 12, 2012

  mrbungle7821

  Relationships are serious business. In most Judd Apatow productions, they're funny business. With The Five-Year Engagement, there's romance to be found in surprising places, but the omnipresent feeling is one of dread. All those advertisements highlighting the comedy will start t... read moreo melt away, and what you are left with is a funny, if bittersweet, anti-romantic comedy, more uncomfortable with hard-hitting truths than congenial laughs. My theater even had a few walkouts.
  
  Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) are happily in love. He's a sous chef in a trendy San Francisco restaurant and she's eager to gain a graduate fellowship at UC-Berkley in psychology. She doesn't get accepted to Berkley, but the University of Michigan offers her a spot. Tom and Violet agree to put their wedding on hold and move to Michigan so that she can take advantage of an amazing opportunity. Michigan is not to Tom's liking, especially since he can't find a fulfilling job and settles with making sandwiches at a campus sub shop. It's all just temporary, he keeps reminding himself. Then Violet's two years gets extended, and Michigan isn't just a temporary pit stop, it's possibly home. Tom's disappointment spirals, and he and Violet begin to drift apart, he resenting her for giving up his own dream to support hers. She begins getting emotionally attached to her Psychology professor, Dr. Childs (Rhys Ifans), in ways that straddle the mentor-student boundaries. Meanwhile, Violet's sister, Suzie (Alison Brie), gets pregnant after a one-night stand with Alex (Chris Pratt), Tom's best man and coworker, at the couple's engagement party. They get married, have kids, and Tom and Violet are still stalling. This is the story of two people who deserve their happily ever after except life keeps putting obstacles in their path to the altar.
  
  You will be unprepared for how sobering The Five-Year Engagement can be. Some of these arguments between Tom and Violet cut right to the bone with an exacting level of painful authenticity. The level of uncomfortable intimacy can make the movie feel grueling. At the same time, I don't want to give the impression that it's some Apatow version of a John Cassavettes flick. There's still plenty of comedy but the film is much more of a drama than any previous Apatow production. Part of the squirm factor comes in the very nature of the premise. The Five-Year Engagement picks up where most rom-coms end, with our happy couple together at last. We know these two are meant for one another; however, the majority of the screenplay involves watching two likeable, funny, loving people drift emotionally apart. Eventually they get back together in the end in a mad rush to staunch the gloom prevailing over the movie. It's a hard act to watch people drift apart, losing the connections that once bound them together, and witnessing the glow of romance fade into complacency and resentment. Again, this is all handled in ways that find humor in uncomfortable places (like Tom, hopped up on painkillers, apologizing for smiling during sad news), but it can still be uncomfortable, and I don't know if the ending, while happy, will justify the journey for many audience members.
  
  I was shocked how much I found myself relating to the plight of the characters in The Five-Year Engagement, so much so that I simultaneously felt an extra level of engagement and discomfort. I will spare you the gory details, as I am a gentleman first and foremost, but relationships that just fizzle out rather than ending in some abrupt manner (infidelity, commitment issues, lack of availability, etc.) are not any more enviable. I related to the general sense of malaise that can plague a long-term relationship, the feeling of being forever a plus-one in your spouse's circles, the resentment over the demands of a job or school, the small cracks that mask a lot of pain, the kind that is suffused with rationalization that to assert what you feel is to be selfish and inconsiderate, the loss of intimacy, physical and emotional, the guilt of being unhappy or making someone unhappy, and the sad realization that maybe love just wasn't enough. What happens when nice people who are good for each other are just dealt rotten circumstances? Phew. I feel like I'm turning this into a therapy session. Let's talk about something inappropriate in the next paragraph.
  
  The biggest reason for sticking it out, both for Tom and Violet and the audience, is that Segel and Blunt have terrific chemistry together. Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is a big endearing lug of a man, and putting his career on hold to support his fiancé gives him an extra surplus of sympathy as we watch him spiral into despair and then resentment. He's a funny, likeable guy, and we know he and Violet are meant for one another and we want them to get together, even as this looks less likely to come true after the circumstances that push them away. Granted, you must swallow the hard-to-believe reality that Tom couldn't find a decent job in Ann Arbor, a college town that has to have some fine dining along the outskirts of town if not in the city. Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau) makes me fall in love with her yet again with a performance. Just like in 2011's Bureau, she creates a charming, vibrant, luminescent portrayal of a person in love, so much so that I am envious of the man of her affections (her pantomime of "Circus solei sex" made me feel all warm and fuzzy in multiple places). Violet has her own share of flaws but that just made her more relatable. I enjoy the way Segel, as a screenwriter (he co-wrote the movie with his regular collaborator, director Nicholas Stoller), is charitable with his characterization. He's not afraid to make himself look mean and hurtful and wrong. He's not afraid to make the girlfriends in his movies, even the ones who are about to dump him, justifiable in their decision-making. This is not a case of good guys and bad guys; it's much more like life where everyone can draw good reasons, and the consequences just suck. Out of all of the Apatow films, Segel has done the best job of making his characters feel most like actual people than broad comedic types.
  
  Luckily, the movie has its funny, peculiar little moments to make the drama bearable. I appreciate the little touches of comedy, which percolate through the heaviness. The wide supporting cast is peopled with the usual blend of oddballs and loudmouths. Pratt and Brie provide an ongoing foil as the couple who didn't seem right for one another, made initial impulsive decisions, but have stuck it out and are happy; instead of waiting for the right time they embrace the mantra that there is no perfect time in life but the present. Pratt (TV's Parks and Recreation) is great as a smart-aleck who grows into a responsible father. Brie adopts a British accent and becomes even more adorable, as all fans of Community would know. She's quite funny as Violet's sister and has a standout sequence where she and Violet have a very adult conversation in front of children so they disguise their voices as Cookie Monster and Elmo. The juxtaposition is a hoot and yet also a nice moment to add characterization. I also enjoyed seeing Chris Parnell (TV's 30 Rock) as a sad sack stay-at-home father who clears his misery with kitting. There are some gory comedic set pieces around arrows being shot into legs and toes getting amputated, but the movie's best comedy comes in the small moments, from Tom 's patchy "I've stopped caring" facial hair, to a self-described "pickle nerd" played by Brian Posehn, to the percentages of every undergrad named "Ashley" or "Zack," to Tom's hopelessly overmatched chase with Professor Childs, to a running gag about grandparents dying before Tom and Violet wed.
  
  I would like to take this time and observe that the University of Michigan, as well as its tenured professor, is responsible for the disruption of happiness between a young couple in love. How many other couples have you destroyed, U of M? When will your taste for suffering ever be quenched? And no, I'm not just saying this because I'm a diehard Ohio State Buckeyes fan, as well as a grad student. My point being: Michigan wants to kill Tom, Violet, and every person you hold dear (In short: Go Bucks).
  
  You'd think with a title like The Five-Year Engagement they wouldn't want to overstay their welcome, but like most Apatow productions, the film runs a bit on the long side. About 20 minutes into the movie, I felt the need to go to the bathroom. I rationalized staying put. Then about 90 minutes in, that urge became overwhelming but I reasoned the movie had to be over soon. And I kept telling myself that... for another 30 minutes. Then I just ran out and did my business, feeling the elation of relief. At over two hours, the movie feels excessive. Because of the drift away structure, the movie feels especially long in the second act, where we get hurtful scene after hurtful scene, and where Tom and Violet go their separate ways and start dating new people (the fact that Violet dates her smarmy professor feels realistic and yet also like a gut-punch to Tom). Some of the colorful characters that typical people Apatow productions feel more forced than usual, especially Violet's collection of fellow psych grads played by the likes of Kevin Hart (Think Like a Man) and Mindy Kaling (TV's The Office). They don't seem well grafted to the story. The ending, while welcomed, also feels unlikely given the proceeding drama, and its brash adherence to rom-com conventions is a tad disappointing.
  
  Watching the dissolution of a relationship is something of a hard sell to mainstream audiences, though Vince Vaughn was able to get audiences to see his anti-romantic comedy, 2006's The Break-Up, which admittedly had bigger names and a lighter touch on the material. The Five-Year Engagement has its share of comedy but it's pretty sublimated to the heavy drama of watching two people in love fall out of love and battle resentment, self-destruction, and apathy. Segel and Blunt are so good together we're willing to give them a wider berth to stretch their wings, sow their oats, and eventually find one another again, falling back in love after a flurry of obstacles, realizing that finding and connecting with your right person is an ongoing process and not some prize to be awarded. I found myself connecting with the movie in several ways, so much so that it made me fee dour for the rest of the evening (you may feel differently). The movie gets so many subtle things right about how relationships can sour, and yet it still manages to overstay its welcome and fill its roly-poly narrative with annoying characters. At least the movie has helped me discover my perfect woman: Alison Brie with a British accent. However, Emily Blunt will also do in a pinch.
  
  Nate's Grade: B

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  May 10, 2012

  fb791220692

  When Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel team up, the results are usually very positive. These two have written two movies (both of which Segel starred in) that I consider to be classics - 2008's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and 2011's "The Muppets." So when the duo paired up yet aga... read morein for "The Five-Year Engagement", there was reason for me to be excited. However, this film is uncharacteristic for a Stoller/Segel project in that it ends up being just a generic, cliche-ridden romcom. True, many of the jokes are genuinely funny, and Segel is at his best (far better than he was in "Jeff, Who Lives At Home"). Not only that, but the film also succeeds in creating believable chemistry between Segel and his real-life friend Emily Blunt.
  
  Somewhere along the line, however, the movie goes off the rails. It drags on for far too long, with a last act in which you know exactly what will end up happening and just have to wait for it to actually happen (and it doesn't really happen in any extraordinary way). On top of this, I was irritated to no end by the actor Chris Pratt, who seems to really think he is Seth Rogen, a strange imitation that came off as just annoying. Again, there are things to like about this film, and at times there is a moment funny enough to remind you that you are watching a Segel/Stoller comedy. But if anything, that just makes it sadder to see the film succumb so fully to romantic comedy formula.

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  May 7, 2012

  bathshebamonk

  Great romantic comedy with some really sharp schtickts (is that the word?)....When, for example, Segal's character goes native, with deer carcasses hanging in the shed and honey meade in deer hoof flagons and a Viking beard covering up his dopey mug it's completely insane and bel... read moreievable and topped by Blunt getting an arrow accidentally shot into her thigh by her niece. And the whole thing about: is there the perfect someone or do you try and make it work with someone who is perfect enough? Nice take on that. And the whole two-career family problem: whose will take precedence? Does shrink trump cook? Oh, I really liked the character of the pickle man/alcoholic too with his obscene observations then excusing himself with "I'm an alcoholic" and the watery applause that follows. By and large, I think that romantic comedies are getting funnier and more trenchant and this one contributes to that trend.

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  May 3, 2012

  katykern8261

  Directed (and co-written) by Nicholas Stroller, Apatow Productions, 2012
  
  Starring: Jason Segel (co-writer), Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, David Paymer, Mimi Kennedy and Rhys Ifans.
  
  Genre: Comedy, Romance
  
  Question: Do you ever just want to go to the movies but th... read moreere really isn't anything in that you are dying to see? How do you choose which film to see then? This happens to me. Just this week I wanted to go the movie theatre (What's new?) but nothing was shouting out at me saying, "See this!" So I looked up what was playing and narrowed it down to three.
  
  Then I went to Rotten Tomatoes and looked at the ratings of each one. I chose the highest marked one: The Five-Year Engagement, not only did it have the highest rating, it was the only one that was "fresh". Yes, even I go by what others say, sometimes, about films. However, I didn't have time to read the blurbs from the critics as the movie was starting in less than 20 minutes.
  
  I had some high hopes for The Five-Year Engagement. First, it was a Judd Apatow production. He's done some pretty fun films (The Year Old Virgin, Knocked-up and, my favorite of his, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy). Second, I have enjoyed many of the films by the lead actors: Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. Lastly, I sort of watched the preview a while back and thought it had potential.
  
  The theatre was empty when I walked in but it was only 11:00am. I do love seeing the first showing of the day. Anyway, a few people straggled in just before the movie started. And for the first thirty minutes or so, I laughed, smiled and really enjoyed the movie. Then something switched.
  
  Quick synopsis - a couple have been together for a year, they get engaged and start the process of planning the wedding. This part was enjoyable. Then life happens. Meaning, as they are planning everything, something alters their plans and they decide to hold off on the wedding, hence the name of the film. However, when it got to that part in the movie it...just...got...weird.
  
  I can't quite put my finger as to what happened but it just was no longer funny or they tried too hard and the jokes got stale. But it also turned into a drama, sort of. But the end, it picked back up a bit with the story but by that point it had lost my attention.
  
  The actors all did a fine job but nothing spectacular to discuss regarding a specific scene or performance. Sad to say.
  
  Again, I hate to write a review about a movie I just didn't enjoy all that much. I really don't like doing this part of my job. I know the filmmakers tried...oh, I just can't give harsh criticism...sorry....or you're welcome.
  But I have to end on a high note - the beginning was fun.
  
  My favorite part: The engagement party and the speeches. Very funny stuff.
  
  My least favorite part: The venison dinner scene. You'll see. Odd, just odd.
  
  Rating: R
  Length: 124 minutes
  
  Review: 4 out of 10

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  April 30, 2012

  DrZeek

  Suzie: This is supposed to be exciting. This is your wedding. You only get a few of these.
  
  Chemistry can certainly make up for a film that is way too relaxed. The Five-Year Engagement is a film that follows a pretty standard formula, despite the few tweaks and R-rated sensib... read moreilities, but ultimately never rises above average at best, given effort to shove so much into a film that runs far too long. It is fortunate that the film has a large, funny, and mostly likable cast. The leads, in particular, have a strong chemistry together, which makes the film work better than it could have been, were it to be handled differently. Still, the over-reliance on various tangents and lack of a stronger core makes the film uneven overall, despite being quite funny when it shines best. The fact that drama plays heavily into the film also reflects on the tonal issues I had, but there is still enough here that I found nice enough to ease into a very mild recommendation for an easy rental.
  
  read the whole review at www.thecodeiszeek.com

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  April 27, 2012

  aSpaceCowboy

  The Five-Year Engagement was not a "fun movie." It was funny and enjoyable for the first 40 minutes or so, but when Jason Segel's character starts to throw in the towel and just lose his mind the film also gives up and doesn't know where to go next. I left the theatre feeling dep... read moreressed. Yes, even the ending couldn't shake of that hour of discomfort after the funny stuff. I guess you could call this a dramedy. But it was more like a drama that just happened to have some funny parts in it. Or heck, a dark comedy.

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  May 26, 2012

  fb508860270

  There are moments I loved this, and there are moments not so much. I think the big problem is that the movie, much like the Engagement itself, is just too long. There's about 20 minutes or so of unnecessary odd humor that doesn't seem to fit with the tone of the rest of the story... read more, namely in the Grizzly Adams timeframe. If we could remove some of that, I feel like this movie gets a hell of a lot better. That said, I still really enjoyed a lot of it. Segal and Blunt are both really charming and Pratt and Brie are both hilarious. The Cookie Monster / Elmo scene is something I've laughed harder at than anything in a long time. This is definitely worth the price of admission, and with a few tweaks, might have been something I would buy and look forward to seeing again.

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  May 24, 2012

  fb720603734

  I hate to come off as a grumpy member of the Genre Police, but Romantic Comedies should never ever ever EVER come close to the two-hour mark. First of all, the comedy part is really difficult to sustain past 90 minutes, because things usually turn mushy (as in unfunny) in the l... read moreast 20 minutes. Second, because we all know that those last twenty minutes will consist of a race through an airport, a rushed drive across town, and most definitely a change of heart, anything longer immediately turns the comedy into drama, or dramedy at best.
  
  Such is the case with THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT, which, at 2 hours and 4 minutes, overstays its welcome and ends up feeling every one of its titular years. A shame, since there's a really good movie in here somewhere. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt have real chemistry (she ALWAYS seems to know how to cook it up with her co-stars, male or female, doesn't she?) as a couple who postpone their wedding as they work out their professional aspirations. This is a perfectly fine premise for a rom-com, and original because what keeps them apart for the majority of the running time are their own hopes and dreams.
  
  Unfortunately, a bevvy of supporting characters and endless subplots complicate the true story with cliched and expected developments....you know, affairs, lies, and other obvious obstacles. I really like watching Segel and Blunt and their myriad of physical and behavioral transformations...but this being a story in the Apatow universe, it just doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.
  
  Did we really need a subplot about a butch chef? Or a horny college professor? Or an overly horny sandwich shop employee? Or the mismatched but perfect couple?? Or the endlessly dying family members? It felt like Two Weddings And 100 Funerals by the time we got through them all.
  
  I understand that the filmmakers wanted some heft here, to separate it from the pack, and there's no faulting the talented supporting cast. How cool was it to see the amazing Jacki Weaver (Oscar nominated for her scary turn in ANIMAL KINGDOM) in the film? Pretty cool, but her character didn't bring much to the main story. The same can be said for so many others. Trim the fat here - -20 minutes, I'd say --- and you have a charming film about a man in a bunny suit and a woman dressed as Princess Diana who meet cute, stay smart, and try to figure out a way to be together when life pulls them in different directions.

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  May 15, 2012

  jeffboam

  Even though this overlong trip down the cinema aisle won't exactly make audiences forget Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 5-Year Engagement is a marriage of hilarious laughs and amazing performances. Granted, it's a great chemistry set. The leads prove to be a great coupling, as do... read morees the writing and directing. In fact, some of the bits are so funny, you just want to put on the baby-making music and forget the foreplay-instant gold standard comedy. So, why does it sound like this reviewer is about to dish out some marriage counseling? Well, let's just say that the title is quite apropos. After the screening, despite holding one's sides from laughter, it still felt like 5 years had passed.
  
  In this R-rated comedy co-written by Segel (who also starred in/wrote Marshall), a long-suffering engaged couple (Segel, Emily Blunt) keep getting tripped up on the way to the altar, hence their Five-Year Engagement.
  
  It's not enough to say that Emily Blunt is good. In regards to acting, she's good the way Jonas Salk was good for health care. Likewise, Jason Segel is a much better screenwriter than actor...and his acting's pretty damn solid, so this is a high compliment. Together, there is not an insecure moment between them. Indeed, this isn't a rom-com where two impossibly beautiful stars are thrown against the wall and have the connectivity of Israel and Palestine. Rather, it's a brilliant comedy with a great through-line. Unfortunately, the through line is strung too long like a lot of potentially classic comedies these days (Funny People, anyone?).
  
  Bottom line: Guffawing to the chapel.

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• Emily Blunt as Violet
• Jason Segel as Tom
• Chris Pratt as Alex Eilhauer
• Alison Brie as Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer
• Lauren Weedman as Chef Sally
• Rhys Ifans as Winton Childs
• Mimi Kennedy as Carol Solomon
• David Paymer as Pete Solomon
• Jacki Weaver as Sylvia Dickerson-Barnes

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  The Break-Up (100%)
• 
  American Wedding (67%)
• 
  Forgetting Sarah Marshall (67%)

• • Alex Eilhauer: Nothing but porcelain...Poosh.
• • Tarquin: C is for condom!
• • Audrey: I'm going to stop before I say something mean!
• • Audrey: Tom! Be more Indian!
• • Audrey: Your getting fat!
• • Tarquin: I'm sorry I wasn't Made In China!

Today, May 30 Thursday, May. 31 Friday, Jun. 1 Saturday, Jun. 2 Sunday, Jun. 3 Monday, Jun. 4 Tuesday, Jun. 5 Wednesday, Jun. 6 Thursday, Jun. 7 Friday, Jun. 8 Saturday, Jun. 9 Sunday, Jun. 10 Monday, Jun. 11 Tuesday, Jun. 12

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• The Five-year Engagement: A Look Inside (Featurette)
• The Five-year Engagement: Sister Act (Featurette)
• The Five-year Engagement: Nicholas Stoller On The Story
• The Five-year Engagement: Chris Pratt On His Character
• The Five-year Engagement: Rhys Ifans On What Attracted Him To The Project
• The Five-year Engagement: Emily Blunt On The Realism Of The Film
• The Five-year Engagement: Jason Segel On His Character In The Movie
• The Five-year Engagement: Tom And The Guys Do Some Wedding Planning
• The Five-year Engagement: Violet Tries To Get Tom To Get Weird With Her In The Snow
• The Five-year Engagement: Winton Tries To Explain His Dog's Name To The Group

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