The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
Certified: 16
Duration: 124 minutes
Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Rhys Ifans, Jim Piddock, Kevin Hart, Dakota Johnson
KRS release
The Five-Year Engagement works primarily because Jason Segel and Emily Blunt seem made for each other.
By the end of the film, it seems we know the couple inside out...- Johan Galea
While we enjoy all the complications that director Nicholas Stoller throws at them, we also want to see them get hitched and tie the knot.
But besides the romance, this film has other aspirations and presents a number of themes that resonate especially well with a more grown-up audience.
Tom (Jason Segel) is a sous chef and Violet (Emily Blunt) is a psychology student. On their first anniversary, he proposes to her.
Their families are overjoyed; the only problem is that his family would like to organise a traditional Jewish wedding while Violet’s divorced parents (Jacki Weaver and Jim Piddock) want a Christian wedding.
Meanwhile, Violet’s sister Suzie (Alison Brie) ends up in bed with Tom’s best friend, Alex (Chris Pratt). She gets pregnant and the two marry before Tom and Violet.
That is when Violet gets a faculty position at the University of Michigan. Thus Tom quits his job, postpones the wedding and moves with her to Ann Arbor.
Violet starts working with professor Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans) and makes a lot of wonderful friends. On the other hand, Tom finds a job as a sandwich maker at a deli and by spring he is in deep depression!
The relationship between Violet and Winton eventually grows and Winton secretly arranges for her to get tenure so she will stay at the university.
In the meantime, Violet and Tom keep postponing their wedding date until the two give up. She decides to stay at Ann Arbor and he moves back to San Francisco.
The film brings together two of the best comic and most likable actors around.
Ms Blunt has really moved ahead since her supporting act in The Devil Wears Prada.
She dazzles with her charm and her connection with Mr Segel is tangible. The way they tackle the hurdles thrown at them seem to be believable yet still comical.
It also helps that the film has a strong supporting cast to help the picture move along the moment the story falters. Alison Brie is a hoot while Chris Pratt is a real find.
By the end of the film, it seems we know the couple inside out and we know that neither is perfect yet that together they may be so.
The film also shows how much a relationship goes beyond lust and depends more on the longevity of friendship and sacrifices.
The movie finds a balance between the humour, the drama and the romance. It is not afraid to dwell on the mistakes that one makes in a relationship but it never preaches or goes over the top.
It simply mixes together the real world with the humour in such an efficient manner that I was keeping my fingers crossed for the couple the whole way.