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The Five-Year Engagement manages to be both funny and charming in equal measures, with Jason Segel stealing the show in this witty romantic comedy.
Teaming up for the second time after the success of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, writer and director Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel manage to produce a comedy with heart and that is easy to relate to, that goes beyond a few simple gags.
Judd Apatow (producer of Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Stepbrothers) recently claimed he found it difficult to cut scenes out of his movies and viewers will see this is the case.
Stretching more than two hours, the film could easily have been cut down to focus more on real laughs and the plot suffers from too much unneccessary detail, leaving you hoping the couple would just hurry up and tie the knot.
It is clear from the off-set that Jason Segel and Emily Blunt are great friends in reality and the ease at which they engage with each other almost makes this rom-com believable.
Rhys Ifans fails to leave an impression as charming professor, yet Chris Pratt is memorable in his own right.
Set in San Francisco, Jason Segel plays high flying chef Tom who is preparing to propose to his girlfriend of one year, Victoria (played by Emily Blunt) Her answer is immediately yes and signals a five year span of disastrous consequences.
Segel’s best friend and colleague Alex (Chris Pratt) proves an unexpected surprise to the narrative and commands a majority of the laughs throughout.
The happy couple begin to plan their wedding day and in true rom-com fashion, their plans are thwarted at every opportunity – Victoria’s sister Suzie (Alison Brie) becomes pregnant with Alex’s baby, and most detrimentally, Victoria accepts a new job offer at the University of Michigan.
Doting fiance Tom agrees to up and leave his personal job prospects, all in the name of true love, and the couple begin a chaos filled life in Michigan.
Jason Segel really comes into his own as the disgruntled half of this relationship. He is forced to take a menial job in a Jewish sandwich shop and it becomes clear to him that life here is not all as was promised. The desire to root for him is hard to resist here and his pathetic persona makes him even more loveable.
Victoria is flourishing in her new position, undertaking a post-doctorate in psychology and attracting the attention and damaging affections of her mentor Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans).
A drunken night of huge proportions ensues and together with her strained engagement, the narrative takes a turn for the worse.
The highlight of the film culminates when Tom learns Victoria has been kissed by her professor Winton and seeks to execute his revenge.
The chase scene between the two confirms that Segel has natural hilarious talents and he more than deserves his place amongst his comedic cohort Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill.
Although the chemistry is clearly present between the pair, Emily Blunt verges on irritating, with her solo scenes failing to add to the chemistry.
She is ultimately saved by the loveable Segel and The Five Year Engagement ultimately showcases a smart comedy, which tackles the flaws of a gritty relationship with a delightfully light-hearted and emotional touch.
The Five Year Engagement is showing now – for Liverpool One Odeon cinema times…http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_times/s171/Liverpool_ONE/