The Five-Year Engagement

Enjoyable funny movie that portrayed the modern day conflict of a couple with two careers. Who gives up what and why and how willing are they to accept the true full meaning of the compromise. Several good points are made and good analogies used.

Humor works for both guys and gals.

Without spoiling anything, the element used to mark time is somewhat dark.

Be familiar with the song 'Cu cu ru cu cu Palamo'. It is sung very well in Spanish early in the course of the movie with no translation but is tone setting for the movie. Used again in the credits.

At just over 2 hours, this movie seemed to drag at some points and several scenes could have been edited down a wee bit. Don't need to see something for 30 seconds or 2 minutes when the point is made and understood in considerably less time.

I don't see any academy nods for this one nor would I have expected any for this genre of movie but it was an enjoyable movie for an evening.

My wife and son were there and enjoyed it as well.

The five-year Engagement, starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel, is a rom-com focusing on the engagement of the two main characters they play. Many happened during the five year period.

The film may get you interested in the first 30 minutes, cause it does have some funny scenes and the regonizable faces of Kevin Hart and Mindy Kaling. As it goes on, you will lose interest in the film just like I did. Many subplots are going on and not every one can keep you interested.

It started to feel long and you will think "Please hurry up and just get married".

So it is basically like a long typical rom-com. Nothing special.

Grade: B-

I went into this film with low expectations. Very rarely do I actually take the time to watch romantic comedies but this one had such an excellent cast that I decided to give it a try. So glad I did. This film is fantastic. It knows when to be smart and it knows when to be serious, and both of these things it pulls off perfectly.

Probably the thing that surprised me the most about this film was the fantastic chemistry between Jason Segal and Emily Blunt. I never would have guessed that they could work so well with each other! Chris Pratt and Alison Brie are also great together. In fact, the whole cast is great. It was very refreshing to see Kevin Hart in a smaller role in which it didn't feel like he was trying the steal the entire scene.

The only reason that I took two stars off my review is because I did feel at times that the pacing was a little bit off. Some of the scenes probably could have been tightened up a bit to make them that much more effective and there may have been a few short scenes that weren't really needed. This is my only real complaint about the film.

Overall, I highly recommend this movie. Though it is quite long for a comedy, it's also totally worth it. "The Five-Year Engagement" has a lot of charm to it and also has a very interesting metaphor tied into the plot. The film has a great story, a great cast, and should make for a great date night movie!

The movie was not as funny as I thought it would be (especially after watching the trailer, which I couldn't avoid doing). But it still was more than alright. I do like Jason Segel and Emily Blunt is not only gorgeous but also very funny. She was also the reason Adjustment Bureau worked. You could see why Matt Damon ... But lets not digress. Although again you can see why Jason Segel (the character he's playing) would fall for Emily Blunts character.

Some obstacles in the movie seem to not make a lot of sense. But then again, life does not make a lot of sense either most of the time. So it does depend on your suspend of disbelief. But if you can do that, you might enjoy a sweet little romantic comedy, that does work, which can't be said about most of the romantic movies being released in recent history.

The Five-Year Engagement sees Jason Segel continuing to try and cement his place as one of Hollywood's greatest comedy actors following The Muppets and Jeff Who Lives At Home with the help of writing partner Nicholas Stoller. Segel's latest offering comes in the form of a romantic comedy when exactly a year after meeting Tom (Segel) proposes to his girlfriend Violet (Emily Blunt) but unexpected events keep on getting in their way as they attempt to tie the knot with one another.

With most films of this genre you get the same thing over and over again: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl split up, boy and girl get back together and live happily ever after. In The Five-Year Engagement what you get is an in depth look at the ins and outs of a stable relationship as it journeys through the ups and downs of life. I think that this is a great idea and shows that relationships don't always run smoothly as plenty of other films would have you believe. I also believe that The Five-Year Engagement separates itself from other comedies aimed at an adult audience by being cleverer and, although we do get to see Jason Segel's rear end on more than one occasion, a lot of the comedy is very well written and obviously well put together.

There is clear chemistry between the two leads of the film, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt which is obviously helped by their off screen friendship and the fact that the two of them have worked together previously. Segel puts in a great performance but I don't think that we ever get to see the best of him like we have seen in The Muppets and television sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He is a very fine comedic actor though and brings out some good laughs here; I'm not a fan of Emily Blunt too much and at times her comedy efforts seemed a little forced. Also, her accent seems overly British even though it's authentic, how weird is that? The Five-Year Engagement starts off very well with some hilarious moments and really sets you up for what should be a laugh a minute film from start to finish. A lot of this is the emphasis put on the characters of Tom's colleague and friend Alex (Chris Pratt) and Violet's sister Suzie (Alison Brie). Whilst their relationship offers very little to the film as a whole their individual contribution to scenes are very well delivered. Chris Pratt is wonderfully funny in almost every scene in which he features and a particular scene featuring Pratt's Alex delivering a presentation of Tom's former girlfriends is my favourite part of the film and a brilliantly written and acted scene. Unfortunately, their characters seem to fizzle out and so does the film itself.

There is a reason that most romantic comedies are only an hour and a half long; the plot cannot sustain a two hour movie without lagging. The Five-Year Engagement does try and stretch over two hours and you would think that with five years of a relationship to tell then it would easily manage this without getting too boring. You would be wrong. It gets to a point where you think it could be coming to an end only to realise there is still about half an hour left and after a while the laughs become a sparse item. Don't get me wrong, The Five-Year Engagement at times is hilarious and it is definitely a great romantic comedy with real stock in the lead characters but it tails off towards the end. It is still, though, definitely worth watching!