18/08/2012: The Five-Year Engagement [2012]

Remember two days ago when I asked "what two names would make me watch a rom-com?" Didn't take long to find out. The Five-Year Engagement has a lot of things going for it. The two stars are some of my current favourite comedians, relative newcomers Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. Also the trailers looked promising and things seemed about as original as they could get.This time, it wasn't a disappointing let down.

When I turned on the Five-Year Engagement I couldn't help but think of the last romantic comedy I watched, Wanderlust. While I thought I had enjoyed it at the time, when I went to review it I couldn't find anything truly memorable or positive to say, and it is unusual for me to struggle to find the positive side of a movie. So, when I watched the opening of this, I thought, damn, I hope this isn't just another mediocre rom-com and that I can find lots of positives for my review. Good news, I did.

Now, the romantic comedy genre is about as formulaic as they come these days, without to many fresh ideas flowing in. There is another genre that has those kinds of problems these days, the horror genre. Yes, I'm about to draw some comparisons. In the horror genre, when you've dragged on the same concept for too long, the standard attempt to fix it is to first change the environment. By that, I don't mean change the the American city to the countryside. I mean, throw the same concept under the sea, in Antarctica or as a last resort put it in space. So why don't rom-com's do this? Why can't I see a romantic comedy in space, or on mars or anything like that? If you know of a rom-com like this, leave it in the comments.

Bigfoot?

When I first read the title, The Five-Year Engagement, I figured it was going to take place right at the end of that five years, when they were finally getting around to actually getting married. Instead, the movie surprised me by taking place right at the beginning of it all, from the first night they met getting a flashback while the proposal occurred. The proposal was gold by the way. It wasn't completely original, but was acted out so well it was hilarious, and the movie didn't stop being funny there. As I now realize, the poster says "A comedy about the journey from popping the question to tying the knot" and that journey is very well done and doesn't suffer from to many pacing problems.

When you look at the 124 minute run time, it is quite surprising for a rom-com. They rarely make it past 90 minutes or at the most 105. Then again, they don't usually cover 5 years. The Five-Year Engagement does not just show us a couple that encounter one major obstacle and work threw it. Tom (Segel) and Violet (Blunt) run a veritable track of hurtles over the course of the 5 years, as their relationship goes through it's highs and lows. Those hurtles consist of just about any problems that standard rom-coms do, but spread out and paced well. The problem with most movies like this is that you get, maybe 5 to 10 minutes to show the couple happily, trying to quickly develop the entire relationship before it is put through it's paces. This movie give us, maybe a half hour or so to really get a sense of our characters and their relationship before it starts to shake things up. And with two characters as lovable and relatable as Tom and Violet, you actually care when things get rough.

Unfortunately she burnt dinner.

As with any romantic comedy, I feel like this movie is playing a balancing act between the two components of rom and com. While at times the two can go hand in hand, this and many other movies of the genre tend to lean one way or the other for long periods. This movie starts out strong with the comedy, leans towards romance, leans back and forth a few times, and then juggles them well in the end. I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with that, but just don't expect a comedy where there are non-stop jokes. Although there are some really great scenes for both sides, and just when things get serious with the relationship advice, we get a Sesame Street impression or two.

Of course the key to this movie isn't the special effects, or the impressive budget. A rom-com lives or dies on the strength of it's cast. This movie had a great cast through and threw, with a strong couple of stars pushed even higher by the great supporting cast. As always, Jason Segel plays that gentle giant yet funny and passionate man that has been such a hit in the last few years. He also co-wrote the script. Then there is the always lovely and delightful British actress Emily Blunt, who is growing in popularity, and always has a strong showing. There is really no complaints I could have about the cast, although how fast did everyone recognize Audrey the second time?

Really bringing back the hunter gatherer relationship eh Tom?

Overall, The Five-Year Engagement is a very well done romantic comedy that should satisfy everyone. It may not be groundbreaking, but it sets the bar higher than many other rom-coms ever bother to and surpasses it. Now if only romantic comedies ever got sequels...

Link:
The Five-Year Engagement