The Five Year Engagement

That’s right, another romantic comedy. It seems like every movie that is released is either a romantic comedy or a blockbuster action film. How is this possible? How can they reuse the same formulae over and over again? Easy, they tweak the formulae just a bit so that even though everything is the same, you feel like you’re getting something different and new. The Five Year Engagement is the newest film to try its hand at doing so and the process makes an alright film.

The story revolves around Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) who after getting engaged put their plans of marriage on hold after Violet is accepted into a graduate program thousands of miles away. Tom follows her there, leaving behind a chance to become a head chef at a restaurant so that (Blunt) can follow her dream.

In true romantic comedy form, the couple starts out at the highest of highs but its downhill from there. For Violet everything goes right. The same can’t be said for Tom who cannot find a job with a restaurant and instead has to work at a popular college sandwich shop. The more time Tom spends in Michigan the more he yearns for his home in San Francisco and the more he resents Violet. When her graduate study program is extended tensions continue to mount until they boil over when one of them makes a huge mistake.

I’ll always give credit to a romantic comedy that manages to be outlandishly funny and yet can contain itself within the realistic world of relationships. Too often romantic comedies pass the point of no return where the conflict is so unrealistic that the viewer dismisses the entire story because of it. The Five Year Engagement doesn’t even tip toe that line. The entire conflict revolves around a very reasonable premise of sacrificing your career and aspirations so that your significant other can follow their dream and then in turn resenting them for it. In a time when moving across country for a job isn’t uncommon it’s easy to sympathize with the couples struggle. If there was one thing I thought the film did extremely well with it was that aspect.

If there was one thing that didn’t work it was how the couple of Tom and Violet were portrayed. It’s hard to really grasp how the couple is meant to be together when all that is shown is the downward spiral of the relationship. There is no real devastation while watching the couple’s relationship crumble because there was nothing there to really attach you to in the first place. Besides the few flashbacks showing how the couple initially met, the audience isn’t really shown how the couple fell in love which leaves somewhat of a void in the relationship between the audience and the couple. The entire film is about the couple’s relationship nose-diving from its highest peak but we never get to witness the rise to that peak which is one of the most important things. It’s like the old saying; pain exists so that we can feel joy. Well in this case, the audience needs to experience joy so it can feel the pain.

As for the performances, once again Jason Segel shines in his role as the goofy yet lovable half of a couple. For those of you that have seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall it’s basically the same character different story and less male nudity. Blunt on the other hand isn’t as compelling but that may be due to the fact that her character comes across as cold and selfish. The two as a couple works well enough together but there is an obvious spark that is missing between the two. It doesn’t kill the movie but it doesn’t necessarily help it either.

All in all it’s an above average romantic comedy that takes a refreshing look at the struggles of current relationships. Its comedy never wavers thanks to Segel and although the romance is shaky the ending of the film makes up for it.

My Rating: 3/5