Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) are very much in love.
Tom clumsily proposes and Violet gives him a definite “yes.” When Violet is accepted as a post-doctorate student in Michigan, she and Tom decide to postpone their wedding and move.
Throughout The Five Year Engagement, the couple find themselves living their lives rather than making their plans. Along the way they come to learn the lessons of all successful couples, but not before making fools of themselves.
We say, “It’s a true romantic comedy, much better than The Lucky One.”
TAYLOR: This film was a little bit long, but was charming, funny, realistic, romantic and wise.
HOWE: Wise?
TAYLOR: Yes, this film contains an important lesson for all couples. I recommend to any and all young lovers, (or perhaps not so young,) who have never had a relationship last more than a year or two, see this movie.
HOWE: I thought this was Jason Segel’s best movie so far. I like him in the TV series How I Met Your Mother, and the character he plays in The Five Year Engagement is similar to that. This is the first time I have seen Emily Blunt in anything and I thought she did a fine job. The chemistry between the two of them was very realistic and it made the film that much more enjoyable.
TAYLOR: She was in The Adjustment Bureau and The Devil Wears Prada. My wife said that she and Segel have been friends for a while, perhaps their chemistry was natural. The film itself didn’t really have any big moments; it just sort of went by, a giggle here, a poignant moment there. It definitely qualifies as a comedy, but it’s very natural and realistic in its humour.
HOWE: I agree with you on that, but did they need to make it over two hours long? I was finding myself getting a little bored around the hour and a half mark and was hoping it would just end.
TAYLOR: Please don’t get me started about learning lessons three quarters of the way through a movie again… Jason Segel, like so many movie stars today, is not an actor. He’s funny, charming, he can write and he has the guts to be himself, or at least, the persona he’s created for himself, in front of a camera. I’m not denying Segel his talents, I’m saying if you know Segel, you know what’s in store. At least my butt wasn’t getting sore.
HOWE: What was nice about the film, compared to other recent comedies, was that the humour wasn’t over the mark. It wasn’t too crude or nasty towards anyone. There was raunchiness in it, but I found that it wasn’t offensive and only added to the humour of the situations.
Howe gives The Five Year Engagement 2.5 big toes out of 5.
Taylor gives it 3 moles out of 5.
–– The feature is currently showing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon.
Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are movie reviewers living in Vernon, B.C.
