MOVIE REVIEW - The Five Year Engagement

The new romantic comedy, The Five Year Engagement is new this week with Jason Segal and Emily Blunt.

This movie is really two movies, and seldom is that a good thing. And sadly, this really good idea, and great start fall victim to some very poor writing, editing and equally bad decision making. This was basically written by our star Segal, and also produced by him as well. On screen he is really good, but off screen - not so much.

This is the story of Tom (Segal) and Violet (Blunt). They are young and madly in love, and decide to get married. Problem is Violet is a graduate student who is trying hard to get into Cal-Berkley which is near San Francisco where they live. Tom is a chef working his way up the ladder, and is very talented. Violet, after excepting Tom's proposal then gets an offer at the University of Michigan. So they postpone the wedding for two years and move there.

At first Tom is a great sport, and very supportive. He quits his job and moves with Violet. But after her tenure at Michigan gets extended, he starts to lose his sense of humor over the whole ordeal. Then of course, there is resentment and other people get involved and the whole thing goes south. So, can they work this out, or are they destined to not make it? Even though they do seem to love each other.

First of all, the first 45 minutes of this movie are are really good, very charming and consistently funny. The final 15 minutes are equally as charming, and actually very wonderful. But there is about a 45 minute segment in the middle of this movie that I frankly do not understand. The theater at first was roaring with laughter and giggles. Then, after while it just stopped. This becomes very dark, and borderline disturbing at times, with all of it surrounding Tom as he plummets down a bad path with his resentment towards Violet. It really had nothing to do with the first part of the flick. It becomes angry and pathetic. And worst of all, not funny, with a complete and total loss of any real charm, class, or fun that it started out with.

It does rebound the end and returns to the snappy, witty fun movie it was. But it's too late. This is the biggest, and saddest waste of a good idea, and great performances by our stars and supporting cast. For some reason, it becomes enamored with bad language, silly, dark plot twists, and excessive, graphic discussion of human body parts, and very uncomfortable dialogue by characters that really have no relevance. And to reinforce, the theater completely stopped laughing and having fun. Plus, this movie is way, way too long coming in at a bit over 2 hours. 90 minutes should have been the cut-off. But his movie making bunch simply does not know how to end scenes, or movies effectively.

But Segal on screen continues to get better, and more skilled in challenging roles. I have enjoyed him recently, in The Muppets which was fun, and Jeff Who Lives At Home, which was great! I don't quite understand his obsession on showing off his clunky, naked body in every movie he makes, but that's this problem. Emily Blunt is fantastic. She is becoming such a GREAT star. Easy to watch, her alluring British accent is incredibly charming, and there is a certain ease with her on camera that is propelling her to the top. She's funny, lovely, and a real natural. She has Oscar winning talent, and more than likely will win one somewhere up the road. She and Emma Stone are leading the charge as exceptionally talented young actresses, who we all hope make good career choices.

Should be noted, that what is wrong with this movie on screen, has nothing to do with our stars. Just bad writing at times. Also, supporting actress Alison Brie as Violets sister, may have the funniest 3 minutes on camera this year so far at the beginning of this movie. She, has a small role in this movie, but to me was very funny.

The Five Year Engagement. Great moments and very charming at times. I just wish that someone with some level of maturity was behind the camera and the pen would have been there to guide this thing all the way through. A big opportunity thrown away.