Review of "The Five Year Engagement"

I saw this a week ago, so unfortunately this review will be unjustly short, but here it goes. I need to start out by admitting that I love Jason Segel. Those puppy-dog looks and ironic but raunchy sense of humor are irresistible.  How does he manage to combine that playful ideal-boyfriend type with grotesque humor and wit into a perfectly blended java juice smoothie of a talent? He appeals to all areas of the gender spectrum. He's a genius and The Five Year Engagement only proves this further.

Now, normally I only watch romantic comedies under two conditions:

1) If someone recommends it to me and I have to watch it in order to shut them the fuck up.
2) If I'm 15 or younger and I need somewhere to make out.

The Five Year Engagement
Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
My Recommendation: Do it and do it NOW. 

Obviously, I don't get around to it too much anymore. Usually, these movies aren't really funny enough to be comedies but they're too lame, predictable and poorly acted to be dramas. They tend towards formulaic cheap entertainment that just doesn't do it for me. If I'm going to watch a stupid movie, it's going to be a horror film (see my review of The Devil Inside next). Anyway, this is where The Five Year Engagement prevails: it's absolutely hilarious from beginning to end and the troubles breaching Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom's (Jason Segel) relationship seem real. Of course you know how it's going to end going into the movie, but while you're watching it the outcome isn't so clear. There are enough loose strings flailing about at the end of the film that have left me, even a week after seeing it, still finding myself fretting over how they're going to make their love prevail in spite of the problems.

The question in Engagement is one that strikes most modern relationships: career or love? Both Violet and Tom are working professionals in differing fields: she is pursuing her dreams in psychology (or psychiatry, same difference) while he is a sous-chef at a hot restaurant in San Francisco.  She gets a great opportunity in a small town in Michigan - a culinary desert - after their engagement. This postpones the wedding plans and they have to move. The resulting evolution of Tom's character is hence the most interesting element of the movie. The man becomes so far from what he was, but in the most humorous way possible. Honestly I couldn't help but think of pants-less Marshall Erikson on the couch sulking over Lily - pathetic but still adorable and hilarious.

So, what my shortened review is trying to convey is simple: I don't like rom-coms but this one was different, so I liked it. However, it is still part of the genre. You'll find yourself cooing over their relationship - and I mean that literally. The script is solid and the ensemble cast leave barely any room for silence between laughs and gasps. My favorite scene was between Violet and her sister (played by Alison Brie) discussing Violet's problematic love-life via the personas of Cookie Monster and Elmo. My only qualm is the lack of chemistry between Blunt and Segel. Though their relationship troubles were very real, the love lacked convincing.

The Five Year Engagement won't be in theaters much longer, but I highly recommend seeing it now. It's a treasure!