On Friday I went with friends to see The Five-Year Engagement in Astoria, and as a big fan of both Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, I was pretty pleased with the movie as a 2012 rom-com, but I’m not sure it lived up to all its hype.
Segel and Blunt have great chemistry, and so their drawn-out love story was believable and did not disappoint. There was something about the flow, however, that didn’t feel was so smooth. But perhaps that’s the point. The relationship wasn’t smooth, so the flow was dictated by the plot.
I especially enjoyed the exhaustive Michiganderisms. Sure, I went to Michigan State – go green! go white! – but I grew up visiting Ann Arbor, and not East Lansing. Each time the scene was shot at Zingermans, or on the Diag, my heart skipped a beat for my home state.
The supporting cast didn’t take a back seat to the lead performances, which helped the comedic impact of the film. I loved the Molly Shannon cameo, as well as the casting of Chris Parnell, Brian Posehn, and Rhys Ifans.
While I don’t think the length of the film was entirely necessary, I do feel like it played well into the premise of the movie. Also, props to the publicist or marketing person who came up with the Knot-style wedding site that served as a movie promotion, complete with the standard “how the couple met” story and various video blogs from Segel and Blunt in-character.
If you’re looking for something cute to see this season, I recommend The Five-Year Engagement.
Nice post! I agree – I didn’t love the movie, but I didn’t regret seeing it either. The parts that were funny – were hysterical. I don’t know when I laughed more – during Chris Pratt singing Cucurrucucu Paloma or during the Cookie/Elmo conversation. The parts that weren’t funny depressed the hell out of me though….