The Five-Year Engagement

A San Francisco sous chef (Jason Segel) and a British post graduate student (Emily Blunt) meet at a New Year's Party, fall instantly in love, and not too long after decide to tie the knot. Over the course of the next five years, their impending nuptials are given a back seat to career considerations and a series of other roadblocks that put a wedge in between the two. Starting this film, expecting another stale and bloated Apatow outing, I actually groaned when I saw the running time, preparing my "it felt like it took 5 years" quips. However, I quickly realized how mistaken I was. "Nicholas Stoller's "The Five-Year Engagement" is a humorous, warm, and impeccably crafted romantic comedy. Again writing with leading man Segel, Stoller brings an incredible visual style to his film in a work that is just as funny, though much more mature than any of his previous outings ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Get Him to the Greek"). Segel is an actor who has grown on me lately, and finds a role that fits him like a glove here. Blunt is such a lovely actress, and the two of them make a sublime couple. The supporting cast only adds to the fun and among my favorites were Chris Pratt as Segel's goof-off best friend, Alison Brie as Blunt's sister, and Rhys Ifans as a smarmy professor. "The Five-Year Engagement" is not just a surprise, it is a revelation for how good movies of this kind can be, and just how absolutely abysmal the majority of the remaining offerings are.