User reviews

There are risks when romantic comedy is injected with "truth." Too little, and it feels like a desperate attempt to give the film credibility. Too much and it starts to feel uncomfortable as the comedy is buried in what appear to be a string of life lessons. The Five-Year Engagement tries to find a balance between comedy and truth and after a bit over two hours, almost succeeds.

That's not to say the film is bad. It's far from it, especially compared to what usually passes for a romantic comedy these days. Its leads (Emily Blunt and Jason Segel) have a surprising, easy chemistry and director Nicholas Stoller (who co-wrote with Segel) uses the talented supporting cast to add new perspective and layers to what is a pretty straightforward story.

Violet (Blunt) is a post-doctorate student. Tom (Segel) is a rising star of a chef in San Francisco. They get engaged on their first anniversary and while most romantic comedies would end here, The Five-Year Engagement does something that romantic comedies fail to do - showing what happens after the "happy ending." In doing so, we get to see every crack, seam and bump in their relationship, from Tom's resentment at leaving his dream job behind to follow Violet after she receives a fellowship at the University of Michigan, to Violet's increasing frustration at how Tom changes during his relocation.

It's a credit to Segel and Stoller that the situations that arise do so organically and don't feel forced in for shock value, and when things start to deteroriate, we not only see it coming, we solemnly nod because it is inevitable.

The film has issues, though, and they almost capsize the film. The most glaring one is the running time. The film clocks in at a bit over two hours, and you feel every grueling minute of it. The pacing and editing are a near disaster and at times, watching feels more like a chore than a good time. This is partially because the film, while billed as a romantic comedy, is only funny in spurts. The serious 'truths' of being in a relationship take center stage, which is in itself not a bad thing, but in a comedy, it really drags the film down.

The ending is typical rom-com schmaltz, though, as if the filmmakers snapped out of their malaise, thought "hey, aren't we making a comedy?" and wisely ended the film on an acceptably quirky note.

In the end, The Five-Year Engagement is serviceable entertainment, but could have been a lot more had they been able to strike the delicate balance they were trying for.

Daniel FilmPulse.net

I do not understand why there are so many bad reviews. The film is very good.

I was intrigued by Emily Blunt's presence in the film so I downloaded it and was very surprised because it turned out to be so much better than I expected. There is one noteable thing about it - almost all the situations that are supposed to make you laugh are at least 1/3 unfunny as they are. This is a very believable quality about the film - it makes you look at life from a distance and understand that all those stupid actions and decisions that people make are just funny as hell. And with a little love you can even come to a happy-end (I don't think it's a spoiler, this is obviously not Macbeth, you knew a happy end was there). But this is what makes this film an actual challenge for some people. It is NOT PLEASANT. It does not put you into a dreamy or giggly state. It is actually quite raw, sarcastic and real. I do believe that we live in times when real things are considered unnerving and even evil. Some people would very much rather have safe spaces built in every corner of the city and not deal with reality. Well, in true love there are no safe spaces. True love makes you stay with a person through all the ugly things and through the funny things and through the good things, obviously.

Acting is on the spot. Everyone knows that Emily Blunt is one of the most talented actresses. Jason Segel is handsome and compelling, support cast entertain you in every possible way. The dialogues are great. Everything sounds very natural.

7 our of 10 - because 10 is Fellini and Visconti. One of the best modern chick flicks I've ever seen.

The five-year Engagement, starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel, is a rom-com focusing on the engagement of the two main characters they play. Many happened during the five year period.

The film may get you interested in the first 30 minutes, cause it does have some funny scenes and the regonizable faces of Kevin Hart and Mindy Kaling. As it goes on, you will lose interest in the film just like I did. Many subplots are going on and not every one can keep you interested.

It started to feel long and you will think "Please hurry up and just get married".

So it is basically like a long typical rom-com. Nothing special.

Grade: B-

In Los Angeles, the chef Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) meets the psychologist Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt) in a New Year's Eve party and they immediately fall in love with each other. One year later, Tom proposes Violet to get married and they schedule their wedding date. However, the application of Violet to the University of Michigan to a master's degree is accepted and Tom declines to the offer of his boss Chef Sally (Lauren Weedman) to be the chef of a famous restaurant that belongs to her. His best friend and assistant Alex Eilhauer (Chris Pratt), who is married with Violet's sister Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer (Alison Brie), accepts the position. They postpone the wedding and Tom and Violet move to Berkley for two years. While Violet befriends her Professor Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans) and colleagues, Tom has difficulties to find a job and work is a restaurants specialized in sandwiches. Two years later, when Tom is ready to return to Los Angeles, Violet is invited to be assistant professor in Michigan. What will happen to the couple?

"The Five-Year Engagement" is a delightful romantic comedy with the lovely Emily Blunt in the lead role. The plot combines romance, drama, comedy and black humor in right doses and the only boring moment is when Chris Pratt sings – probably he is a better chef than singer. Jason Segel shows great chemistry with Emily Blunt and is easy to understand the relationship problems due to professional realization. The beauty of Dakota Johnson is amazing but her shallow relationship of her character with Tom is not well explored. One of the best moments is when Tom has lunch with his parents. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Cinco Anos de Noivado" ("Five-Year Engagement")

The movie was not as funny as I thought it would be (especially after watching the trailer, which I couldn't avoid doing). But it still was more than alright. I do like Jason Segel and Emily Blunt is not only gorgeous but also very funny. She was also the reason Adjustment Bureau worked. You could see why Matt Damon ... But lets not digress. Although again you can see why Jason Segel (the character he's playing) would fall for Emily Blunts character.

Some obstacles in the movie seem to not make a lot of sense. But then again, life does not make a lot of sense either most of the time. So it does depend on your suspend of disbelief. But if you can do that, you might enjoy a sweet little romantic comedy, that does work, which can't be said about most of the romantic movies being released in recent history.

The Five-Year Engagement sees Jason Segel continuing to try and cement his place as one of Hollywood's greatest comedy actors following The Muppets and Jeff Who Lives At Home with the help of writing partner Nicholas Stoller. Segel's latest offering comes in the form of a romantic comedy when exactly a year after meeting Tom (Segel) proposes to his girlfriend Violet (Emily Blunt) but unexpected events keep on getting in their way as they attempt to tie the knot with one another.

With most films of this genre you get the same thing over and over again: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl split up, boy and girl get back together and live happily ever after. In The Five-Year Engagement what you get is an in depth look at the ins and outs of a stable relationship as it journeys through the ups and downs of life. I think that this is a great idea and shows that relationships don't always run smoothly as plenty of other films would have you believe. I also believe that The Five-Year Engagement separates itself from other comedies aimed at an adult audience by being cleverer and, although we do get to see Jason Segel's rear end on more than one occasion, a lot of the comedy is very well written and obviously well put together.

There is clear chemistry between the two leads of the film, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt which is obviously helped by their off screen friendship and the fact that the two of them have worked together previously. Segel puts in a great performance but I don't think that we ever get to see the best of him like we have seen in The Muppets and television sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He is a very fine comedic actor though and brings out some good laughs here; I'm not a fan of Emily Blunt too much and at times her comedy efforts seemed a little forced. Also, her accent seems overly British even though it's authentic, how weird is that? The Five-Year Engagement starts off very well with some hilarious moments and really sets you up for what should be a laugh a minute film from start to finish. A lot of this is the emphasis put on the characters of Tom's colleague and friend Alex (Chris Pratt) and Violet's sister Suzie (Alison Brie). Whilst their relationship offers very little to the film as a whole their individual contribution to scenes are very well delivered. Chris Pratt is wonderfully funny in almost every scene in which he features and a particular scene featuring Pratt's Alex delivering a presentation of Tom's former girlfriends is my favourite part of the film and a brilliantly written and acted scene. Unfortunately, their characters seem to fizzle out and so does the film itself.

There is a reason that most romantic comedies are only an hour and a half long; the plot cannot sustain a two hour movie without lagging. The Five-Year Engagement does try and stretch over two hours and you would think that with five years of a relationship to tell then it would easily manage this without getting too boring. You would be wrong. It gets to a point where you think it could be coming to an end only to realise there is still about half an hour left and after a while the laughs become a sparse item. Don't get me wrong, The Five-Year Engagement at times is hilarious and it is definitely a great romantic comedy with real stock in the lead characters but it tails off towards the end. It is still, though, definitely worth watching!

While the movie started strong and quickly reached the first set of wedding delays, once the characters moved to Michigan, things bogged down quickly. Without spoiling the movie, the antics in the Wolverine State were more like bad SNL skits than part of this movie.

The characters, both primary and secondary, were very likable and were also very well developed. Some of the fringe characters (I talking to you, Dakota!) tended to be overly done and one-note. They could have been scaled back to fit their place in the movie thus adding to rather than subtracting from the story. (Math in a movie review? Who would have guessed?) Tom's job hunt problems seemed to be oriented toward setting up jokes than based in reality. A man with his background would have landed a position in Ann Arbor in a New York minute. However, Violet's drama was much better written and more believable.

Once back in San Francisco, everything picked up again and you began rooting for the home team to finally make it to the goal line.

So go enjoy the beginning and end but be ready to take a 30-minute nap in the middle. Maybe the Director's Cut with actually cut out the boring parts. One can hope.

A year into their relationship, Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) proposes to Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt). She accepts but life choices lead to complications and delays in the wedding date.

Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel team up once again to try and repeat Forgetting Sarah Marshall's success. There are some good laughs. Taken together, it adds up to a pretty funny movie. However the storyline can get quite depressing and challenging as their relationship faces serious obstacles. Those depressed moments can drag the movie down. That makes for a slightly uneven movie. With a two hours running time, maybe a four year engagement would be snappier.

Even though I usually like Emily Blunt and I usually like Jason Segel, I really didn't like The Five-Year Engagement. It felt like a funny "what if" premise Segel and Nicholas Stoller rattled off in the screenwriters' room that failed to get fleshed out properly. "What if a couple gets engaged and then the wedding keeps getting pushed off?" I loved their collaboration of The Muppets (and have watched my well worn DVD copy countless times), and the remake of Gulliver's Travels was very charming, but I just couldn't get behind this movie.

A combination of extremely silly gags, ad libs that go on too long, slapstick, and "college humor" (jokes that are funny to one's group of friends during a party but not as much the next morning) result in a rather long running time that beat the plot to death. How long can you stretch a delayed wedding, especially when the title gives away any suspense as to how long it will be delayed?

To each his own, so if you liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall (including the ridiculous vampire puppets) you'll probably like this one. I prefer to see Emily in more serious roles, like Into the Woods and Looper. But I'll still be willing to try anything she's in with an open mind.

Enjoyable funny movie that portrayed the modern day conflict of a couple with two careers. Who gives up what and why and how willing are they to accept the true full meaning of the compromise. Several good points are made and good analogies used.

Humor works for both guys and gals.

Without spoiling anything, the element used to mark time is somewhat dark.

Be familiar with the song 'Cu cu ru cu cu Palamo'. It is sung very well in Spanish early in the course of the movie with no translation but is tone setting for the movie. Used again in the credits.

At just over 2 hours, this movie seemed to drag at some points and several scenes could have been edited down a wee bit. Don't need to see something for 30 seconds or 2 minutes when the point is made and understood in considerably less time.

I don't see any academy nods for this one nor would I have expected any for this genre of movie but it was an enjoyable movie for an evening.

My wife and son were there and enjoyed it as well.

This picture is being sold as a comedy...however it is more like a drama with some comedic elements...and those few comedic moments aren't really that funny. The movie examines with a cynical eye a relationship that the director wants to present as a real loving one. However, anyone in the audience can see that this relationship has problems. The female lead is an annoying selfish character while the male character is wimpy and feels sorry for himself.

The movie is extremely self indulgent...it was written by the director and by the star. I don't think they wanted to leave any scenes out. The movie meanders for over two hours. It could have easily been a 90 minute film.

Longer than it felt and for sure longer than it should have been. Although there were many funny actors there weren't many true jaja moments. For 2hrs all this made me do was chuckle a couple of times but really it was a bit boring... yet I didn't hate it. Kevin Hart needed a better skit or given rein to be his funny self. Brie and Pratt were their funny selves (love their version of such an iconic song:). They were the actual funny parts of the movie. Blunt and Jason were meh. Being the main actors they were definitely were miscast. Jason is a good actor when he has great supporting actors to let his comedy shine. Emily always show's potential to be funny but much like Jason requires supporting help. Overall it's a decent dry comedy.

I remember watching chunks of this on TV years ago and always liked it. I watched the second two thirds of the movie (from when Chris Pratt gets married) today and it was great. The cast is great. A lot of actors who I normally find irritable (Alison Brie, Kevin Hart, Mindy Kayling) I actually enjoy in this movie. That's probably because their used very efficiently with their limited screen time. Great soundtrack too. I've had that one Glen Hansard song on my phone for years, and it's from the official soundtrack - so I'm always looking at the movie poster when it comes on. That's sorta my strongest connection to this movie. 7 stars

I will not address the narrative here in any fashion, my comments being limited to the cast and quality of the writing. On the latter the film was mostly good but at times seemed like it could do with a bit less. On the former I loved Alison Brie and Chris Pratt in supporting roles, and Emily Blunt was great, too. Other players were also very good for the most part. But... I felt Segal was a bit flat here, and that and the overall too long length led me to give an at times quite funny film only a 7.

The Five Year Engagement is a great movie with a very well developed storyline and a fantastic comedic cast.The movie is filled with loads of really funny scenes,but still manges to keep an interesting and complicated love story,you really care for these characters and want to keep following them on their journey,a lot of people say it is overlong but I think the two hours was necessary for this story.There was great chemistry between Jason Segel and Emily Blunt,but my favourite characters in this are the supporting ones,every scene with Chris Pratt was hilarious,also Alsion Brie,Mindy Kaling,Kevin Hart,Brian Posehn and Randall Park all had me in stitches with the weird and wacky characters they played.The Five Year Engagement is a great movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good romantic comedy.

A happy couple are all set to walk down the aisle together,but unexpected events keep delaying them.

Best Performance: Chris Pratt Worst Performance: Chris Parnell

Just finished watching the movie in an advanced screening, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The entire movie had the audience in stitches, and for good reason — it's really, really funny. In a very overt way.

Jason Segel is cute, lovable and hilarious as Tom. He's a man who ends up in a small town even though he's clearly built for the city. His fiancé, Violet, on the other hand, is more than thrilled to enjoy post-doc life in Michigan. They're an unusual, quirky couple who go to parties dressed as Princess Diana and Super-Bunnie. It's hard not to feel bad for Tom when he ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, jobless and poor. Working at a sandwich store barely competes with the Head Chef position he could have had, had he not moved to Ann Arbor with Violet.

Emily Blunt — you've been sent to us from heaven. The actress brings a breath of fresh air with every role she undertakes. She's funny, she's sarcastic, she's adorable. You'll come out loving both the characters with a passion. Because you get them. They're weird, just like normal people. They have their quirks, they don't talk enough, and they have serious issues that they treat in funny ways just to make them less relevant. I do that all the time!

The story is not groundbreaking. Mid-way through the movie, you can tell exactly what's going to happen next. But you keep watching because you know there's a ridiculous joke around the corner. Writer and director Nick Stroller clearly learned a thing or two from his mentor, Judd Apatow. This movie is fresh and funny, despite the stale storyline. And the two lead actors do it the utmost justice.

I went into this film with low expectations. Very rarely do I actually take the time to watch romantic comedies but this one had such an excellent cast that I decided to give it a try. So glad I did. This film is fantastic. It knows when to be smart and it knows when to be serious, and both of these things it pulls off perfectly.

Probably the thing that surprised me the most about this film was the fantastic chemistry between Jason Segal and Emily Blunt. I never would have guessed that they could work so well with each other! Chris Pratt and Alison Brie are also great together. In fact, the whole cast is great. It was very refreshing to see Kevin Hart in a smaller role in which it didn't feel like he was trying the steal the entire scene.

The only reason that I took two stars off my review is because I did feel at times that the pacing was a little bit off. Some of the scenes probably could have been tightened up a bit to make them that much more effective and there may have been a few short scenes that weren't really needed. This is my only real complaint about the film.

Overall, I highly recommend this movie. Though it is quite long for a comedy, it's also totally worth it. "The Five-Year Engagement" has a lot of charm to it and also has a very interesting metaphor tied into the plot. The film has a great story, a great cast, and should make for a great date night movie!

Tom (Jason Segel, who also co-write this funny script) is a chef in San Fran. Very happily for him, he found the woman of his dreams, psych major Violet (Emily Blunt) on New Year's Eve one year ago. Wanting to solidify his future, then, on THIS eve, he has planned an elaborate, rooftop proposal. Emily is touched and seals the deal. When the announcement is made, parents are happy indeed. But, a spanner is in the works. Emily gets accepted to a doctoral program in Ann Arbor Mich and Tom, generously, gives up his established job and goes to the north country, too. Wedding plans are on hold for two years, when Vi will be done. However, problems arise. First, Vi's sis ends up pregnant and married to Tom's close pal, making Tom more impatient than ever to say "I do". Than, Michigan is cold, snowy and full of hunting fans, three things very foreign to our darling duo. Tom, also, takes a job that is a major step back and pays lousy while Vi becomes a secret object of affection for the prof in charge of the program. The worst is to come, when the program's research extends for another two years. Will the couple split apart or weather the storms? This is what is called a modern romcom, one that is supposed to be raunchy enough to placate the men who are dragged to it by the women they love. Think Knocked Up and I Love You, Man. While this viewer prefers something like While You Were Sleeping or Return to Me, one must say that this one is a success for romance fans. Beware the slow start, however, and keep on keeping on. Much of the charm is due to the two leads, Segel and Blunt, who are reunited after their earlier love affair in Gulliver's Travels. Blunt is one of the most amazing actresses today, for she is beautiful, funny, and seethes intelligence. Segel, too, is engaging and, obviously, has brains as well, for he co-wrote the movie. All of the supporting cast, too, even down to the smallest roles, is very nice. The two settings, San Fran and Michigan, are good bookends for each other, although there is too much ridiculing of the Midwest. Costumes and photography are good while the direction starts slow and gains strength. All in all, do not wait five years to see this flick, romance lovers. Book a view in the very near future.