Friday I rented with youngest son and daughter Five Year Engagement. It was daughter’s choice. I had thought that she chose Snow White and the Huntsman but she changed her mind!! Imagine that!
Here we have a film starring Emily Blunt (being very British here) and the all-american big dopey guy, Jason Segal. He was good and better in She’s Out of Your League, and likely the best film with this casting of characters.
Rom-com regular stuff here;. Quirky and unexpected couple meet at a New Year’s Party – they make cute as Ebert used to say, and then have a relationship. Engagement follows. Then issue happens and the decision is made to make a change. One party heading into a contrived new situation where she at first does not realize that she is with a cad. He suffers through seemingly endless winters in Michigan here, and never seems to find summer. They have a revelation, a fight, a break up and then you know the rest.
There is an effective scene here with the two sisters speaking in Muppet speak, one as Elmo and another as Cookie Monster. Beyond that there was a fair bit of unnecessary language (young son was watching) and some sexual scenes that were more aerobic than truthful and not very enlightening. How many people do you know who sleep together with clothes on?! Where is Kate Winslet when you need her??!!
This was predictable and contrived but it boils down to whether you like the main characters or not. I liked Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau with (Maaaaatt Daaaamon) and not as much here. Is this really what a post graduate study group in psychology would have been like? Okay.
Can’t recommend it. Jason Segal has had funnier days and there’s a part of me that thinks he’s trying too hard to be Vince Vaughn. Maybe not. But for me this was more formulaic.
As a BONUS I re-saw Silver Linings Playbook on Sunday night in the theatre and re-enjoyed this once again. I picked up on the plot some more and enjoyed the manic episodes better. They are scary and they show how serious that they can escalate. There is a hint of medication earlier and then it dies off. The Lawrence performance is excellent and she makes the film. She is out there, and funny and intense and on edge and the right mix for the role. True that she is young for it, but she pulls it off. Bradley Cooper is 38yo. She is but 22yo. *Sigh*
And DeNiro is really good here as he drops back into his superstitious and manic behaviour. Throwing his son under the bus quickly if things turn (like the fight at the game) and not listening to him at all. His poor suffering Wife who makes her “crabby snacks and homemades”. Priceless!!
This is a movie that I will own. It’s better as a date movie than seeing it alone, just sayin’!!
Mondays With Robbie 