The Five-Year Engagement is the kind of film that doesn't get made very often anymore. Or at least not the kind to see a wide release. It's an honest, sweet, kind, occasionally crude romance about two people as natural to us as Tom and Sue who live down the lane.Tom Solomon Jason Segel and Violet Barnes Emily Blunt are in love. Not that kind of invasive love where we're always watching them get way too personal just to draw out time, but the kind of love where there are no other options, it's either each other or die alone. They love the awkward and stupid details of each <more> other that would annoy everyone else. And a year after they first meet, Tom proposes to Violet, on New Year's Eve. From there it's straight to the wedding and the kids, right? Wrong. Life doesn't always go so easily, and Violet and Tom find their wedding getting delayed again and again."Life is what happens when you're making other plans", that's the best way to describe the underlying idea for this film. You meet a girl, you get to know her, you propose, every place is busy, you delay for a little while, she gets a psychology gig in Michigan, you temporarily leave your successful job to be with her for a couple years, you find another job, you make new friends, she makes new friends, a couple of years becomes another couple of years, you take up hunting, you decorate the house with the spoils of your hunting trips, you grow a bizarre beard, you spiral into discontent, she tries to help, you decide to get married no matter what, you settle on anything if it means you two will be married sooner, you find out she kissed her boss, you chase her boss down, turns out he knows parkour, you get your throat punched, you find a co-worker and she gets freaky on you, you wander drunk into the woods with no clothes on, you wake up the next morning with frostbite on your toe, she still cares about you, you care about her, she wants to stay, you can't stand it another minute, you argue, she argues, you go your separate ways.That's about all I'll say I'll leave some for people to see , but you get the general idea. This is a movie that's genuinely heartwarming and realistic for anyone who knows the ups and downs of love. They do throw a few bits of comedy in every once in a while, but never anything too unrealistic to take you out of things.One thing I must note is that I watch a lot of movies, but I knew none of the actors in this movie outside of Segel and Blunt. They have a very diverse and fun group of characters, and it really helps make everything feel more like the real world.This is a movie for people who like going to see movies because they think they might just find something they can relate to. <less> |