The Five-Year Engagement

    A famous actor once said “A relationship, I think,  is like a shark… It has to constantly move forward or it dies.” Moving forward in a relationship means commitment, engagement, and then happily ever after. Everyone has a different way or time table for getting to each of these, but it is not about how long it takes to get there, it is just that you get there.

   “The Five-Year Engagement” is a movie about just that. Relationships can hit a few bumps in the road, but if it is meant to be, it is meant to be. Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) meet at a “Create Your Own Super Hero” New Year’s party, Tom being Super Bunny and Violet being Princess Di. There is something special about their relationship, Tom is an aspiring chef, while Violet is trying to complete her postdoctoral at Berkley. Tom pops the question and he and Violet start to plan their wedding and the rest of their lives. Everything is on schedule until Violet gets an offer from Michigan University that she cannot pass up. Tom encourages her to take it, knowing it will be easier for him to find a job. They move to Michigan and decide to postpone their wedding, thinking they will be back in San Francisco in no time. Nothing goes according to plan and as Violet’s career gets better, Tom’s seems to go downhill along with his sanity. Tom’s and Violet’s relationship takes a different path than originally planned, but they stick through it together. Meanwhile, Violet’s sister Suzie (Alison Brie), who never wanted to get married, ends up living the life that Tom and Violet had envisioned for themselves.  She has the marriage, to Tom’s friend Alex(Chris Pratt), and the kids.  Alex even gets the job that Tom was offered before he left for Michigan. Will Tom and Violet’s relationship survive its ups and downs or will it become a “dead shark”?

    Jason Segel has found his calling, and there are not many better writers out there right now.  In the last three years he co wrote “The Muppets”, “Get Him to the Greek, and “The Five-Year Engagement”. Each one he wrote with Nicholas Stoller, who also directs this film. Comedy and drama are at a great balance and Segel and Blunt are perfect together.  When there are so many romantic comedies out there that just stay the course, it is always refreshing to know that there are original ones there too . “The Five-Year Engagement” will please everyone who sees it. Enjoy the laughs, the drama, or like me enjoy both plus enjoy Emily Blunt (I know I did). Not all long engagements are bad, because this five year engagement is quite enjoyable.

 Brian Taylor