BelfastBoy
Posts: 459
Joined: 30/11/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: TheMightyBlackout
Wow. I think I'm one of the few people who disliked this film. With that in mind, the following is my humble opinion, obviously...
The film's about an hour too long, and isn't funny, charming or (ironically) engaging enough to justify that runtime. Entire scenes go by with apparently nothing to contribute to the story and are of no comedic value.
There are snort-out-loud moments, but no real laughs. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt are capable of (and have starred in) so much better, that it's embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the way they kept shoehorning the donut analogy into this film.
I went in wanting to like it, but just *couldn't*.
I've seen the film, and will keep this spoiler-free.
My wife and I both disliked this film. At one point I even turned to her and said: "This is shit". I only say that because, having not read any reviews beforehand, I was sucked in by the reputation of the writing / producing / directing talent, and also a misleading promo campaign that strongly implied this would be a laugh out loud, slapsticky romcom. That's not what it is at all. There's a lot more drama than comedy, and while the script is full of witty one-liners, as a whole it's a bit like Segel's TV show How I Met Your Mother - smart, sharply written and observed, but only intermittently funny.
Segel and Blunt act very well, and are very convincing as a couple, but the film was trying to make serious points in a humorous way, and ends up falling between two stools. Occasionally there are broad moments of slapstick and surrealism that seem to come from other films entirely (or other, tonally different, script drafts?) - Blunt running into an open car door features in all the trailers and is such a cheap way to get a laugh, for instance. Then, in the same scene, Rhys Ifans displays bizarre martial arts and free running / parkour skills for no obvious reason. It's funny because it's so odd, yet it's also out of place within a film that could've been very good, even great, as a serious drama. As a comedy, it fails, which is a shame as there was a great deal of potential.
Oddly for an Apatow / Stoller / Segel film, the cast is distinctly star / cameo-free, and without even a depth of recognisable comic talent to brighten up the supporting roles. Mindy Kaling is superb but criminally underused in the US Office, and her film career seems to follow a similar trajectory. Rhys Ifans is actually pretty good in Five Year Engagement, though playing an obvious 'type'; also, his career choices are tremendously unpredictable (up next: The Amazing Spiderman!). Finally, for what it's worth, I personally thought that the depiction of 'Michigan' (anywhere in particular? it's a big state!) was seriously sweeping and cliched, with the film suggesting that Segel's character can only be happy in a place with decent restaurants! (I know it's a bit more complicated than that, but it's depressing to find yet another depiction of midwest America as being a grim, snowy place full of hunting weirdos.)
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RE: Stupid fool! - 
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