STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable
Excellent
Good
Poor
Tragic

FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Emily Blunt Chris Pratt Alison Brie Jason Segel.

Directors Nicholas Stoller.

Screenwriters Jason Segel Nicholas Stoller.

Running Time 124 minutes

LATEST FILM REVIEWS Everybody Has A Plan Easy Money Fast And Furious 6 Beware Of Mr. Baker Liability, The 5 STAR REVIEWS Gatekeepers , The Stoker In The House Lincoln Italian Job, The

The Five-Year Engagement
With this ring I thee um and aah...

Tweet

Plot
Tom (Segel) and Violet (Blunt) are the perfect couple. So when Tom proposes on New Year’s Eve, everything looks set for a fairy-tale wedding and happy-ever-after. Things go awry, however, when Violet’s academic career, and life in general, conspire to get in the way.

Review
The poster come-on “From the producer of...” is usually a pretty useless indicator of what to expect from a movie. There are exceptions, of course. When the tagline reads, “From the producer of Bridesmaids...” — said producer being Judd Apatow — you’d be safe to assume an agreeable blend of adult-orientated raunch and heartwarming human emotion was on the cards. And that is very much the case with The Five-Year Engagement.

Appropriating its high-concept premise from the old adage about the path of true love and its less than silky surface, Engagement follows the fortunes of Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) as they embark on an exceptionally rocky road to the altar. Kicking off with a fantastically romantic proposal scene, it appears to be heading into fairly well-charted waters, promising a string of hilarious mishaps that prevents Tom, an aspiring chef, and Violet, a psychology major, from tying the knot. But the mood shifts when Violet lands an internship at a rust-belt university and Tom’s career and their wedding plans are put on hold while they relocate to the snowy wilds of Michigan. What follows plays less like a rapid-fire comedy of errors than it does a rom-com re-imagining of The Way We Were.

None of the hurdles Tom and Violet encounter are trite or engineered for laughs — no-one gets stranded at the airport, the limo doesn’t crash, the church doesn’t burn down. They are all the result of two people whose lives take on different trajectories and who just can’t seem to get it together. It’s consistently funny, often laugh-out-loud so, but as Tom and Violet constantly thwart their chances of happiness it is also heart-wrenching and real, and the inevitable break-up scene genuinely moving.

Write Your Review
To write your review please login or register.

Your Reviews

Average user rating for The Five-Year Engagement

Yes it was funny, I'll give it that. But, I actually expected more from it (as it had a four-star review from Empire). I felt it a little longer than it should've been. But real (in a way), and somewhat charming. 2.5/5 ... More

Posted by nc_jj at 05:31, 12 August 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Not THAT funny

L: kind_cactus L: zackkilmer women find Apatow films i.e Bridesmaids funny , men dont . ot true, neither me or my sister found Bridesmaid particularly funny. sp; Also-BBC reviewer Mark Kermode loved Bridesmaids. ... More

Posted by st3veebee at 15:46, 12 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Not THAT funny

L: zackkilmer women find Apatow films i.e Bridesmaids funny , men dont . ot true, neither me or my sister found Bridesmaid particularly funny. ... More

Posted by kind_cactus at 14:50, 12 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: The film is not spoiled by this review!

This is a strange film.It is not a comedy and is quite bleak.That said,it isnt a serious look at relationships either.It goes on a bit, then goes all cliched.Kind of like The Break Up meets Friends With Benefits. ... More

Posted by TragicRomantic at 13:58, 12 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: The film is not spoiled by this review!

Regardless of how obvious the result is or how formulaic or whatever the situation: the review gave away a third act resolution. What if this was the first Rom-Com I had ever seen and I read this review? What if I was hoping that this might be a game changer? What if I was going to throw by that ending regardless?   Presumptions and assumptions should not be made Empire: your job is to advise as to whether the reader should see the film....not tell us what happens in it!   &n... More

Posted by st3veebee at 16:49, 27 June 2012 | Report This Post

Not THAT funny

I agree with BelfastBoy , i hardly laughed during the film , yeah its sweet and charming and watchable leads but overlong for me . It boils down to this - women find Apatow films i.e Bridesmaids funny , men dont . Very disappointing and not as funny as the review makes out . Emily Blunt is gorgeous though. ... More

Posted by zackkilmer at 12:32, 27 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: The Five-Year Engagement

L: 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 starre... More

Posted by BelfastBoy at 08:34, 24 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: The Five-Year Engagement

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'... More

Posted by TheMightyBlackout at 22:22, 23 June 2012 | Report This Post

Brilliant

This film was fantastic, at times lacked comedy but in the whole 2 hour film, 95% of it lived up to it's critics, brilliant film !!! ... More

Posted by ryanchallenger at 16:55, 23 June 2012 | Report This Post

The film is not spoiled by this review!

Just want to give some advice to these humpty numptys, to avoid possible spoilers try seeing the film before you read any type of review so you can have your own free opinions about it. But if you just want to gage if the film is worth a watch just perhaps look at the star rating and the verdict without reading the review. After you have viewed the film come back and read the review then post a comment if you want to. This what I thought about the five year engagement...Bridesmaids was brillian... More

Posted by Bighousewill at 14:23, 23 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

I should really have let Dirk make that point for me ... More

Posted by Evil_Bob at 23:45, 21 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

L: Dirk Miggler sy last point on this. I understand that the reviewer is just trying emphasise how he cared for the characters and I don't think he's that stupid to write the end of the film in his review. Letting us know it does happen however and in doing so implying that the film does inevitably fall into the genre cliches coupled with everyone banging the drum that it isn't really spoiler only makes it more obvious that they do "get there" in the end. So yeah the film is spoiled.......... More

Posted by elab49 at 13:14, 21 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

sy last point on this. I understand that the reviewer is just trying emphasise how he cared for the characters and I don't think he's that stupid to write the end of the film in his review. Letting us know it does happen however and in doing so implying that the film does inevitably fall into the genre cliches coupled with everyone banging the drum that it isn't really spoiler only makes it more obvious that they do "get there" in the end. So yeah the film is spoiled....... I think. ... More

Posted by Dirk Miggler at 01:06, 21 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

So the review should have a disclaimer to come here and read your posts before reading the review or to come here after the review to clarify that what they read wasn't actually what they read? ... More

Posted by Evil_Bob at 00:25, 21 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: The Five-Year Engagement

EDIT - Should have read the review before jumping in with my post. ... More

Posted by MonsterCat at 00:24, 21 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

As I said above - I read the full synopsis of the film before posting, so I wasn't making assumptions. It's also why I added a slight spoiler warning to allow others the option of choosing the read the post. ... More

Posted by elab49 at 23:54, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

I've already made my point on that other thread but Its clear you still don't understand that many of us don't want to just presume that every rom-com will stick to the exact same formula. That we don't like going into films with preconceptions that other films in their genre have laid on us. Plus taking the fact that you havn't seen the film into account (I'm presuming as it clearly doesn't seem to be your type of film, being so cynical about its plot n' all) its hardly fair for you to presume... More

Posted by Evil_Bob at 23:47, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

I know it's ridiculous, and fair enough my extrapolation was extreme. But I think the conversation in here happened because people iew and have assumed he's spoiled the end of the film. Which he hasn't. Had that been the end, there would have been a spoiler note on the review, and it's a bit unfair they didn't consider that Empire would be decent enough to do that (which they normally get right IMO). So it's just a reference to a scene that it's in virtually every single rom-com ever mad... More

Posted by elab49 at 15:26, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

L: elab49 That's, IMO, nitpicking to the nth degree and is really assuming a certain level of dumbness in the reader. It is entirely reasonable to assume that readers of the review aren't idiots who've never seen a romcom before. I'll go out on a limb and say 99% if not more of romcoms have this scene (some more than once). It's the standard genre cliche for creating tension. Sure, if you've never ever in your life seen a romcom it might be a bit of a surprise - but that's pretty un... More

Posted by Dirk Miggler at 15:08, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

Yep. It's one of the most obvious cliches associated with the rom-com. It adds the drama. ... More

Posted by rawlinson at 12:52, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

I have to say I'm with elab here. Its obviously going to be the standard last third of the movie break up scene which you get in every single type of this movie before every thing gets reconciled and resolved in the end. I would put money on that not being a spoiler to the end of the film. ... More

Posted by shool at 12:47, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

That's, IMO, nitpicking to the nth degree and is really assuming a certain level of dumbness in the reader. It is entirely reasonable to assume that readers of the review aren't idiots who've never seen a romcom before. I'll go out on a limb and say 99% if not more of romcoms have this scene (some more than once). It's the standard genre cliche for creating tension. Sure, if you've never ever in your life seen a romcom it might be a bit of a surprise - but that's pretty unlikely. And I th... More

Posted by elab49 at 12:18, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

It's still a key event in the film that some people probably didn't want or even need to know before going in and implying it isn't a spoiler is as big a spoiler IMO. Will they won't they is a big element of the genre. Did the reviewer need to put it in, no, it's a pefectly well written review regardless, it doesn't really add anything to the review other than implying that the film indeed does fall into the old Rom-com cliche's and to be fair he could have emphasised that without having ... More

Posted by Dirk Miggler at 12:02, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

Then with all due respect, you've assumed something that isn't what the review is saying. As I said - I a fair comment on a film that it in his opinion it manages to achieve a connection between the audience and the characters and in the rom-com mill churned out of Hollywood it's a pretty considerable achievement, key to the rating of the film and deserving of highlighting the comment as a summary of the view of a film. Which is what the reviewer did. Indeed, the very fact that Empire DID... More

Posted by elab49 at 11:49, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Stupid fool!

L: elab49 ication of this post would be a spoiler given the comments above. Personally I don't think it is, but just in case. Since this has headed to another thread as well. The end of the review does not mean the end of the film. This is a 'romantic-comedy'. One of the tropes of a romantic comedy - and one which appears in virtually every Apatow 'rom-com' film because heaven knows he wouldn't want to be original - is the break-up/bust-up scene. every single oneword 'inevitab... More

Posted by maffew at 11:17, 20 June 2012 | Report This Post

Next Page

CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
		Movie Poster Mashups: The Furniture Edition You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be appalled at the punning...
		Cannes Film Festival Videblogisodes #1 Leonardo Di Caprio, Baz Luhrmann and a mysterious stranger kick things off
		Exclusive: Why Man Of Steel Wasn't Called Superman Writer and producer David S. Goyer speaks
		Dwayne Johnson Talks Fast & Furious 6 'I wanted to come in and frankly dominate the movie.'
		Music Celebration: David Holmes On The Making Of The Out Of Sight Soundtrack 'I watched the film... the music was all over the shop'
		The Rise And Fall Of The Movie Power Ballad What happened to those endless movie theme no.1 hits?
		Hans Zimmer Career Interview On The Dark Knight, Man Of Steel and Going For Gold

Follow @empiremagazine