The Five-Year Engagement

The Five-Year Engagement

     It’s that time of year again: Summer blockbuster time. (Even though it isn’t technically summer.) This is the time of year when I blog consistently. Great, huh? Yeah, I thought so.

Glad that you agree.

My wife’s birthday is Tuesday. She’ll be mutter-mutter-years-old. Don’t tell her I told you. She’s not sensitive about her age or anything. It’s just not polite to tell. If you ask her she’ll probably tell you. Anyway, we decided to kick off her birthday bash by seeing The Five-Year Engagement.

Going into this movie there were only two reasons I was seeing it: 1. Jason Segel 2. The funny trailer. Okay, there were really three reason. 3. Emily Blunt. I’m a total sucker for a British accent.

     My wife and I are always promptly early for movies. As we were seating in the theater the previous showing was at the end of its roll of the credits, and to my surprise I saw that Judd Apatow helped to produce this movie. Later on I found out that Jason Segal was one of the movies co-writers. These are both good things. Judd Apatow’s movies are always consistently funny. Jason Segal is one of my favorite comedic actors. I think we connect at a soul level or something. Our senses of humors are on point.

     A few things that stand out about the movie that I should go ahead and get out of the way. The dialogue is great. The more mature I grow as I writer the more important good dialogue (in any art form) becomes to me. I’ll quit reading novels, comics, or quit watching a television show or movie because of bad dialogue. It kills me in the most painful way. Think Chinese water torture. The plot could be inventive and never done before, the characters could be three dimensional, blah blah blah, you get the point. Bad dialogue equals pissed off Mark.

     This movie kept me entertained from start to finish. The funny parts were not only in the trailer. There were plenty of laughs throughout the movie. That is good. It disappoints me to see a movie, and the trailer served as nothing more as a highlight reel. Essentially that’s what a good trailer is. But when all the good parts of the movie are in the highlight reel I feel like I’ve flushed my money down the toilet. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your $13.50 when you see this movie. (Or whatever jacked up ticket price you’ll pay to get a few laughs.) The movie is equal parts funny, equal parts emotional, and equal parts satisfying.

     The main thing I want to point out about The Five-Year Engagement is that it’s a realistic portrayal of relationships. Romantic Comedies leave me infuriated when they follow the Nicholas Sparks formula for fictionalized relationships.

    

     Act One: Good looking guy and beautiful girl meet and fall in love.

     Act Two: Good looking guy and beautiful girl hit potholes, and end their relationship.

     Act Three: Good looking guy and beautiful girl realize what a tremendous mistake they made and mend their relationship. They live happily ever after.

     Relationships are not like that. They’re fun, they’re work, they’re happy, and they suck. Sometimes all those things at once. It’s nice to sit down and see a flick and say, “That dude right there has been through the hell I’ve been through” or “My wife and I experienced a moment just as beautiful as that, and it will forever be stored away in my safety deposit box of memories.”

     The Five-Year Engagement receives a grade of: A+. Sink your money into this cinematic pit, folks. It’s good stuff.

Before you leave you can’t go without giving a listen to a new band I’ve discovered: Fitz and The Tantrums. I’ve got them jamming on my Pandora as I write this review. You’ll thank me for the happiness that your ears will have been served.

See y’all round here next week. I’m taking my mother to see The Avengers for Mother’s Day. It’ll be a nerd-tastic time!