The Five-Year Engagement

I have to be honest.  There were only three reasons why I wanted to see this movie.
1. Jason Segal was the leading actor
2. It was mostly filmed in Ann Arbor, which I consider my hometown.
3. This:

Nothing says I've given up on any future dreams like chops this big.

Any way, I had heard from a couple friends (read: Philistines) who said this movie wasn't that great.  I referred to the above reasons, and they still said "Meh" so I prolonged my viewing of this film so that my love of A2 and J-Seegs wouldn't be tainted.  In retrospect, this was a mistake.  I really enjoyed this movie.  Here are some highlights that made this movie worth watching for me.

1. Chris Pratt
I usually rant about certain actors being typecast and all, but Chris Pratt is great in this. He really bridges the gap between his douchebag role in Wanted and his loveable, yet idiotic character from Parks and Rec.  In fact, I would go so far as to infer that he does more to make this movie great than Jason Segal does, at least character-wise.  Obviously, Segal having written the story for the movie makes it all his success, but you know what I mean.  Pratt's character, Alex, is more than just the best bud or wingman.  He provides the counterpoint to the relationship of Segal and Blunt's characters, Tom and Violet.  His character is rude, inappropriate and by all measures, a total asshole.  However, he manages to turn a one-night stand with Violet's sister into a lasting marriage with two kids, which was only made possible by Tom's decision to quit his job to move to Michigan in support of Violet's doctoral study/career at U of M.  He's both the buddy and the villain in a way.  Much like he was in Wanted, but to a whole new level.

and with less dental work by QWERTY

  His success becomes the catalyst that begins to drive Tom and Violet apart during the engagement.
The things he does and says in the movie are hilarious, as well.  Referring to flirting as "shooting invisible dick missiles", his over-reaction about everything involving his daughter (who he never wanted in the first place), and his HORRIBLE, yet strangely sage advice to Tom throughout the film.  You wonder HOW this guy can exist.  He's at times the best and worst human being in the world of this film.

2. The Relationship Dynamics
Wow.  Not just the couples, even.  EVERY connection to each character is brilliant.  The irony of the one-night stand turned marriage of Alex and Suzie that SHOULD fail but somehow succeeds, despite Suzie's unhappiness. The pressure from the parents and grandparents to Tom and Violet to get it together and get married before all the grandparents die (spoiler alert: they all die).  The way Violet interacts with her colleagues and professor/boss.  The bromance between Tom and his buddies, Tarquin and Bill.  Segal and his co-conspirator Nicholas Stoller got every aspect of the interactions spot on in my opinion.  It's so real and visceral, maybe almost too much so.  Some parts were just a bit uncomfortable, because you could see how things were going to go before the characters themselves did.

3. The Setting
Like I mentioned earlier, Ann Arbor is my home.  In fact, my sister actually met Jason Segal during the filming of the movie.  Also, San Francisco is one of my favorite places in California, other than the cost of living or even visiting there.  The familiarity of the settings really drew me into this film.  Especially the Ann Arbor parts, which up until now, I had only seen in that mediocre HAyden Christiansen vehicle, Jumper.  And even then, most of what was supposed to be Ann Arbor was actually filmed in Windsor, ON.  That's a sign that your movie budget is jacked.  You can afford to film in Egypt, but have to make Windsor look like Ann Arbor.  But, I digress.  Seeing so many of my favorite places, such as Le Dog, Shalimar, Gratzi, and of course, Zingerman's in scenes with one of my favorite comedy writers/actors is like getting into a bathtub where the water is the perfect temperature. 

She knows what I'm talking about...

Of course, I had a little convo with the wifey about there not being any wooded area close to Zingerman's where Tom could have drunkenly stumbled into bare-ass and fallen asleep, unless he drunk drove, once again bare-ass, to the Arboretum some five miles away.  But that's a small thing.  Nowhere near the locational gaffes in Rocky or The Goonies where characters start in one place and then end up 40 miles away shortly later.

I can't believe we hiked through a 30 mile cave in one night!

Oh yeah? I just jogged that in the snow!  In Philly!  Hooray for montages!

4. The timeline
This movie takes you through the five year stretch of life happening to these people in such a way that even when it drags a bit near the end, you accept it because you identify with the frustration of Tom in the situation.  It's not the action or flow of the movie dragging, it's life!  And it's very real.  So often, couples want to take that next step, but they're scared of not being sure or things working out perfectly, so they wait...and wait...and wait...until they either decide it's not worth it anymore and break it off or they realize that they've wasted their time and veer off in a whole new direction and then repeat the cycle under different circumstances.  This movie holds you in that tension so well, you can taste it.  You see Tom's slow descent into frustration and feeling like everything he wanted is withering away.  It's a great balance of the realness of the situation without being predictable and tropish.

Really, all I can say negatively about this film is that Tom hated being in Ann Arbor.  Outside of a Buckeye fan, I can't imagine anyone feeling like that.  But, I'm a little biased. 

I highly recommend this movie.  I usually talk down and rip apart romdramedies, but I swear Jason Segal has found the way to make it really work.

Join me next time when I share the things I suddenly realized about the first three Indiana Jones movies that I totally missed as a kid.