Rated D - The Five-Year Engagement

You are cordially invited...

Welcome Back to Rated D!

This week we went to see a movie called "The Five-Year Engagement".  SPOILER ALERT:  A young groom-to-be struggles to keep his sanity while his fiance continues to push back the wedding date in order to jumpstart her career.

 From starring on a top rated sitcom to writing and starring in one of the years best, its not a bad thing to be Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up).  This time around he plays Tom Solomon, a successful, San Francisco sous chef, who is ready to start his life with his beautiful fiance, Victoria, played by Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Adjustment Bureau).  Alls going well until she has a chance to further her psychology career in Michigan and the two agree to push back the wedding date.  And as you might have gathered from the title, it doesn't stop there.

The movie borrows from several different formats starting first as the awkward-family-clash and then turning into a stranger-in-a-strange-land story, but the plot really finds its own footing in the relationship comedy.  Blunt and Segal have some great chemistry that really shines during their goofier moments and still holds up as believable during their tense compromises and comicly real arguments.  In fact, those arguments were some of my favorite (and, in my opinion, funniest) moments of the film.  Like in his past script "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", the characters in this one have real feelings, issues, and reasons as to why they act selfish, angry, and, at times, just plain crazy.  At the same time you can find their actions and reactions ridiculous and silly while saying, "Oh, I've definitely been there and done that."

Besides the main couple, plenty of great characters help to keep the jokes coming throughout the film.  Chris Pratt (Moneyball, Wanted) is hilarious as usual playing Alex's simple-minded best friend with a heart of somewhat unpollished gold while Alison Brie (Scream 4, TV'S Community), donning a faux-British accent, steals almost every scene she is in.

I can applaud the movie for trying to be as realistic as it can in a crazy romantic comedy, but like a lot of the comedies from the Apatow Group in recent years (Knocked Up, Bridesmaids, e.g.), the story goes to a dark place and lingers there for just a tad bit too long.  I felt like a couple of drawn out jokes and a few extra long scenes could have trimmed out about ten to fifteen minutes which maybe would have been right on target.  Still, when the biggest complaint is that it was a bit too long, its a victory in my book.  And, yes, I am referring to D'S Big Book of Victories: The Rise and Fall of Cinema in a New Millenium... it's gotten mixed reviews...

Recommendation - 4 out of 5 - Good for a Date Night

D's List

This Week's List.. Viva Mexico!

Movies that visit Mexico in honor of Cinco de Mayo!

1.  Desperado (1995) - The second and best in the "El Mariachi" trilogy.  Who doesn't want to watch Antonio Banderas hunting down drug dealers in Mexico in search of the man who killed the woman he loved with nothing but a sneaky librarian played by Salma Hayek and a guitar case full of weapons?  You show me that person and I'll show you a liar... the liar might not be the same person but I'm sure I can find one.  

2.  From Dusk til Dawn (1996) - The first hour of the movie is a taut thriller about two fugitives making their way to Mexico in a hijacked Winnebago.  The second hour of the movie is a cheesy, action-packed vampire flick with some of the worst special effects you ever did see.  You have to give it credit though because if vampires were going to attack, it would happen exactly like this.  It would come completely out of nowhere.

3.  Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004) - After chopping and hacking her way through a couple of her enemies in volume 1, The Bride returns to face the rest of them.  This, of course, includes Bill, who has started a new life, deep in the countryside of Mexico.  Oh, David Carradine, how we miss you!

4.  No Country for Old Men (2007) - There's virtually no music underscoring the scenes in this western-noir but still, the chase scenes are more intense and more exciting than most big budget action movies.  There's definitely a few complaints most people have about the ending, but (and I rarely say this) the rest of the movie is so good it's hard to complain.

5.  Babel (2006) - If you're looking to feel pretty bad about life, look no further than this movie!  You've got unhappy tourists getting shot at random, nannies getting accused of kidnapping and wandering the desert, and deaf girls trying to... well, actually I'm still not really sure what she was doing. 

Still Haven't Seen It? -

Hunger Games - I didn't get around to giving this one a full Rated D review but it was not because it wasn't worth mentioning.  Based on the book by the same name, The Hunger Games follows a young girl named Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone, The Beaver), as she is forced to compete in a fight to the death with two dozen other adolescents from around the country.

After reading the book, we caught this one and for the most part enjoyed it.  The movie caught some big attention due to the books violent plotlines and adult themes, but after seeing it on the big screen, I didn't feel like they went far enough!  Now that doesn't mean that they needed to make Saw 19 or Hostel: Part 11, but when they go out of their way to avoid the violence so much, it almost spotlights it too much.  The acting isn't all that great, but its not terrible and there are a few narratives that are easy in the book and a little silly when they attempt to achieve it on film, but still, the movie was pretty fun.

Next Time on Rated D:

The Avengers - I'm excited to see how this ambitious project has come together!  Make sure to see Thor, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and The Incredible Hulk before you go!