The Five-Year Engagement

As a British actress working across the pond, Emily Blunt is in very high demand following the recent string of film roles she’s managed to tuck under her belt. Now in her latest movie The Five-Year Engagement (brought to you by the producer of Bridesmaids) she stars as Jason Segal’s wife-to-be, a role that demonstrates Blunt’s versatility as an actress by chipping away at her reputation for playing ‘Ice Queen’ style characters.

The movie begins with a romantic marriage proposal on New Year’s Eve, the one year anniversary of Tom (Segel) and Violet’s (Blunt) first meeting. However, after Violet wins a place at Michigan University to study Psychology, the pair are forced to leave San Francisco and start a new life together in a different state. In standard rom-com fashion, the course of true love doesn’t run smooth, as Tom finds it difficult to settle into their new location and the wedding continues to be delayed (much to the distaste of their interfering parents).

Expect a quick-witted script, cringeworthy situations and slapstick moments, perfectly balanced against some of the more tender, heart-string pulling scenes, as Violet and Tom begin to realise that moving to Michigan may have caused irreparable damage to their relationship. The comedy too is relentless, with one stand-out scene involving an impersonation of Sesame Street characters (Emily Blunt’s Cookie Monster voice is practically Oscar worthy!), whilst Jason Segel dressed as a pink bunny rabbit will have you in stitches.

So grab your invite, take your seat and witness this couple’s ups and downs as they struggle to make it down the aisle, in a film which provides something of a rarity for cinema today - a decent rom-com that isn’t built upon fluffy, lovey-dovey nonsense or cheap laughs, but has real substance and depth to it. You’d be mad to miss out.

Laura Davenport