The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

One year after meeting, Tom proposes to his girlfriend, Violet, but unexpected events keep tripping them up as they look to walk down the aisle together.

Director:

Nicholas Stoller

Writers:

Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller

Stars:

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Segel	...	Tom Solomon
Emily Blunt	...	Violet Barnes
Chris Pratt	...	Alex Eilhauer
Alison Brie	...	Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer
Lauren Weedman	...	Chef Sally
Mimi Kennedy	...	Carol Solomon
David Paymer	...	Pete Solomon
Jacki Weaver	...	Sylvia Dickerson-Barnes
Jim Piddock	...	George Barnes
Adam Campbell	...	Gideon
Eric Scott Cooper	...	B&B Manager
Dakota Johnson	...	Audrey
Jane Carr	...	Grandma Katherine
Clement von Franckenstein	...	Grandpa Baba
Michael Ensign	...	Grandpa Harold

Storyline

In San Francisco, after a year's relationship, Tom proposes to Violet; she accepts. She's an experimental psychologist, hoping for a post-doc at Cal. He's a sous chef who runs the kitchen when the chef is away. When Cal falls through and she gets an offer in Ann Arbor, Tom agrees to support the move, turning down a job as chef at a new restaurant. The move requires postponing the wedding. At Michigan, Violet is in her element, but Tom is underemployed and frustrated; he's Stoic for a while, but when two years in Michigan become four, Tom's frustrations boil over, and on the eve of yet another wedding date, they must make a choice. Is there any other alternative?

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Plot Keywords:

kitchen | kissing while having sex | reference to princess diana | wedding band | wedding ring | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about the journey between popping the question and tying the knot.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, and language throughout

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official site

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eternamente comprometidos

Filming Locations:

Beltane Ranch, Glen Ellen, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,610,060, 29 April 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$28,835,528

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$53,909,751

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Apatow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 131 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jason Segel claimed that he was ordered to lose weight for the role, and was assigned a trainer. Ultimately he lost 35 pounds.

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Goofs

When Violet attends the film's final funeral - said to be in the UK - it is very clear from the architecture of the buildings and the road features that the location is not the UK, and is definitely North America.

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Quotes

Tom Solomon: I was not flirting, okay?
Alex Eilhauer: Oh really?
Tom Solomon: I was being friendly.
Alex Eilhauer: Yeah, right. You were sending telepathic wiener missiles at her face. And you know it.

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Alternate Versions

An Extended Version which runs 7 minutes longer than the Theatrical Version, at 131 minutes was released with the Blu-ray releases in 2012.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

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Soundtracks

Jonah
Written by Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, Joe Pisapia (as Joseph Pisapia), Brian Rosenworcel
Performed by Guster
Courtesy of Universal Republic Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A funny 90-minute movie that was 2 hours long

While the movie started strong and quickly reached the first set of wedding delays, once the characters moved to Michigan, things bogged down quickly. Without spoiling the movie, the antics in the Wolverine State were more like bad SNL skits than part of this movie.

The characters, both primary and secondary, were very likable and were also very well developed. Some of the fringe characters (I talking to you, Dakota!) tended to be overly done and one-note. They could have been scaled back to fit their place in the movie thus adding to rather than subtracting from the story. (Math in a movie review? Who would have guessed?) Tom's job hunt problems seemed to be oriented toward setting up jokes than based in reality. A man with his background would have landed a position in Ann Arbor in a New York minute. However, Violet's drama was much better written and more believable.

Once back in San Francisco, everything picked up again and you began rooting for the home team to finally make it to the goal line.

So go enjoy the beginning and end but be ready to take a 30-minute nap in the middle. Maybe the Director's Cut with actually cut out the boring parts. One can hope.