There’s an element of truth behind The Five-Year Engagement that makes it easy for audiences to relate.  Clearly there are moments that occur in a manner that would only happen within the artificial world of a Hollywood comedy - this is, after all, a Judd Apatow production - but in a general sense, The Five-Year Engagement works because many are going to recognize themselves and the sacrifices they’ve made for the benefit of others.  Plus, it feels a little more grown-up than most recent comedies of its kind, despite the occasional moment of crassness, and that’s a definite plus.

Hollywood’s most likeable doofus, Jason Segel, is Tom and Tom loves Violet (Emily Blunt).  They want to get married, and their families really want them to get married, but something always seems to be getting in the way of the big day.  Violet gets a two-year postdoc job in the mid-west, which means putting wedding plans on hold and moving from San Francisco. Tom sacrifices his position in order to be with Violet and moves with her. From there the timing for saying ‘I do’ is all down hill.

One of the funniest running gags is the continual occurrences of death in Violet’s family.  The elderly members keep passing away, unable to hang on any further for the possibility of a wedding that might never happen.  At regular intervals, everyone keeps gathering for a funeral when they’d rather be gathering for a different kind of service.

Emily Blunt has proven time and again to be an exceptional leading lady.  With the exception of the recent remake of the forgettable Gulliver’s Travels – where, of all the ironies, her leading man was also Jason Segel – she never appears to hit a wrong note with her on-screen partners.  In The Five-Year Engagement Tom and Violet are perfect for each other, and the two actors are perfectly fine as Tom and Violet.

Jason Segel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Nicholas Stoller, has a unique talent that many comic performers would love to possess; he can make even the most extreme moments of odd behavior appear somehow grounded.  As a consequence, many of us are tricked into believing that given some of the embarrassing situations his characters find themselves in, we would behave in exactly the same way, even if in reality we probably wouldn’t, but that’s the talent of being so relatable, and Segel does it better than most of his generation.

The film a can also boast quality support from a good cast, though it’s Alison Brie as Suzie, one of Violet’s relatives, who is the standout.  “This is supposed to be exciting,” she tells Violet in a moment of family support.  “This is your wedding.  You only get a few of these.”

Like most juvenile comedies pretending to be adult, The Five-Year Engagement is far more potty-mouthed than it needs to be – verbally, the comedy would work just as well as a PG-13, even if what the characters are doing is most definitely deserving of its R – plus, the film runs too long.  Over two hours is too much; after about ninety minutes it begins to run out its welcome. But there’s a lot of fun to be had in the company of this eccentric ensemble of quirky characters, and a welcomed sign of maturity from the Apatow school of cinematic comedy.

 MPAA Rating: R      Length:  124 minutes     Overall Rating:  7 (out of 10)