The Five-Year Engagement: Critic Reviews

Blunt & Segel make a good team, and the jokes, especially in the first third of the film, are solid. But the movie runs too long, stretching its contrived and disconnected situations beyond their ability to generate laughs or pathos.

It is a little overly ambitious and now that you mention it, reminds me of Funny People, it starts off as one thing and goes into all these different tones and you (taps wrist) come on guys people have lives to live.

Possesses the same nougaty center of ribaldry and sentimentality in which Judd Apatow specializes, but falls victim to a sagging hour-plus in its middle, plus an ending which feels less than genuine and more stamped for test-marketing approval.

A bloated slog that isn't humorous or heartfelt enough to justify its existence.

Blunt shines once again in this sweet love story,...a film of surprising depth, getting into the nitty gritty of a relationship that seems realistic, but it's far too long.

The wacky comedy is not enough to enjoy watching this crumbling relationship. I finally feel the Apatow length.

There might be a passable movie in here somewhere, but you would need to do a lot of editing to find it.

Make it stop!

[It] feels poignant and real in a way few raunch comedies are.

Judd Apaptow also produced Drillbit Taylor and Year One, so don't get too aroused by that 'from the producer of Bridesmaids lead-in.

There's recognisable angst and hilarity in equal parts as the perfect life of the perfect couple becomes less than perfect

Seriously funny and humorously serious, laughs and the odd squirm (to remind us of producer Judd Apatow's signature elements) provide plenty of entertainment

The Five-Year Engagement is a fun, intelligent 100-minute rom-com trapped in a two hour rough cut.

A fun, entertaining picture, and another credit to Segel's rising career as a writer and star.

Pauline Kael said of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers pairing, "He gave her class and she gave him sex." Blunt provides both the class AND the sex, but Segel brings enough easygoing charisma and sly wit to the table to make them a believable screen couple.

Poignant and savvy, it delves into the dilemma of what happens when a romantic commitment is challenged by career choices.

What keeps the film from seeming shrill is that Tom and Violet, despite everything, genuinely love each other, and their careers dilemma is not played for easy laughs.

There are some good laughs in this protracted engagement story, but the pacing is all wrong and despite the charms of Emily Blunt, the film just runs out of gas.

The actors really carry this one on sheer force of charisma, as the movie, at over two hours long, is almost as self-indulgent as an actual wedding.

Apatow-produced comedy mixes romance, adult humor.

It's all about the writing, and it's definitely uneven in "The Five-Year Engagement".

After a while, we just want Tom and Violet to get married so the movie will be over.