I Give It a Year (2013)
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Critics Consensus: It's nowhere near as inventive as its reverse rom-com premise might suggest, but I Give It a Year is disarmingly frank -- and often quite funny.
Critics Consensus: It's nowhere near as inventive as its reverse rom-com premise might suggest, but I Give It a Year is disarmingly frank -- and often quite funny.
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Since they met at a party, ambitious high-flyer Nat and struggling novelist Josh have been deliriously happy despite their differences. Josh is a thinker, Nat's a doer..but the spark between them is undeniable. Their wedding is a dream come true, but family, friends and even the minister who marries them aren't convinced that they can last. Josh's ex-girlfriend, Chloe, and Nat's handsome American client Guy, could offer attractive alternatives. With their first anniversary approaching, neither … More- Rating:
- R (for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity)
- Genre:
- Romance , Art House & International , Comedy
- Directed By:
- Dan Mazer
- In Theaters:
- Aug 9, 2013 Limited
- On DVD:
- Oct 22, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $32.5k
Cast
-
Rose Byrne
as Nat -
Rafe Spall
as Josh -
Anna Faris
as Chloe -
Simon Baker
as Guy -
Stephen Merchant
as Danny -
Minnie Driver
as Naomi
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Critics Consensus: Elysium Soars; Planes is Grounded
– Rotten Tomatoes
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Critic Reviews for I Give It a Year
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (32) | DVD (1)
"I Give It a Year" is a smart farce that would make Hugh Grant and his fans proud.
Mazer's previous onscreen experience is undeniably obvious. No penis is left unfilmed, no crude scene prevented from going on far too long.
In addition to some trite set pieces, writer-director Dan Mazer serves up nothing more than conspicuous cynicism masquerading as comedy.
The tonal clash is jarring, and Mazer doesn't help matters by erring on the side of blandness.
Can a comedy be too funny for its own good?
As pure comedy, it's a hoot.
It's funny, yes, but also depressing, like watching the mating habits of mollusks.
The big laughs compensate for the lack of a suitable emotional payoff.
You might not want to stick by it in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part, but it's a reasonable enough companion for a night out at the cinema.
Mazer, a Sacha Baron Cohen collaborator, directs this comedy without much snap, crackle or pop.
[VIDEO ESSAY] As a premise, a doomed marriage sounds like a no-brainer: you can pile on outrageous episodes of slapstick, physical comedy and biting wit. Unfortunately, "I Give It a Year" is a no-brainer.
It's not romantic in the slightest, and it is quite comedic on occasion, but the parts don't fit together at all.
A fun, amusing, will-they-or-won't-they confection -- a love rhombus wherein a hastily married couple grapples with mutually wandering eyes.
While individual actors can be amusing, especially among supporting players, "I Give It a Year" is thoroughly tone deaf. I wouldn't give it five minutes.
Turns the romantic comedy on its head by utilizing a simple and effective formula that blends parody and affecting relationship dramatics.
There's some very funny stuff on the margins, but overall it's pretty weak.
Audience Reviews for I Give It a Year
A solid twist on the rom-com genre.
Very good romantic comedy! This was just a breath of fresh air. It's a funny, witty, exquisitely entertaining, and has something for men and women to enjoy. The situations the characters find themselves in seem entirely natural and not forced which only makes them funnier and everyone done a really good job comically. I Give It a Year also concludes in a perfect way and one that stays true to the same awkward, sardonic tone the rest of the film adopts. To say it slaps in the face every film that wraps up with someone literally running to the airport last minute to proclaim their eternal love would be an understatement. A closer approximation would be that it puts those offerings in a sleeper hold and squeezes out every ounce of maddening cliché. It's satisfying, funny and refreshingly direct. This act is preceded by what is also one of the best "reunion" speeches I've ever heard. I won't spoil anything as to how it unfurls but it too is cooling in its candidness.
Newlywed couple Nat and Josh are deliriously happy despite their differences, though friends and family aren't convinced that they can last. With their first anniversary approaching and attractive alternatives in the mix, can they last?
Super Reviewer
A fun evening watching other people's blind choices. Makes me feel better about my own. Not marriage-wise,that's rock solid, but choices that involve trusting my first instincts about people which are invariably wrong. In fact, I should probably make a rule that if I like someone immediately, it means they're an entertaining sociopath and just walk away and if I find someone boringly normal, get the contact information like right away and let the collaboration begin! Back to the movie: what I really liked about it is that everyone was trying to behave in a moral way even though they knew they screwed up by not fighting for what they really wanted.
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Super Reviewer
Not bad. A few laughs. Just the digital photo frame scene was worth watching for. Josh and Nat aren't all that convincing as a couple, but I guess there's a reason for that.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Positive surprises, they do happen. A cheap Love Actually copy is the impression I got from the trailer. The generic poster alike inspired no greater hope. Don't let yourself be fooled though, for here dwells a no-holds-barred laugh riot that pushes awkwardness to the limit. The welcome brand of awkward, I should say.
It begins with a wedding. Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) are over-the-moon in love with each other and but a mutual "I do" from entering holy matrimony. But first that sealing question from the vicar, whom all of a sudden seems to have choked on a frog and helplessly drag out the ceremony. Already a bad omen, at which point Minnie Driver, who plays a friend of the couple, dubiously let slip the title phrase: "I give it a year".
All in accordance with her bitter prognosis, the sentiments, nearly a year later, have cooled down and passed into bickering and frustration. Marriage council, held by a childish and obviously incompetent therapist, is to no avail. A situation that grows tenser yet when Nat is seduced by an American client (The Mentalist's Simon Baker) at the same time as Josh re-discovers his love for his ex-girlfriend Chloe (Anna Faris).
In the midst of all this, we get to hang out with a delightful set of supporting characters, who do their best (or should I say worst) to exacerbate the embarrassing antics. If I say it's written and directed by the screenwriter behind Borat, you should know what's waiting. Bizarre, nude and daring, on the verge of touching parody.
Pleasant, however, that it departs from much of the saccharine and sanitized that we normally associate with rom-coms; even if the biggest laughs come with the price tag of characters appearing more like caricatures, as opposed to fetched from some form of reality. Funny, yet uneven, and perhaps not to recommend to newlyweds, unless you care to reconsider your vows.
Rompish, obscene and charming. I give it a strong "C".
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Super Reviewer
I Give It a Year Quotes
- Nat:
- I am not coming upstairs to your room.
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