The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

All Critics (162) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (104) | Rotten (58) | DVD (2)

This is a watchable but rather drab romcom which relies too often on Apatow-school cliché.

June 19, 2012 Full Review

Tom Huddleston

Time Out

Top Critic

An exemplary modern romantic comedy, personal and symbolic, goofy and substantial, tightly imagined yet loosely strung, wise in bewilderment.

May 1, 2012 Full Review

Richard Brody

New Yorker

Top Critic

Like Apatow's "Funny People," the film is an intentional hybrid: half gag comedy, half open-ended exploration of everything that can go wrong -- and occasionally right -- between two people whom nature, if not society, means to be together.

May 1, 2012 Full Review | Comments (3)

David Denby

New Yorker

Top Critic

A charming, funny, reactionary mating comedy from the Judd Apatow factory...

April 30, 2012 Full Review

David Edelstein

New York Magazine

Top Critic

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

April 28, 2012 Full Review

Stephen Whitty

Newark Star-Ledger

Top Critic

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

April 28, 2012 Full Review

Andrew Lapin

NPR

Top Critic

It's a bit over-stuffed, but the narrative does come full-circle and successfully balances charming comedy gags grounded in a memorable and contemporary love story.

September 27, 2012 Full Review

Ben Kendrick

ScreenRant

Emily Blunt and Segel do have excellent chemistry and comedic timing, but the film hits a slump at the halfway point and never manages to fully recover.

September 17, 2012 Full Review

Jeremy Lebens

We Got This Covered

You'll definitely laugh and it's hard to resist the adorableness factor of Blunt and Segel.

September 17, 2012 Full Review

Kristal Cooper

We Got This Covered

The Jason Segel-Emily Blunt romcom has a cold, standoffish first act but ultimately warms up, becoming a genuinely sweet romantic comedy.

September 10, 2012 Full Review

Justin Craig

FoxNews.com

A bit overlong, with a surprisingly moody middle act, but writer/actor Jason Segel and director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller continue to perfectly balance the laughs with the drama.

September 5, 2012 Full Review

R. L. Shaffer

IGN DVD

If it sounds melancholy, that's because it's very melancholy, but it's also very funny throughout...

August 22, 2012 Full Review

William Bibbiani

CraveOnline

You could make a case for shearing a little baggage from the run time, but it's hard to complain too much because the laughs keep coming.

August 12, 2012 Full Review

Martin Roberts

Fan The Fire

Overlong and curiously (wait for it) unengaging.

July 5, 2012 Full Review | Comments (4)

Charlie Lyne

Ultra Culture

Instead of being a 90-minute, three-act romantic comedy, this 124-minute plod almost begins to feel like a five-year term at its midpoint low.

June 27, 2012 Full Review

Graham Young

Birmingham Post

The Five-Year Engagement seems at times to have taken its title literally - it's way too long. But though the pace sometimes drags, Blunt and Segal are amiable companions and the lack of gross-out gags makes a refreshing change.

June 25, 2012 Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

Offers plenty of chuckles - although not enough to justify the middle-aged spread of its two-hour running time.

June 24, 2012 Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer [UK]

As endearing as Segel and Blunt are, The Five-Year Engagement feels ... five years of your life spent waiting for the inevitable, with not as many laughs along the way ...

June 24, 2012 Full Review | Comments (3)

Lisa Giles-Keddie

Real.com

This is a grown-up rom-com that incredibly doesn't outstay its welcome despite a meaty runtime, because Blunt and Segel create charming characters who are easy to root for.

June 22, 2012 Full Review

Shaun Munro

What Culture

[F]eels about five years long. With an almost total lack of... conflict, it feels like it's spinning its narrative wheels... There simply never seems to be any reason why lovebirds Tom and Violet can't just get married already.

June 22, 2012 Full Review

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

Somewhere, buried in The Five-Year Engagement, is a sparkling screwball comedy fighting against a turntable running on long play.

June 22, 2012 Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

A pleasant, if predictable, time-passer.

June 22, 2012 Full Review

Alex Zane

Sun Online

Cut away the flab, and there's probably an adorable hour-long movie in there.

June 21, 2012 Full Review

Christopher Tookey

Daily Mail [UK]

It's honest, mature and insightful but also fun, silly and touchingly romantic.

June 21, 2012 Full Review

Henry Fitzherbert

Daily Express

Segel and Stoller could - no, should have been bolder: their leading lady deserves it.

June 21, 2012 Full Review

Robbie Collin

Daily Telegraph

It's a long day's journey into relationship insight, but with fun on the way.

June 21, 2012 Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

• 1. George Barnes: The first important thing to remember about marriage is that it requires commitment. The second is that so does insanity.
  – Submitted by Frances H (3 months ago)
• 1. Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer: This is supposed to be exciting. It's your wedding - you only get a few of these!
  – Submitted by Sami A (4 months ago)
• 1. Tom: I want to be alone, but I want you here.
  – Submitted by Mallory L (7 months ago)
• 1. Violet: I've dreamt about those receipts since I was a little girl.
  – Submitted by Gary W (8 months ago)
• 1. Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer: The worst choice you can make, is no choice at all.
  – Submitted by Aries E (9 months ago)
• 1. Violet Barnes: I don't think we can figure out all of our problems before we get married, but I promise you that I will just love you every step of the way.
  – Submitted by Jelai R (9 months ago)