Movie rating: 3 Star

I Give It A Year

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When we first meet Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall), they've been married for nine months and are already attending couple's counselling. From here they go back to the beginning - their wedding day - and uproot the seeds of doubt that have been asking the same niggling question since then, namely "Are we right for each other?" Along the way we're introduced to Nat's sister (Minnie Driver) and brother-in-law (Jason Flemyng), as well as Josh's best friend (Stephen Merchant), none of whom believes the marriage will work out. Also in the mix are possible temptations in the form of Nat's new client (Simon Baker) and Josh's ex-girlfriend (Anna Faris). With all of these elements at work, can Nat and Josh make it over the hump of the one-year mark?

Given that this movie is from the producers of Love Actually and Bridget Jones' Diary, but from the writer of Bruno and Borat, there is a lot about I Give It A Year that feels familiar, and a lot that feels slightly unhinged. There is the bitchy best friend, the horny old people and the outwardly horrible to each other couple who really deep down love each other. But then there's the marriage counsellor who's own marriage is falling apart, and the attorney who wants to go into specific details about whether or not he should pull the plug on them should they ever slip into a permanent coma. Very rarely laugh out loud funny - with the exception of scenes involving an electronic photo-frame, and another involving the world's worst threesome - I Give It A Year's humour is more of the cringe-worthy variety, which should have you giggling while gnawing on your own knuckles.

There is an interesting story here about a couple who slowly come to realise that they should be in love with each other but probably aren't, however this is too often lost in a sea of annoying characters (Merchant, specifically, is supremely punchable here) and slightly unbelievable situations (who brings doves to a dinner date?). On top of that, Byrne comes across as a truly anal harpy, bordering on completely unlikeable. But Spall is the saving grace, thanks to his wonky handsomeness and easy charm. I Give It A Year is at its best when it's slyly converting the usual tropes of the rom-com, but unfortunately it doesn't do this nearly often enough. Fun, but ultimately forgettable.
 

Review by Rory Cashin | 09:57 | Friday 8th February 2013 | Movie Review

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Comments

• FilmBuff76

  A disappointing attempt to reverse-engineer the Working Title romcom. I barely laughed - and a great line from the trailer is missing in the final film too. It looks like the editor forgot to put the humour into it.

  Posted 16:43 | Sat 9th Feb 2013

• Dave

  not to sure what movie you are reviewing Mr Cashin but it cannot be that absolute drivel I sat three quarters through, it was the worse movie by a long shot this year albeit were halfway through February, I cannot see it been beaten out of the top 5 for the rest of 2013, Steve Merchant was reasonably funny 5 years ago but when your humour doesn't change in that length you become predictable and not funny.The heavy hitters (ish) that were introduced could do nothing to save this movie from becoming a complete failure,its a failure of biblical proportions and where you got three stars from I will never know.. no stars is the correct score... to all cinema fans out there , save your money...

  Posted 19:23 | Tue 12th Feb 2013

• LittleVillage

  This film is a little bit all over the place like they changed their minds with the story (Re-write) or edited it unevenly etc. About 5 mins in, I pretty much gave up on the storyline and luxuriated in the set pieces. Stephen Merchant (Extras) is hilarious in pretty much every scene he is in and earns this film a star for his efforts. Anna Faris is quite good here, the threesome scene on its own is worth a star....but whats going on with her lips (Trout Pout!!). Rose Byrne is gorgeous, but yes.. you would eventually leave her or strangle her... if you were married to her. The rest of the cast here were pretty awful with the exception of the ghastly Mother--in-law character played by Jane Asher. Spolier Alert : The ending of this film is a mess. Maybe one of the worst I have ever seen in any movie. 2.5 Stars

  Posted 19:18 | Tue 19th Feb 2013

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