The rom-comedy genre has been known for being very formulaic and often entries are a dime a dozen. It is hard to stand out of the crowd and it is often a genre that plays it safe. But I Give It a Year is a film that attempts to twist the rom-com clichés.
Josh (Rafe Spall) and Nat (Rose Byrne) are a couple who after dating for seven months decide to get married, even though they friends and family think they are marrying too soon. And it turns out they are right with their marriage hits the rocks. Their eyes soon wonder to two American, Chloe (Anna Farris), Josh's ex-girlfriend and one of Nat's business clients, Guy (Simon Baker).
Often the formula of rom-coms is that the guy or girl tries to win over someone there are often a series of mishaps and misunderstanding on the way. In I Give It a Year the main two characters are fighting for their marriage as they are two other suitors waiting in the wings. In style I Give it a Year was shot very much like other rom-coms like Bridget Jones, Love Actually and Notting Hill (Working Title made all those films) but I Give It a Year is more of an anti rom-com, being more willing to be risqué. There are some twists on typical rom-com clichés and there is a fine parody of a famous rom-com speech.
I Give it a Year is the first film as a director for Borat writer Dan Mazar and most the humour was sex jokes or awkward/cringe humour and sometimes both. This was all summed up with Stephen Merchant in a show stealing performance giving us his trademark cringe humour and saying very politically incorrect at the most inappropriate times. Olivia Coleman as a bitter man-hating marriage counsellor who has some of the best lines in the film and great physical actions. But some of the jokes are overlong and the first joke where a priest is uncontrollably coughing led to me thinking what have I got myself in for.
Spall and Byrne are fine actors. Spall was very good at playing a prat and Bryne was the straight character of the piece. But she is made to be more of the bad guy out of the pair as she is more willing to flirt with Guy and seeks him out as the marriage starts to crumble. The other love interests are also a bit too perfect, even trying to show Guy as the perfect (plus he owns a massive factory in Britain, why not make him British). The supporting cast are solid, particularly Minnie Driver and Jason Flyming as a marriage couple who hard each other.
I Give It a Year is a fun film that will delight audiences. The cinema audience I saw it with enjoyed it. There are enough jokes and twists the rom-com genre to keep the film fresh.
I Give It a Year
2013
Action / Comedy / Romance
I Give It a Year
2013
Action / Comedy / Romance
Plot summary
After a quick courtship, two lovers hastily decide to tie the knot. As their first year of marriage unfolds, temptation and incompatibility put their relationship in jeopardy.
Uploaded by: OTTO
May 09, 2013 at 12:17 AM
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
A solid twist on the rom-com genre
Just horrible
This movies just tried too hard.
It's neither a comedy or romantic. I really don't know what genre this stupid movie comes under.
Please avoid this trainwreck.
Could've been a lot better
It's obvious where this is leading and it has quite a lot of funny moments along the way. If you are for the inappropriate kind of jokes Stephen Merchant is there to serve your needs. But since this is not a stand up competition he won't be there for the whole nine yards, just for some nice little moments along the way.
Rose Byrne is wonderful as ever (also watch the Outtakes/Gag reel if you can) and holds the movie and the crazy scenes together. There is nice scene towards the end at a Restaurant, that could've gone completely wrong, but it sort of works. It's a nice scene that does something that some might have wanted it do much earlier. But at last it happens. So a nice little romantic comedy then