I Give it a Year

First off, apparently blogger decided to swallow my review of Wreck-it-Ralph from last week. A quick summary; it's awesome, go see it, 9/10

Now onto today's film; I Give it a Year, a British rom-com. It follows a couple of newlyweds, ad exec Nat (Rose Byrne) and novel writer Josh (Rafe Spall), through their first year of marriage. It's clear early on that they've rushed into it, and aren't really suited to each other. They also have potential partners who the movie sets up to suit them far better; Josh has his ex Chloe (Anna Faris), who spent several years doing charity work in Africa, whilst Nat has rich new client Guy (Simon Baker). In addition, there's Nat's sister Naomi (Minnie Driver), who's troubled but functional marriage acts as a counter point to our leads, whilst Josh's best man Dan (Stephen Merchant) supplies the cringing example of singledom. A variety of the great and good of mid level British comedy supply amusing vignettes, with Olivia Coleman being a specific highlight as the world's worst marriage counsellor giving structure to the first two acts.

It is in the second act that things start to break apart somewhat. The film is clearly trying to say that Josh & Chloe and Nat & Guy are the most suitable pairings amongst the cast. I Josh & Chloe's case, this is pretty well done, but with Nat & Guy it just didn't seem to fit for me. Initially it is just some mild flirting, with Nat failing to mention the marriage to Guy in order to help secure his business, with amusing consequences when they and Josh interact at a works Christmas party.

Then we reach the Dove incident.

Under the pretence of a buisness meeting, Guy invites Nat to an elaborately arranged romantic interlude, with oysters, a violinist and two live doves. In a room with a ceiling fan. The scene is designed to give us some cringing stuff with doves flying madly around a room, getting knocked out and pooping on people, as well as forcing Nat to reveal her marriage to fend off Guy's moves. The problem I had with it though is the way he keeps pushing through what is clearly a very uncomfortable moment for Nat with his ridiculous antics, which to me seems to make him seem just as incompatible as Josh is. This was a feeling that coloured my impression of guy for the rest of the film, really weakening the ending.

Talking of the ending, it's pretty much what you'd expect. I went into the film with a vague thought that it would be about a couple acting as straight men to the antics around them, which isn't what this is. What it does give is an entertaining, if schmaltzy story of true love shining through and being willing to admit and correct your mistakes, deflated for me by the repercussions of the Dove incident discussed above. But the jokes are funny, the story almost works, the supporting characters are generally quite fun, and it's probably worth a watch.

7/10