Posted to Arts & Entertainment by Megan Suddarth at 10:00 p.m., May 22, 2012
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Classic Jason Segel jokes fill the screen for this romantic comedy. Whether he has his pants on or off, you’ll be sure to be laughing every time he’s in a scene. Emily Blunt gives a very convincing performance as the selfish fiancé trying to live out her dreams. However, the plot in this movie that lasts over two hours gets a bit tiring.
Starting out, you instantly love Tom, played by Segel, and Violet, played by Blunt, together; they seem like the perfect couple. You all probably know how it goes from seeing the previews; Violet gets a job offer in Michigan, so Tom graciously changes his entire life to accommodate his lovely fiancé’s dreams. After the move and some personal struggles that Tom goes through, he goes into major depression mode, sporting a lumberjack beard and just being pathetic all around, which I believe was a bit way too much, like they were trying too hard to get a few laughs out of people.
Anyway, after all of this, things get hard for the couple and well, that’s all I’ll say. The film provides laughs, yes, but after a while, you get tired of seeing this relationship routine play out, and you just want them to get married already.
For me, Suzie, Violet’s little sister, stole the show. Suzie, played by Alison Brie, is the cutest little thing in the movie. You see her whole life transform, but she still keeps her innocent-yet-not-so-innocent persona that you can’t help but laugh hysterically. Her character completes the movie with her upbeat and bubbly personality. She’s raunchy, yet innocent in a way, and she stole the movie with her entire attitude. Alex Eilhauer, played by Chris Pratt, was the best compliment to her character the casting director could have made. His performance provided just the right amount of a disgusting male to Brie’s character’s innocence, which works out to be the perfect formula for these background characters to steal the show.
Don’t get me wrong; Segel and Blunt are funny, too. The beginning was pretty funny when Segel tries to propose, and I loved the flashback scenes when the two met. But the plot of the movie is pretty long, and it just feels like it takes forever for it to get to the point. The ups and downs they go through are a little extreme, and you find yourself asking, “Will they just hurry up?!”
Overall, the movie was funny, just way too long and slow. A nice romantic comedy, but not enough spark for my taste.
The Wandering Sunflower 