Too much time, too few laughs: ‘The Five-Year Engagement’ feels like it goes on forever

A well-paced romantic comedy typically careens rapidly to a conclusion in which the two lovers put aside their differences and live happily ever after. The Five-Year Engagement doesn’t adhere to that formula and that’s not such a good thing.

In the beginning, a smitten Tom Solomon (Jason Segal) awkwardly proposes to Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt) after a year of dating. Violet says yes, but also accepts a post-doc gig in Michigan that requires the two move from sunny San Francisco to snowy Ann Arbor. The adjustment is rather rough for Tom, a successful chef who’s forced to take a job at a deli. He eventually adapts a little too well to his environment, growing a beard and taking up hunting with his bearded buddies.

Violet, on the other hand, ends up flirting with psych professor Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans). The two share a kiss and the engagement, which has stretched out indefinitely, is off after Tom discovers the betrayal. It takes so long for director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) to get to the film’s central conflict, it feels like five years of real time have passed. And, though Segal and Blunt have good enough chemistry, their relationship never seems particularly deep and the funniest skits belong to ancillary characters.

Parks and Rec’s Chris Pratt and Community’s Alison Brie nearly steal the show as Tom’s best friend and Violet’s sister, respectively. (Well, so does the site gag of friend Bill’s (Chris Parnell) poorly-knitted sweaters, so let’s just put all this scene-stealing in perspective.) One of the film’s funnier moments comes when Violet and her sister have to speak in the voices of Cookie Monster and Elmo in order to disguise the fact that they’re having an adult conversation in front of children. In the end though, there’s lots of talent and too few laughs in this very miss-able film.