I Give It a Year (2013)

Check out my review on my Blog at http://fameasserlufc.wordpress.com

Dysfunctional is definitely a word I would use to describe this film.

"I Give It A Year" follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple who, after marrying shortly after meeting, struggle through married life for the first year of their new lives. Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne are the couple in question but as their lives take a turn away from each other and into the arms of ex-girlfriends (Anna Faris) and business colleagues (Simon Baker) everything turns to turmoil with hilarious results.

Awkward is another word I would use to describe this film. Much of the comedy stems from the wrong thing being said at the wrong time in front of the wrong people. Steven Merchant's best friend role is one he plays to perfection as it's not too much of a stretch from his normal self as Ricky Gervais' right-hand man.

Spall is great fun in the film and has to carry a lot of the comedy himself, having a very quirky relationship with his Ex, where Byrne is a more serious person and the situations she finds herself in lend themselves more to the "should she or shouldn't she" question.

It's not the funniest film ever made, but it's well worth a chuckle and I can't help think that the film would have benefited more from a full cinema, rather than a 7-person screening (yes I was the odd one out). Comedy films tend to work a lot better when there's more people watching.

That being said, the first third of the film and the last third definitely have moments which are very funny and "Laugh Out Loud" but the middle section does seem to focus more on which way the characters will turn than the comedy aspect.

Worth a watch, by maybe a DVD viewing in a year or so rather than making a special trip to see on the big screen.

Fmovies: I Give It a Year

I really wanted to like this film but as I watched I became more and more irritated by it. Dan Mazer tried far too hard to deliver what I'm sure he thought were amusing British comedy one liners but it was overdone, lacked originality and was frankly boring. Any acting skill was dwarfed by poor overburdened script writing which made authenticity difficult to execute.

The scenes, characters, story line and plot have all been done far better in other British classics like Notting Hill and Four Weddings where everything gels beautifully. Here however is a mish-mash of nonsense that fails to deliver. I was tempted to switch off 10 minutes through but thought I may as well give it a shot. What a disappointment!

This movie demonstrates a new non-comic genre of British film making which is too overdone to be funny, too unrealistic to be engaging and too irritating to be entertaining. I give it the thumbs downÂ…

I got this for the actors, whom I all think are brilliant. I didn't know much about it, but read the back cover description on the DVD and thought, eh, worth a shot... And I leave this movie appalled. Hardly funny - a few key moments, but mostly trying too hard to be "alternative" - and the main characters are generally unlikeable. Actually, I retract that: Josh is okay, but Nat I despise. I literally rooted out loud for Chloe (Anna Feris), the ex-girlfriend. And Simon Baker in another ridiculously alluring/womanizing role to a committed woman... I just didn't find it funny. The only heart I saw in the film was a small moment between Minnie Driver's character and the character's husband, a brief respite from this train wreck of a film.

If you're looking for a quirky, against-the-grain romantic comedy, you could do much better anywhere else.

I Give It a Year fmovies. This was just a breath of fresh air. I hate romantic comedies so upon hearing that this was ANTI romantic comedy and more emphasis placed on the comedy aspect of the film i wanted to see it. It's a funny, witty, exquisitely entertaining, and has something for men and women to enjoy.

The situations the characters find themselves in seem entirely natural and not forced which only makes them funnier and everyone done a really good job comically.

What compelled me to write this short review of the film is that despite this being the films release date(8th Feburary) there are no ratings or reviews. It really deserves to be seen and it was great fun. And without giving anything away it's not what you think.

After reading some of the reviews I was not sure what to expect. I found a movie that was better than expected. Myself and the whole theatre were laughing out loud throughout. Some of the reviewers just love to read their own writing and some of us don't want every movie to be "Lincoln". We just want a good old fashioned, don't think too much movie that makes us laugh. If you like American slapstick humour this is not it. It is terrific British humour at its best. If you liked "Something about Mary" you will love this. I just got back an hour ago and am still laughing. Watch the trailer, if you like it then go see the movie. Unlike many films where the best bits are in the trailer and thats it, the trailer just serves as an appetizer. If you are a prude don't go. If you are like the rest of us and want a good night out go see it. Don't be put off by reviewers who wouldn't know funny if they sat on it.

With so many modern romantic comedies reaching the point of unintentional self parody, we have (thankfully) seen a niche segment emerge that aims to subvert the conventions that have plagued this once frothy and enjoyable genre. Fare like (500) Days of Summer, Celeste and Jesse Forever and Friends with Kids have seen the sins of the father and have come up with ways to please mainstream audiences but without insulting their intelligence. I Give It a Year joins these rare ranks and delivers a sometimes gut busting, always frank and enjoyably clever look at the trails and tribulations of marriage.

There are certainly times when this British-American hybrid goes too far with its crude dialogue or goofy awkward rants but writer-director Dan Mazer still clearly knows what is funny, and his time writing for Da Ali G Show has served him well in his directorial debut. Certainly the heart and soul of I Give It a Year comes with the well matched talents of its two main leads Rose Byrne and Rafe Spall as a newlywed couple who tied the knot after just seven months together. We often cut back to a session with a brash marriage counsellor who probably does more harm than good and also with Natasha and Josh's interactions with a former flame (Anna Farris) and a business connection (Simon Baker) who may play a larger role as things unwind. Either playing off one another or interacting with the supporting cast these two bring the laughs and a believable depiction of a union in distress.

As can often be the case with a peak into the lives of others, especially into one not on the best of terms, awkwardness follows and so is the case with this film. Like being present as a third wheel while a couple have a spat, some scenes in I Give It a Year ring uncomfortably true. Thankfully what this film avoids is painting either Nat or Josh as the reason for the troubles – never opting to paint the wife as merely the shrill, bitchy ninny or the husband as a slovenly tool. Each have their faults, each have their positive attributes and each have the chance to be at the receiving end of an unnecessarily cruel insult or judgement. So while not likable insofar as we're viewing them in tough times, we are able to rationalize with these people and view them as real humans, not just as the brunt of jokes or mere players in a game of marital politics.

The laughs in Mazer's film come from multiple facets, may it be the interplay between characters, situational humour such as a trip to a lingerie shop, or its (often vulgar) wit. The funniest scene (and of the best of the year) involves a visit from the in-laws and a digital picture screen and needless to say the way that Spall plays the situation is absolutely perfect and had be reduced to a cackling idiot. If one buys into the often sarcastic and overly clever dialogue will come down to the viewer, but for the most part it won me over, in large due to how the cast deliver the lines and react in turn.

I Give It a Year also concludes in a perfect way and one that stays true to the same awkward, sardonic tone the rest of the film adopts. To say it slaps in the face every film that wraps up with someone literally running to the airport last minute to proclaim their eternal love would be an understatement. A closer approximation would be that it puts those offerings in a sleeper hold and squeezes out every ounce of maddening cliché. It's satisfying, funny and refreshingly direct. This act is preceded by what is also one of the best "reunion" speeches I've eve