- Hot Shorts – Dol - 27 March, 2013
- I Give It A Year – Review - 13 February, 2013
- Les Miserables – Review - 15 January, 2013
I Give It A Year has interesting parentage. Its production team were behind such British comedy pillars as Four Weddings And A Funeral and Bridget Jones’ Diary as well as the more awkward, watch-through-your-fingers fare of Borat. I Give It A Year falls between these two styles rather nicely, and it is funny, but there’s a ‘but’ coming.
The set up is a good one, Cat (Bridesmaids’ Rose Byrne) and Josh (Life of Pi’s Rafe Spall) are a married couple that tied the knot seven months after they met and sparks flew. The trouble is, they’re completely wrong for each other. As they grow apart, temptations in the form of Simon Barker’s dishy executive and Anna Faris’ heart-of-gold charity worker arise. Will they stay together? Will she run off with the American? Will he fall for his ex again? Ultimately, and this is the ‘but’, you don’t care.
Despite a funny script that gives the leads, and the scene stealing Minnie Driver and Stephen Merchant, a lot of laughs, there’s little palpable heart. Not enough rom to balance the com. We’re often told how amazing everyone is throughout the film, but Cat and Josh are frequently just plain unlikeable and it’s tough to see why they married in the first place, let alone why they stuck together for a year afterwards. It’s no fault of the actors however, as both Byrne and Spall throw themselves into both the belly laughs and painful cringing moments very well.
In short, the cast and the laughs are strong. The film even manages to squeeze in a few great moments for the ever brilliant Olivia Coleman as a furious marriage counsellor, but there’s not much more to it than that. Maybe that’s ok, but with such a great collection of actors and a production team with serious funny pedigree, it’s a shame it didn’t go a little further. All this being said, if you’re up for a laugh with some friends there’s a lot to like and the lovely Anna Faris has the best threesome scene this side of anything.
3/5 stars
