I Give It a Year (2013) Reviews

• It's a matter of taste, but I found it very funny

  neil-4762013-02-12

  Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) get married after a whirlwind romance. As their first year of marriage progresses, they begin to learn that they don't seem to be very compatible. When one factors in the reappearance of Josh's previous love interest Chloe (Anna Faris) and Guy (Simon Baker), a romantically inclined client of Nat's, both of whom seem to have much more in common with the spouses, one wonders whether the marriage will survive for a year. This romcom is, in the modern fashion, fairly rude, so don't go and see it if you are offended by smutty humour, sex, nudity or bad language. It is also, again in the modern fashion, largely powered by the humour of embarrassment (best friend Danny (Stephen Merchant) delivers a Best Man speech of excruciating embarrassment, aware but uncaring of the offence and discomfort he causes, for instance). Again, if you don't care for this sort of humour, you're not going to enjoy the film. And it's clear that a number of reviewers, both professional and other, belong firmly in that camp - nobody likes everything. But the proof of the pudding lies in the eating. I saw this film in a fairly well attended screening with a mixed audience, mostly mature couples and not the sort of audience I would have expected this film to appeal to, except that they were all people who had experienced the difficulties which the experience of living with someone else brings with it. And that is at the heart of this film. When I wasn't laughing out loud, I was giggling almost constantly - I found this film very funny. And, from the evidence of my ears, I was not alone - there was a lot of (especially female) laughing out loud. Spall and Faris have some funny stuff, and Byrne is also funny by virtue of playing it straight - of the 4 principals, only Simon Baker suffers from an absence of humorous material. But the secondary characters make up for this, with Merchant's crass best friend and Olivia Coleman's sour relationship counsellor being best of the bunch. There are some very funny set pieces - Baker's attempted hotel seduction, Faris' threesome, Coleman's phone diatribe - and stay through the titles in order to catch Jane Asher's final line. I really enjoyed this and I recommend it highly (but only if you are in the mood for that sort of thing).

  More

• Averagely funny mid-week entertainment with a few yawns...

  johnnyjan162013-02-11

  Okay, so imagine you've just finished work, got home and need something to provide a little bit of background noise whilst sat with your laptop on brushing up on what's happened in the world, whilst thinking about what to have for dinner. This film is perfect for that. This film isn't not funny. It's just not THAT funny. Quirky bits here and there, but once you've heard one sex pun, you've heard 'em all. It never really gets going and half way through the film I could tell I wasn't the only one sat in the cinema thinking this is slowly turning into a bit of a bore. There are a smattering of funny areas, particularly the Christmas Party scene, but other than that, it's your run-of-the-mill Brit Rom-Com that doesn't really come to life. Advice? Wait until it turns up on Sky Movies. Then you can judge for free.

  More

• I'd give it a miss!!

  filmtrance2013-02-27

  I Give It a Year. As a cinema lover, I'd give it a miss! Dan Mazer (famous for writing Borat and Bruno, starring Sacha Baron Cohen) gives his directorial debut with this rom com that looks at the trials and tribulations of a newlywed couple during their first year of marriage. Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne play the 'happy' couple and the film also features the likes of Anna Faris, Minnie Driver, Simon Baker and Stephen Merchant. In a word: terrible. The film is very cruel in the way that the first 5 minutes are actually quite funny with Stephen Merchant giving an incredibly awkward and humorous best man's speech at the wedding of which anyone who has been part of a wedding can relate to and find amusing. You think to yourself that if the movie keeps this tone then you could be in for an hour and a half of laughs. Instead, what you get is 92 more minutes of very average dialogue that is trying to pass itself off as humour. 95% of the jokes are to do with sex and that is becoming a problem with a lot of films these days like Movie 43 as a prime example. They just aren't clever enough and leave you feeling very disappointed because the scenario of the film can be made into a really funny story with all the things that can go wrong in a marriage. Only a handful of things are portrayed though i.e. leaving the toilet seat up or not taking the bin out when it's full. As far as rom coms go, it fails miserably at the 'com' part. Stephen Merchant is the only character remotely funny with his typical way of delivering jokes but as for the rest of the cast, it's just appalling! A married couple, played by Minnie Driver and Jason Flemyng, seem to hate each other constantly for no apparent reason and their insults to one another just lack any comedic effect. A disappointing performance as well from Olivia Colman, the newlywed's marriage councillor, who is just a foul mouthed nut case herself with her own marriage problems but, again, the humour isn't there. Far better rom coms have been made and far better rom coms will be written in the future. Sorry Dan but not the greatest start to a directorial career that I have seen. Maybe stick with Sacha Baron Cohen because even he is funnier than I Give It a Year!

  More

• A Great Prod at Rom-Com Cliché (and Funny in its Own Right)

  Simon_Says_Movies2013-08-07

  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 ever heard. I won't spoil anything as to how it unfurls but it too is cooling in its candidness. While unfortunately not quite parody and maybe never quite as clever as it intends, I Give It a Year is still rife with mirth and deftly understands elements of marriage, relationships and most importantly the irritating formula of the rom-com. Earning its R-rating and showing unequivocally that Byrne, Spall, Farris and Baker are the things of leading men and women, this often uncomfortable but ultimately earnest feature is fun from beginning to end – something, as this film reminds us, is nothing at all like marriage.

  More

• Review of I Give It A Year

  jonnyhiboy2013-02-08

  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.

  More