Dan Mazer’s I Give It A Year starts where other romcoms end. Main characters
Josh (Rafe Spall) and Nat (Rose Byrne) get hitched in the opening scenes after
a whirlwind seven-month romance. But, even before they say “I do”, the audience
can already tell that the course of true love will not run smoothly for this
mismatched pair. As the vicar chokes his way through the ceremony, Nat’s sister
(Minnie Driver) whispers cattily to her husband “I give it a year”.
The producers of Love Actually and Bridget Jones tried to
inject a note of realism into the romcom genre, but somehow fail to hit the
right note in this sometimes-funny, often-awkward offering.
Spall and Byrne play their parts
well—he’s the socially awkward man-child with writer’s block, she’s the
typically neurotic high-flyer who never has a hair out of place. But they are
let down by a script that fails to make either of them particularly likeable.
You find yourself not really caring what’s going to happen.
Their relationship is also utterly
unbelievable, which detracts somewhat from the supposed concept of realism.
Yes, they’re meant to be unsuited to one another other, but you can’t help
feeling that the beautiful and elegant Nat would never have been caught dead
speaking to sloppy goofball Josh.
As their first year of marriage
progresses, it becomes clear that Josh’s charity-worker former flame Chloe
(Anna Faris) is much better suited to his slapdash ways than the uptight Nat,
while smooth-talking American millionaire Guy (Simon Baker) perfectly
complements her polished looks and manners.
Usually-hilarious Faris is somewhat
flat in this dowdy too-nice-for-her-own-good part, while Baker does manage to
add some depth to the anti-hero love rival role.
Both protagonists want to call it
quits on their ill-fated union but neither has the guts to admit they should
give up. Cue visits to a wonderfully inappropriate marriage councillor, played
to great comic effect by Peep Show’s
Olivia Coleman.
The supporting characters are by
far the best thing in the film. Driver delivers brilliantly as a bitter,
disappointed wife, who fantasises about “ruining Bieber”, while Stephen
Merchant sticks to his comfort zone as the cringeworthy best man from hell, whose
Four Weddings And A Funeral-style speech
is one of the more amusing moments in the movie.
There are a few laugh-out loud
scenes, including an awkward threesome and an incident where things go horribly
awry with a digital photoframe. But these genuinely entertaining snippets are
countered by far too many unrealistic moments that fail to have any effect.
There is also an element of crude
tastelessness to most of the movie that seems solely designed to elicit a shock
factor response from the audience, a-la Borat.
Sure, there are times where you’ll
be left in stitches (perhaps despite yourself), but others where you’ll glance
at your phone and wonder when it’s all going to be over. I Give It A Year manages to keep all of the clichés of a romcom,
while removing most of the charm.
