I GIVE IT A YEAR (2013)

Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Dan Mazer
Cast: Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris, Jason Flemyng, Stephen Merchant, Minnie Driver, Simon Baker
RunTime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Reference and Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.igiveitayearmovie.co.uk/

Opening Day: 11 April 2013  

Synopsis: Since they met at a party, ambitious high-flyer Nat (Rose Byrne) and struggling novelist Josh (Rafe Spall) have been deliriously happy despite their differences. Josh is a thinker, Nat’s a doer, but the spark between them is undeniable. Their wedding is a dream come true, but no one — family, friends and even the minister who marries them — is convinced that they will last. Josh’s ex-girlfriend, Chloe (Anna Faris), and Nat’s handsome American client Guy (Simon Baker) could offer attractive alternatives. I Give It A Year is written and directed by Dan Mazer (Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Bruno), and is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner (Love Actually, Atonement), along with Kris Thykier (Stardust). With their first anniversary approaching, neither wants to be the first to give up, but will they make it?

Movie Review:

Notably marketed as a comedy (note: not a romantic one), I Give It a Year is produced by the people who gave us Love Actually and Bridget Jones’ Diary, and the film lives up to its expectations with a fairly snappy script that will leave you in stitches. But since it’s also the directorial debut of frequent Sacha Baron Cohen collaborator Dan Mazer, be prepared for some rough-around-the-edges jokes and explicit smut when you least expect it.

High-flying marketing professional Nat (Rose Byrne) and writer Josh (Rafe Spall) are newlyweds falling headlong into the trials and tribulations of married life after a whirlwind romance, amidst blatantly obvious dark omens during their wedding: their priest bungles their vows, best man Danny (Stephen Merchant as an offensive bachelor who fully deserves his singlehood) gives the most embarrassing speech ever, and barring the discouraging words from jaded married couples around them, even Nat and Josh themselves seem oblivious to each other’s subtle needs and preferences. Nat’s sister Naomi (Minnie Driver) and her husband Hugh (Jason Flemyng) predict the couple wouldn’t last a year. 

Beyond the minor annoyances that come with living together in close quarters (who left the toilet seat up, who didn’t clear the rubbish, etc), matters are complicated with the return of Josh’s ex-girlfriend Chloe (Anna Faris) and Nat’s gorgeous new business partner Guy (The Mentalist’s Simon Baker). The terrors of commitment and waking up next to the same man every day are memorably discussed between Nat and Naomi during a get-together, while single girl-next-door Chloe undergoes the humiliating trauma of being unceremoniously booted from a threesome. Come Christmas, a time where relationships are tested amidst family gatherings and festive celebrations, Nat’s and Josh’s feelings for their respective love interests bring their marriage to breaking point. The couple’s squabbles are interspersed with shots of their session with a dysfunctional counsellor (Olivia Coleman), who also happens to have serious marital issues (yes, these people seem to be everywhere). They set a goal to make it to their first-year anniversary, but will this solution work?

The oxymoron “unpredictably predictable” may be a dubious cliché to describe the movie, but there is a certain amount of dissonance produced by a show with all the trappings of a genre archetype -- in this case, a rom-com where all conflict rights itself with the power of love – and turns out to be precisely just that, just not in the way you’d expect it to. The core decision our brave leads face involves choosing between upholding the sanctity of marriage or pursing true love, because in this case the two happen to be mutually exclusive. Still, one cannot help but wonder what their seven-month courtship was like, who they were when they fell in love, and why did they agree to take their vows if they had, as both mention later, always had doubts? There were hints of it in dinner conversations about Josh’s relationship with Chloe before she left four years ago to volunteer in Africa, and shots of how Nat and Josh’s courtship was all sparks and fireworks. But the answers are barely satisfactory.

Bridesmaids star Byrne carries the show as a sophisticated career woman who’s also capable of being ditzy at times, while Spall’s down-to-earth Average Joe author (just barely distinguishable from the side character he played in Life of Pi) never quite manages to meet her halfway. Faris and Baker are disarmingly adorable and effortlessly good-looking, practically infallible, perhaps indicative of how lovelorn couples seem to only be blissfully aware of each other’s assets (while ignoring shortcomings) before the so-called “honeymoon period” dies down. 

Movie Rating:

(A comedy about romance that should appeal to both genders, I Give It a Year somehow manages to leave you with an unexpectedly bittersweet aftertaste)

Review by Wong Keng Hui