Gather round all ye females who enjoy torturing the males in your lives! I Give it a Year may just be the kicker needed to change your relationship, for better or for worse. This movie has been advertised as a Romantic Comedy, and yes, there are a load of jokes (mostly sexual), but to me it ruins the British humour and failed to entertain me.
As we have been conditioned to expect from a romance movie, the intro was of course made up of the classic montage of scenes from the couple’s dating years before opening up to the wedding ceremony. Warning lights turned in my head when the minister started choking when pronouncing Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) husband and wife, yet the wedding continues and brings us to the reception. Here we are galled with the traditional embarrassing Best-man’s speech, followed by an awkward scene by Josh’s very sexual parents.
The movie continues with Nat receiving bad advice from her co-workers and lack of communication between the couple. Throw in a counsellor (Olivia Colman, who seriously needs to be punished for overacting) who is in need of help herself and Josh’s best friend, Danny (Stephen Merchant, who I much preferred as Tracy in Tooth Fairy and in my opinion should stick to shows like The Office where his personality is more appropriate) popping in providing crude humour for everyone, and you’ve got a very messed up and awkward movie. Danny seems to be one of those characters who has no filter and doesn’t understand the conventions of society, as you can tell when he reveals the past relationship with Chloe (Anna Faris) and Josh. Danny was for me the type of character that I instantly dislike and cannot stand enough so that I wanted to leave the theatre.
In amongst all the first year turmoil, complete with ex-girlfriend complications, why not throw in someone for the wife as well. Enter Guy (Simon Baker), a client of Nat’s, to woo her and complicate things, complete with a cheesy seduction scene where a dove gets knocked out by a ceiling fan.
Josh provides the viewer with a rather accurate portrayal of a couch potato; lazy, unmotivated, and a writer with ‘writers block’. While Nat is successfully portrayed as a busy business woman who has to constantly move around him, exclaiming “Why are you always here?!” when trying to find things while getting ready for work. I’d have to say, that was one of the only scenes I was able to relate to.
Overall, I believe the actors in this movie would have been better off forgetting about it and doing something else. The characters were poorly developed which led to overacting or exaggerated behaviours, which makes me wonder what the director was thinking. Typically when I think of movies directed by Dan Mazer, my mind instantly goes to “rude and crude” comedies. So when I found out that he had not only directed but written I Give it a Year it clicked in my head why this movie did not seem to work for me. For me, it felt like Mazer forgot that British humour is a subtle thing that unless you grew up with it you generally would not get it.
Yet, while the movie does provide the basis for a romance, it could have easily been summed up in a 30 minute television show complete with cheesy sitcom music and lighting. So if you’re looking to just kick back at home, drink and make fun of a movie, look no further! However, be warned, watching this movie may just leave you with the need for a good dose of violence and junk food.