Review of I Give It a Year (2013) by Joel M — 30 Mar 2014

The British rom-com "I Give it a Year" is not the movie of the year, but it had mucho charming wit and earnest comedy for you to give it a chance. "I Give it a Year" does resemble the monarchic film of British rom-coms- "Four Weddings and a Funeral"; but I would not propose it to be in the same category.

"Four Weddings" is in a class in itself. "I Give it a Year" stars Rose Byrne and Rafe Spall as British newlyweds Nat and Josh. The movie chronicles the ups and downs of Josh and Nat's first year of marriage.

As in "Four Weddings", the film also includes an eccentric group of friends of the leading protagonists; with one friend being Chloe (Anna Faris) who just happens to be Josh's ex-girlfriend, and another being Danny (Stephen Merchant), the zany "play by no rules" clown of the clan.

Nat and Josh are challenged by several circumstances during their first year of matrimony which includes this guy named Guy (Simon Baker), who is a Solvents business tycoon and is working an advertising deal with the ad agency where Nat is employed at; but what this Guy really wants to do is close the romance deal with Nat.

Writer- Director Dan Mazer did an amazering I mean amazing job in helming & scribing this picture; especially how he was able to get around the formulaic rom-com maze and give the movie an authentic cool wit to it.

My only problem though with Mazer's effort is how he depicted the Guy character falling hard for Nat without knowing anything about her. I adored the performances of the movie. Spall and Byrne were a jpy to watch in their leading roles; give this Spall chat a year, and he just might be a wholesome name in the industry.

Faris was fairly good, and Baker was a bit too alike like a similar role he had in "The Devil Wears Prada", but he fit the bill. The Comedy Merchant Acting Marine (is there such a thing?) should sign up the British comedic talents of Stephen Merchant, who was just a riot in his small role.

Hey, how can I forget? Even the Minnie Driver rode smoothly into "I Give it a Year" with her role as another friend of the clan, who is quite hilarious with her insult bits of her husband. I do give my blessing that "I Give it a Year" is worth walking down the cinematic aisle with, so please don't separate from watching it.

***** Excellent.