COMEDY; 2hr 4min
STARRING: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Rhys Ifans
Marriage problems: Segel and Blunt
Just-engaged Tom and Violet (Segel and Blunt) have madly-in-love all stitched up. At first, at least. The logistics are against them, though: she needs to study social psychology in Michigan, which leads to him quitting his up-and-comer chef’s job in San Francisco and hauling across country to brave snowbound winters and make sandwiches in a deli, with marriage-derailing consequences. Two years later, the golden couple is looking distinctly tarnished as she dallies with her department head (Ifans) and he embraces the primal joys of deer hunting.
Segel and Blunt are smooth operators, the supporting cast is up to speed and the expansive screenplay hums along. Director Nicholas Stoller, who co-wrote it with Segel and also worked with him on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is confident enough not to rush matters while delving — although not too deeply! — into the complexities of an evolving relationship. You will eventually feel the love, and love being the grease that spins romantic comedy wheels, it’s a safe bet that no matter how many detours they take, Tom and Violet are likely to end up feeling it, too.
