Five-Year Engagement a Bit Drawn Out

The Five-Year Engagement clocks in at over two hours, which is a bit too long for many critics. But its honesty about relationships makes the Jason Segel-Emily Blunt rom-com stand out from the pack.

• "Because it's so willing to drill down into Tom and Violet's misery, The Five-Year Engagement involves a higher grim-to-grin ratio than its fluffier brethren," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post. "But there's an unmistakable ring of truth to the couple's conflicts and mixed feelings."

• The film "dutifully hits the marks of its genre, but it is also about the unpredictability of life and the everyday challenges of love," notes AO Scott in the New York Times. "The sensitivity and honesty with which it addresses those matters is a pleasant surprise."
• While it's "an accurate reflection of a new generation of postponement-prone 30-somethings," the movie makes for "a rather uninteresting story," observes Rafer Guzmán in Newsday. "Segel and Blunt make a likable pair, but they're playing demographic types, not characters."
• The film has its "moments, though not enough to keep the audience, or the couple, engaged for anything close to five years, which this two-hour film can sometimes feel like," writes Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times.

(More Jason Segel stories.)