This film has been subject to mixed reviews and I can see why, it’s marketed as a Rom-Com which it is, but not in the straightforward mindless way that most go for the predictable mundane plots and stock gags. I think the best way to view this film is to not think of it as a rom-com, but more of an exploration of a relationship between an engaged couple.
The plot begins where most predictable rom-com's end, with the lead couple getting engaged. That is really the last time it follows the usual conventions of a rom-com relationship, it takes the device of the inevitable “issue” that arises and is overcome before the protagonists marry, and applies a darker more realistic exploration of how a relationship works and changes.
We meet Tom (JasonSegal) and Violet (Emily Blunt) just as they get engaged, we then follow them over the intervening 5 years as their relationship and circumstances change causing them to put off their wedding on numerous occasions. The film explores the theme of equality in relationships and the effect of making sacrifices on the dynamic of the couple. A successful kitchen manager of a good restaurant Tom decides to give up his job so that he and Violet can move across the country, so she can take up a post teaching psychology at a university. However as Violet begins to thrive in her new job and environment, Tom struggles to find a chef job and is forced to take a job in a sandwich shop.
As time goes by Tom begins to feel frustrated at himself for being unable to do a job he feels proud of and begins to blame violet for forcing this situation. As a fish out of water and an outsider Tom begins to spiral and becomes ever distant from Violet and the rest of society. The film looks at how the relationship changes as Violet becomes successful and Tom begins to resent her for making him lose his life as it was before. As Tom begins to let himself go and live on the fringe of society, Violet despairs and begins to seek comfort in the arms of her boss. The relationship reaches breaking point and they split, starting separate lives which leads to them both being successful but ultimately unhappy, especially in their relationships with new partners.
Meeting again at the funeral of Violets grandmother they begin a casual relationship, before deciding that they have wasted too much time and that it is being together that means more to them than their careers which they can accommodate in each others lives. I realise that sounds cheesy and a little clichéd but that is more my summary than the way it works in the film.
An underrated film that examines what it is like to be in a real life relationship not a Hollywood view of one. It doesn’t take its self too seriously and doesn’t go for the easy laughs and predictable plot of most rom-com’s. Uses dialogue to explore what it really means to be in a relationship and how life is never simple. Definitely not your standard Romantic comedy but that’s a good thing, I recommend watching it if you’re a fan of other off beat rom-com’s like Elizabethtown.
Nosh, Signing Out.
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