( CNN ) -- Emily Blunt may be the most vivacious and personable light comic actress in the movies right now . She has something of Carole Lombard 's instinct to take a tired scene and give it a good kick in the pants . And Jason Segel 's forlorn and directionless Tom in `` The Five-Year Engagment '' could use it , too . Segel is the anti-matter to Blunt 's shooting star : doughy ( well , he is playing a sous chef here ) , oversized and doleful , he 's one of those actors who has learned to capitalize on his flaws , exposing his inadequacies as often as possible to lugubrious comic effect . We 've all seen lopsided couples like this , but the central flaw in `` The Five-Year Engagment '' ( which Segel also co-wrote with his regular collaborator , director Nicholas Stoller ) is that despite their regular protestations of love , for most of the movie , Segel 's Tom and Blunt 's Violet make a miserable team . She 's selfish , he sacrifices his career , are you laughing yet ? We are given to understand that wedded bliss would make all the difference , but somehow they just ca n't get their act together . Tom proposes in the movie 's very first scene . There is an engagement party , everything is going swimmingly , but events overtake them . Violet 's sister ( Alison Brie ) gets pregnant by Tom 's best man ( Chris Pratt , doing a big-screen tweak on his `` Parks and Recreation '' persona ) , so their nuptials take precedence . There are religious and geographical divisions to be ironed out -- Tom 's family is Jewish , Violet 's Church of England . Then she 's offered a place at the University of Michigan , and while Tom renounces his promising culinary career in San Francisco to be with her , somehow the circumstances do n't seem so propitious for a wedding ceremony . She 's still happy , but he 's stuck in a rut and losing his grip . Delay and deferment do n't seem like the ideal building blocks for comedy , especially when this couple already lives together . Are we expected to care that much if they tie the knot ? Does their hesitation reflect misgivings about the institution , or doubts about the relationship itself ? The latter , naturally , but only because Tom is asked to play second fiddle to his more goal-oriented fiancÃ©e . In other words , to play what is traditionally the part of the supportive wife . What is a man to do when he 's no longer the principal breadwinner ? Michigan is cold , and they hunt things there . Going native involves home-knitted sweaters , crossbows and lots of facial hair . Clearly , this is not going to work . The movie occasionally throws up scenes or situations adults might recognize from their own attempts to reconcile romance and professional fulfillment , but no more than you might find in an average sitcom . This being a Judd Apatow production , that would be a sitcom afflicted with Tourette Syndrome and more male nudity than usual , but still essentially a sitcom nonetheless . Ungainly and uneven , the movie offers some compensation in the peripherals ( whoever cast Jacki Weaver , the terrifying matriarch from `` Animal Kingdom '' as Violet 's mum has a wicked sense of humor , and Rhys Ifans is lively as a charismatic psychology professor ) but struggles to convey any sense of purpose in its story . Rom-coms traditionally end in marriage , convenient shorthand for the fairytale happy ever after , and `` The Five-Year Engagement '' is no different ; it just takes an awfully long time to get there .
Jason Segel is one of those actors who has learned to capitalize on his flaws . He can be a great actor, but he also knows how to exploit them for maximum comedic effect. Ungainly and uneven , the movie offers some compensation in the peripherals .