The Five Year Engagement

In the dawning era of man boys and overachieving women, The Five Year Engagement seemed like a fairly accurate, if not slightly exaggerated, representation of today's heterosexual relationships.

Jason Segel's goals of being a chef are put on the back burner when Emily Blunt's character accepts the offer of becoming a social psychology PhD student in Michigan. As in any romantic comedy their relationship is a constant roller coaster of ups and downs which leaves them questioning their compatibility as a couple.

Through my interpretation of The Five Year Engagement, the overarching question of "is love ever enough?" arose. Despite the character differences between Segel and Blunt they were completely smitten with one another, yet due to the inherent differences between them they worried about the feasibility of their relationship.

Segel reaches the epiphany him and Blunt should commit to marriage (after a rocky 5 year engagement) after a talk about the importance of compatibility with his parents, a happily married couple. This was of interest to me as it made me question how romantic relationships have changed between my generation and that of my parents. As a product of divorce, I wonder if our generation is too preoccupied with finding a completely compatible significant other, as opposed to feeling a sense of commitment to an existing relationship and making it work regardless of the circumstances.

This fear possessed by the younger generations could stem from the divorce rate nearing almost 50% for Canadians. Have we been so over consumed by our parents’ dysfunctional relationships that we are more resistant to commitment? Or are we simply pessimistic about love and its ability to withstand turmoil in relationships?

For a link to The Five Year Engagement movie trailer click here.