I Give It A Year

I Give It A Year

Anti-Rom-Com

After a whirlwind romance, ambitious advertising executive Nat (Rose Byrne) and writer Josh (Rafe Spall) marry in a dream wedding ceremony in the country but even as the happy couple celebrate, the cracks are beginning to show, their friends and family convinced it won’t last, Nat’s cynical sister Naomi (the wonderfully acerbic Minnie Driver) pronouncing: “I give it a year!”

Fast forwarding 9 months and told mostly in flashback during the marriage guidance counselling sessions with their relationship therapist (Olivia Colman), we watch as Nat and Josh’s relationship falls apart, the pressures of married life and living together taking their toll as each is tempted to cheat; Josh with the ex he may still love, best friend Chloe (Anna Faris) and Nat with suave American client Guy (Simon Baker).  As their first wedding anniversary approaches, will Nat and Josh make it?

Starting where most rom-coms finish, the happy ending, I Give It A Year takes Working Title’s traditional formula (the characters themselves slyly referring to Hugh Grant movies) and tweaks it, flying in the face of genre conventions, writer/director Dan Mazer charting not the blossoming of a relationship but the withering as Nat and Josh fall out of love, their relationship imploding under the pressure of being together and ultimately just not being suited to each other.  It’s a brave move and one of the most subversive aspects of the film is that there’s no real villain; neither Nat or Josh are to blame for their problems, it’s just life.  Similarly, neither Chloe or Guy is demonised; Chloe is no vapid seductress and Guy comes across as sensitive rather than smug.  They are simply the people who are perfect for the protagonists.

The performances are excellent with Minnie Driver’s sour, unfulfilled sister and Stephen Merchant’s gormless best man battling Olivia Colman’s gloriously nutty and inappropriate marriage counsellor to steal the show while Anna Faris is sweet and gorgeous as Chloe and Simon Baker undercuts his usual poised suavity with an endearing dorkiness as Guy.  Rose Byrne further cements her reputation as a gifted comedienne as the neurotic Nat while Rafe Spall is funny and affable showing real leading man chops and giving Hugh Grant a run for his money.  If anything, one of the niggling faults of I Give It A Year is the strong chemistry between Byrne and Spall whose scenes together sparkle as they grow increasingly frustrated with one another.

A long-time collaborator of Sacha Baron Cohen’s, Mazer’s film has moments that are gloriously, pant-wettingly funny, Merchant’s cringe-inducing best man speech an early highlight with an ill-advised game of charades (you’ll watch Spall’s Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman mime through tears of laughter) and an impromptu holiday photo display that’s breathtakingly embarrassing while Baker’s romantic declaration of love involving two very flustered doves is a wincing joy. 

Funny, smart and human, I Give It A Year’s anti-rom-com is a refreshing twist on a tired genre.   

David Watson

Directed by:

Dan Mazer

Written by:

Dan Mazer

Produced by:

Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Kris Thykier

Starring:

Anna Faris, Rose Byrne, Simon Baker, Rafe Spall, Stephen Merchant, Craig Izzard, Minnie Driver, Olivia Colman, Anna Skellern and Jason Flemyng

Genres:

Comedy, Romance

Language:

English

Runtime:

97 minutes

Certificate:

15

Rating:

3/5

UK Cinema Release Date:

Friday 8^th February