I Give It a Year
Dir: Dan Mazer
2013
*
I didn't sit down to watch 2013's I Give It a Year without some preconceptions, I wasn't naive (I try not to judge a book by its cover) but I really wasn't expecting anything quite this dreadful. Dan Mazer was a writer for Ali G, Borat and Bruno, as puerile as each of those could be, there is still something very intelligent about what they sought to achieve. They were also funny. I expect a few stereotypes in a film about marriage but not a film purely based upon them and certainly not one made from issues that generally never happen in the first year. I Give it a Year relies on the comedy style that is 'It's funny cos' it's true' when it is pretty far from true or indeed funny. Not one actor gave a worthy performance, in fact the four leads couldn't have been worse suited to comedy. The script was awful to start with but none of them could deliver it they way they should have and all failed to grasp the right tone, even slightly. Don't get me started on the horrendous attempts at physical humour. I'm not sure there is anyone anywhere that could relate to these characters, leaving it impossible to empathise or sympathise with any of them. I don't always have to believe in a story, film is escapism after all but putting aside the fact that a young couple such as our leads could never, ever afford to live in the exclusive apartments in Westminster that they do and that you can't park outside Euston Station at any time, ever, but when I involve myself in a story, I want to feel part of it to some degree, I want to know the characters, if I'm not learning something I want to be entertained, I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to forget about my world for 90 minutes and indulge myself in something different. All I wanted to do throughout I Give it A Year was punch every single character in it which I'm sure wasn't Mr. Mazer's initial intention.