I Give It a Year

I Give It a Year is a 2013 British romantic comedy film, written and directed by Dan Mazer and starring Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris and Simon Baker. The film was based and filmed in London and was released on 8 February 2013.

I Give It a Year
UK release poster
Directed byDan Mazer
Produced byTim Bevan
Eric Fellner
Kris Thykier
Written byDan Mazer
Starring
Music byIlan Eshkeri
CinematographyBen Davis
Edited byTony Cranstoun
Production
company
Distributed byStudioCanal
Magnolia Pictures (USA)[1]
Release date
  • 8 February 2013 (2013-02-08) (United Kingdom)
Running time
97 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget€12.7 million[3]
Box office$28.2 million[4]

I Give It a Year was Mazer's directorial debut. He was previously best known for co-writing the Sacha Baron Cohen films Borat and Brüno.

Plot

Ambitious high-flyer Nat and struggling writer Josh fall in love at first sight at a party. After seven months together they decide to marry. The film highlights their struggles during their first year of marriage, switching back and forth from flashbacks of the year's action to a marriage-guidance counsellor's office. Their wedding goes as planned despite many friends' comments that the marriage will not last, an embarrassing best man's speech, and a coughing priest.

When Nat returns to work after the honeymoon, she's embarrassed when Josh calls her in the office, on speakerphone in front of her colleagues, to tell her she is sexy and that he misses her, causing her to abruptly hang up on him. Later, the two meet with their solicitor to discuss how to handle medical crises (last wishes). Nat becomes annoyed when Josh, knowing she would be late, admitted that he deliberately told her the wrong time, causing her to turn up early.

The couple throw a dinner party to use their wedding gifts. Some of their differences are highlighted when they talk about their honeymoon in Morocco; Nat didn't enjoy the leather museum whereas Josh remembers it as interesting. When the topic changes to Chloe, Josh's former flame, Nat discovers that the two never officially broke up when Chloe departed to Africa for four years. In the kitchen Chloe apologises to Nat for not realising she didn't know. The women talk about the constrictions of marriage. Nat's sister Naomi has issues with her own husband's annoying habits. Josh's best man Danny asks Chloe out but is rebuffed.

Nat tries to discourage Josh from accompanying her to a work party but he is determined, irritating her. At the party, he makes a fool of himself with embarrassing dancing and standing next to a poster he can joke about during the night. When he approaches Nat while she's talking with Guy, she still doesn't reveal that he is her husband and Guy attempts to shake him off, assuming he's an unwanted menace. Guy asks her to dinner and Nat declines. Incredibly annoyed at Josh for embarrassing her at the party, she heads home without him.

Josh arrives at a restaurant party that was organised to celebrate his and Nat's first anniversary and he tells Nat that he thinks she is the perfect wife, just not for him. He asks her for a divorce and she immediately and delightedly agrees. The couple rejoice at the situation and immediately leave the party one after the other.

Meanwhile, Guy and Chloe are at the railway station waiting to go to Paris on a romantic trip. Josh finds them and professes his love for Chloe. When it's discovered that he split up with Nat, the two are shocked. Nat appears behind Josh, who awkwardly assumed he is the one she wants to speak to, but it turns out she was there for Guy. After a short exchange they happily discuss how perfect Guy and Chloe are for them. In the end, Chloe and Guy mutually break up. Nat ends up kissing Guy and Chloe shares a kiss with Josh.

Cast
Actor Simon Baker and director Dan Mazer in Paris at the film's French premiere, April 2013.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 51%, with an average rating of 5.48 out of 10, based on 82 reviews. The website's "Critics Consensus" for the film reads, "It's nowhere near as inventive as its reverse rom-com premise might suggest, but I Give It a Year is disarmingly frank -- and often quite funny."[5] On Metacritic, the film has score of 50% based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]

Peter Keough of the Boston Globe wrote "Though Mazer’s ambition is laudable, he has not yet integrated the comedy of manners into the comedy of no manners."[7] Stephanie Merry of the Washington Post wrote "In addition to some trite set pieces, writer-director Dan Mazer serves up nothing more than conspicuous cynicism masquerading as comedy."[8]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: "The result is funny and plausible, with a fair bit of newly modish Bridesmaidsy bad taste, though I kept getting the sense that the romcom template meant Mazer couldn't really let rip with pure comedy pessimism and cynicism in the way he might have liked."[9] Olly Richards of Empire magazine wrote: "The jokes are strong and delivered by a very talented cast, but the heart isn’t there. It’s easy to laugh, but hard to care."[10]

Box office

The film accumulated a total domestic gross of $34,657 with it only generating $5,436 on its opening weekend ranking it at #77. It went on gross a worldwide total of $28,234,657.[4]

Home media

I Give It a Year was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 3, 2013.

References
  1. Magnolia takes I Give It A Year | News | Screen
  2. "I GIVE IT A YEAR". British Board of Film Classification. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  3. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=13531
  4. "I Give It a Year (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  5. "I Give It a Year (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  6. "I Give It a Year". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  7. Keogh, Peter (15 August 2013). "In 'I Give It a Year,' romance meets raunch". Boston Globe. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. Merry, Stephanie (15 August 2013). "'I Give It a Year' movie review". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. Bradshaw, Peter (7 February 2013). "I Give It a Year – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  10. Olly Richards (12 December 2012). "I Give It A Year". Empire (magazine).
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