The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

A fairly intelligent rom-com – a silly but charming on-off love story boosted by a strong soundtrack and some funny lines. 

Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom (Jason Segel) are a happy couple living in San Francisco. They get engaged and hope to marry. But when Violet begins a post-doctorate psychology course at the University of Michigan, the couple move away from their friends and family. Tom’s career as a chef suffers as Violet’s academic prospects improve. This puts strain on their relationship and their wedding is repeatedly delayed.

Emily and – in particular – Alison Brie, who plays her sister Suzie, are pretty good. Segel is less convincing, but then again it may just be that his character’s persistent unease makes him a little uncomfortable to watch.

The Five-Year Engagement starts with Dexys Midnight Runners singing Van Morrison’s “Jackie Wilson Said”, which puts you in a good mood from the beginning. In fact, most of the soundtrack is made up of Van Morrison songs – a smart choice. I was especially pleased to hear his “Sweet Thing”, as it’s not every day an Astral Weeks track gets used in a film.

One continuity point: Violet’s character’s childhood bedroom wall is covered in Wham! posters, but she would have been a baby when Wham! were popular. Did someone overlook this? 

Another oddity is a thread of violent humour running through the story. Tom’s boss at the restaurant slices part of her finger off. Violet is shot in the leg by a crossbow. And Tom jumps on a fire hydrant obscured by a snowdrift. I’m not sure why this was introduced, although it does add a sense of “real life”.

While it’s all fairly flimsy and forgettable, it does make you feel better about life for a couple of hours – which is presumably what rom-coms are for.

Passengers (2016)

Engineer Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is accidentally awakened 90 years too early from long-term hibernation on the spaceship Avalon on the way to a colony planet with 5,000 passengers – a plot seemingly borrowed for Alien Covenant. Lonely, suicidal and craving company, he deliberately wakes up fellow passenger Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence), thus essentially sentencing her to death on the trip with him. The film explores these moral issues as well as their complex relationship, which gets a lot more complex when she learns how she awoke. But then other things start to go wrong...

It’s a funny, scary, dramatic and romantic story that works because it’s so simple. The ship looks stunning, as do all the effects (a swimming pool during a gravity-loss malfunction), and the two main actors are perfect in the lead roles.

It’s clever the way the film parodies the bland commercial corporate-speak of the company organising the colony. Also appealing is the droid barman (Michael Sheen), who acts as a confidant to the characters and seems almost human. Rather than offering a cold, technological experience, the narrative focuses on the humanity of Jim and Aurora. It’s a delight to see a space film that’s so full of warmth.