I Give It a Year 2013

Megan Lehmann, Hollywood Reporter: It winds up rather inelegantly shoehorning salty humor and abrasive sentiment into a genre template, but an above-average number of laugh-out-loud set-pieces compensate for the resulting wobbly narrative. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: A smutty script and a passel of objectionable characters form an imperfect rom-com union - one that will, with any luck, fade from the mind long before its title suggests. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: It's rather close to excruciating. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: This is an inspired idea for a rom-com, and Mazer makes it pay off with a climactic speech that's at once a parody of the genre and utterly, bizarrely heartfelt. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: The tonal clash is jarring, and Mazer doesn't help matters by erring on the side of blandness. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Manages to have its wedding cake and spit on it too. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: By turns thoughtful, awkward and lacking in chemistry, the movie ultimately sticks to the rom-com template without making the outcome matter. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Can a comedy be too funny for its own good? Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Whatever attachment we might form for the characters or their fates gets lost in thickets of farce and barrages of one-liners. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: "I Give It a Year" holds a special place in film history. It's the only romantic comedy where you root for the main couple to get a divorce. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: As pure comedy, it's a hoot. Read more

Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle: "I Give It a Year" is a smart farce that would make Hugh Grant and his fans proud. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Mazer's previous onscreen experience is undeniably obvious. No penis is left unfilmed, no crude scene prevented from going on far too long. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Nothing works: not the haphazard stabs at conjuring a sweet-and-sour comic tone, not the reliance on people saying horribly inappropriate things in lieu of actual jokes, and not the one-note characters ... Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: Even if the emotional mathematics don't quite add up, enough diversion is provided by pic's broader comic setpieces to paper over the cracks. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Not just diverting but surprisingly thoughtful, even if we're never given too much reason to care about Nat and Josh. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: In addition to some trite set pieces, writer-director Dan Mazer serves up nothing more than conspicuous cynicism masquerading as comedy. Read more