Early box office numbers have started trickling in, and it seems Jason Segel’s newest project The Five-Year Engagement isn’t exactly the biggest hit with fans. The former Freaks And Geeks star’s previous two writing/ starring vehicles Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets both did more than one hundred million dollars in worldwide business, but with projections putting his latest endeavor at barely ten million for its opening weekend, it's unlikely this newest effort will see anywhere close to that.
Unfortunately for Segel, critics, long champions of the actor, weren’t blown away either. The Five-Year Engagement hasn’t exactly been trashed by critics, but most reviews have been tepid at best, nearly all pointing out its runtime drags a bit. While I would somewhat agree with that criticism, I still found the movie endearing and funny, and I’m a bit puzzled by the widespread lack of interest. Segel, both on his television show and in his films, has really had a way of connecting with audiences, and Emily Blunt, a rising star in her own right, projected to be the perfect woman to start opposite him.
Segel may have a habit of trying to fit overly complex stories into longer runtimes, especially for comedies, but I truly think his perspective deserves to be out there. His characters always have a mix of humanity and wit about them. I would be very disappointed if The Five-Year Engagement’s failure to rake in money harms studios’ willingness to give him creative control in the future, but given Segel's talents at acting, it is a fair question to wonder if his time would be better spent in front of the camera rather than starting on new films from scratch.
What do you think? Would Jason Segel be better served by focusing on acting rather than writing, or is he better when he does both? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…
