‘The Five-Year Engagement’ Trailer: Will Jason Segel Be the New Prince of RomCom?

What happens to an engaged couple when life gets in the way. Think funny and touching instead of melodramatic and overly sentimental.

Over the course of the past decade the Judd Apatow school of story-telling has gone a long way to re-invigorate the entire comedy genre. All of his unappreciated characters, brash humor and unconventionally heartfelt plot-lines have breathed new life into the way movies make people laugh. His effect on cinema caught us by surprise and has since been welcomed with open arms. In the cases of Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Jonah Hill and Steve Carrell, Apatow even helped catapult their careers from afterthoughts to the A-list.

No one needs me to give a summary of Judd Apatow’s filmography or go into great detail on his effect on contemporary cinema. However I feel one of his most overlooked accomplishments was helping reinvent the romantic comedy — one of the most stale genres in existence.

“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was arguably the best romcom of the past decade — not to mention a star-making film for the charming and brilliant Jason Segel. The Hawaii-set tale about getting over an ex-girlfriend and moving on was hilarious, genuine and oddly touching. Directed by Nick Stoller and written by Segel himself the film was adored by audiences — and for better or worse gave us Russell Brand.

Now, Stoller and Segel (co-writers of the must-see Muppet movie) are together again in “Five-Year Engagement” a romcom starring Segel and Emily Blunt. The film follows a recently engaged couple as their wedding continues to get delayed due to unforeseeable circumstances. If “Sarah Marshall” is any indication of Stoller and Segel’s chemistry the upcoming April release should be a must-see, which might make Segel the reigning king of romantic comedy — Billy Crystal needs to dust off the crown for the ceremony.