Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

SXSW Film presents: ‘I Give It a Year’

How should one react to a movie without a main character? A story without a bad guy or a good guy?

“I Give It A Year” is a romantic comedy directed by Dan Mazer ( writer of “Borat” and “Bruno).
The dominant characters in the film are a ill-matched married couple. The husband being a laid back writer, while the wife is an uptight control freak. The couple, Josh (Rafe Spall) and Nat (Rose Byrne), start to realize they were not made for each other only a couple months after their big day and struggle with living together and dealing with their conflicting personalities.

As the couple undergo marriage counseling, the audience is shown a series of flashbacks which tell the story of how Nat and Josh realize their true love might be another person. The unexpected ending to this movie adds a tinge of realism to the average romantic comedy and simply improves itself by originality. “I Give It A Year” also attempts to change status quo by making sure there isn’t an antagonist. Overall this film has an interesting plot and is packed full of hilarious one liners but fails to remain genuine at the expense a sometimes unnecessary amount of jokes per scene. Dan Mazer’s debut film won’t be remembered as a masterpiece, but does offer an interesting spin on the modern romance and a great deal of laughter.

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