MovieChat Forums > The Five-Year Engagement (2012) Discussion > Romantic Comedies Should Not Be 2 Hours ...

Romantic Comedies Should Not Be 2 Hours Long

posted 12 years ago by beatcamel
8 replies | jump to latest

I don't care if your Judd Apatow or Jason Segel.

That was my big problem with Sarah Marshall. The movie is sooooo in love with itself, it doesn't know when to quit, and so what should be at most a 90 minute affair becomes an interminable 2 hours.

As soon as I saw the running time on this movie I thought, "I bet this is the Sarah Marshall creative team at it again."

So anyways, yeah, won't be seeing this movie.

Come back when you learn how to edit and learn that not everything you say and do is a gem.

[–] bringonthelucie 12 years ago

I guess you must hate Billy Wilder then.

[–] beatcamel 12 years ago

Yeah, I mean, Jason Segel, Billy Wilder, what's the difference?

[–] bringonthelucie 12 years ago

One is alive, the other one is dead? One is a writer and an actor, the other was a writer and a director?

[–] veil182 12 years ago

I didn't realize FSM was so long, that's a great movie that I watch over and over again, and other than some of the stuff that happens after he leaves Hawaii it's fine.

This movie, while decent, had my jaw drop several times as scenes that were clearly meant to be on the DVD only were passed off as an actual movie

listen to the receiving end of sirens.

[–] Mon-Star 12 years ago

There is a reason why television comedies, such as How I Met Your Mother, run for 30 minutes (and that's with commercials.) This film had too much unnecessary filler. The director and producer wanted to give all of the supporting actors and actresses moments to do standup comedy, which made the whole film drag and drag... and drag and drag... and drag. There were so many things they could have cut or shortened.

The longer it took, the more convinced I was that the couple did not belong together. The fact that they were living together diluted the relevance of any actual wedding. So I didn't care whether they ever got married, since marriage and commitment didn't mean anything to them anyway.

[–] filmnoggin 12 years ago

Interminable was the word that came to my mind as well. They needed to cut several scenes - for example - the one where the sisters are talking like the cookie monster and Elmo.

[–] Clyburn 12 years ago

I don't necessarily agree with the blanket statement; it is theoretically possible to have 2 hours worth of solid material - but this movie did not. They needed to boil it down and get rid of the noise-for-the-sake-of-noise.

[–] Dave_44 12 years ago

I agree this movie was way too long. Like a standard SNL Skit...however I thought Forgetting Sarah Marshall wasn't long at all. (The semi-sequel was about 2 hours too long and I think that was only a 90 minute movie)

If you have the material and can keep it moving, time isn't an issue. If you are dragging it out for the sake of dragging it out, then yes it's too long.