This Vegas Is a Bad Bet

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt star in truthful romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - The Five-Year Engagement clocks in at over two hours, which is a bit too long for many critics. But its honesty about relationships makes the Jason Segel-Emily Blunt rom-com stand out from the pack.

• "Because it's so willing to drill down into Tom and Violet's misery, The Five-Year Engagement involves a higher grim-to-grin ratio than its fluffier brethren," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post . "But there's an unmistakable ring of truth to the couple's conflicts and mixed feelings."

Heigl, Kutcher can't revive a stale romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - The makers of Killers, the new rom-com with Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher, didn't let critics screen it. Always a great sign. From the few reviews out there:

• Geoff Berkshire, Metromix : "Utterly unconvincing as action, comedy or romance, it’s a colossal waste of time and a shocking choice for Heigl at this point in her career."
• Drew McWeeny, HitFix : "This is not a terrible, terrible, terrible movie. One terrible will probably get the job done."

Critics massacre sappy ensemble romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - Romantic comedy Valentine's Day is stuffed with stars and subplots, but the quantity doesn't make up for the lack of quality, say critics in mostly negative reviews.

• This "is a date movie from hell," writes Peter Travers at Rolling Stone , wondering how Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall persuaded "a big name cast to stuff themselves into this box of rancid heart-shaped chocolates."

Subprime rom-com maxes out the clichés

(NEWSER) - Chick-lit flick Confessions of a Shopaholic is one victim the credit crisis should have claimed, say critics. Isla Fisher stars as a credit card addict who lands a job at a financial magazine, but her considerable comic gifts are wasted by a script that turns her into a "babbling ninny," Moira Macdonald writes in the Seattle Times. More»

Bland rom-com fails to rise above heap of clichés

(NEWSER) - Fish-out-of-water romantic comedy New In Town takes an old recipe and follows it to the letter, say critics. That's not a good thing. Renee Zellweger stars as a cynical Miami exec sent to cut jobs in an icy Minnesota hamlet full of warm-hearted folks, with results you can see coming "all the way from Duluth," John Anderson writes in Newsday. More»