After a quick romance, Josh and Nat (Spall and Byrne) have a lavish marriage with their friends and family around them. But no one expects it to last, including best man Danny (Merchant) and relatives Naomi and Hugh (Driver and Flemyng), who have their own marital issues. Sure enough, after nine months Josh and Nat are struggling to hold things together. Josh is tempted to rekindle an old flame with Chloe (Faris), while Nat is drawn to sexy client Guy (Baker). But their therapist (Colman) encourages them to commit to making it to their anniversary.

Writer-director Mazer assembles the film from a series of wacky set-pieces that poke fun at various aspects of relationships, usually when people say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Some of this is hilarious (a ridiculous attempt at a threesome), although most scenes feel more like stand-up routines for ad-libbers like Merchant and Key (as a gloom-mongering insurance salesman). The funniest moments belong to side players, with Driver delivering riotously brutal one-liners and Colman's repertoire of scene-stealing genius.

But Mazer spends so much time setting up funny scenes that he neglects to create coherent characters. Baker and Faris play idealised people who never register beneath the surface, so we can't see the attraction. Meanwhile, Spall and Byrne are terrific when they're depicting spiky interaction and a natural sense of humour, but when their flaws are forced into the spotlight both are oddly turned into deeply unsympathetic characters.

It's a clever way to make us feel their disappointment in each other, except that Mazer never bothers to explore this aspect of a new relationship. Even though it's actually the central theme of the whole plot, the film just skims over everything that might have made it resonate, rushing to the next big joke. So it ends up as little more than a mindless anti-romance comedy that will keep you laughing as long as you don't engage your heart or mind.

themes, language, innuendo

23.Jan.13