Wednesday, December 21, 2011

New Year's Eve

After the commercial success of Valentines Day, a similar holiday film makes sense. Starring more actors than I would care to list, the film tells a number of interweaving stories regarding New Year’s Eve in New York City. Now as far as fun romantic comedies go, this film has some flaws. First and foremost is the fact that at least half of the storylines are boring, shallow or just plain annoying. But with Christmas dominating most December holiday movies, focusing on the less important week after is a fun alternative.

So let’s take a look at what works for New Year’s Eve. With so many actors, there are a few who can seemingly make any script work and do well with underdeveloped mini-stories. Josh Duhamel’s expedition to try to get back in the city after a car accident works only because of his likeability. In contrast, Zac Effron’s attempt at giving Michelle Pfeiffer a memorable holiday tour through the city is the most entertaining and developed story. If more time was spent on them and less on the script dregs, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ashton Kutcher, the film would be much more fun. Katherine Heigl and Sofia Vergara also helm some fun moments.

As we’ve learned time and time again, star-power can very rarely carry a film single-handedly. If there were a tighter focus on some romantic-comedy regulars, the story would develop smoother. Fans of lighthearted films will probably laugh a few times and enjoy the resolutions (pun intended) at the end of the film. Unfortunately, there was very little attention spent to the quality of the overall story being delivered to theaters. And how did action star Til Schweiger and Jon Bon Jovi find themselves alongside teen heartthrobs? These are the questions that never get answered in New Year’s Eve. Also, why is Ashton Kutcher so unlikeable these days? (6.8 out of 10)

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