New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

2011

Comedy (Romantic)

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 118 minutes

Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Josh Duhamel, Hillary Swank, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Cary Elwes, Alyssa Milano, Jessica Biel, Seth Myers, Ashton Kutcher, Carla Gugino, Katherine Heigl, Jon Bon Jovi,  Sofia Vergara, Sarah Jessica Parker, Abigail Breslin, Russell Peters, Lea Michele, Ludacris, Ryan Seacrest

Directed By: Garry Marshall

Rating: 2.5 out of 10

Outline

This movie is the stories of many couples and singles as New Year’s Eve approaches.

Review

We have the financial success of the movie Valentine’s Day for this new garbage genre of mega ensemble casts. Because there are only a finite amount of holidays I am sure we will be blessed with the films Flag Day and President’s Day at some point. This movie follows multiple people with intertwining stories as midnight quickly approaches on New Year’s Eve. Love, family, and friendships are all explored in these jumbled timelines.

I hated this movie and I find it such a gimmick. I hope this fad fades quickly of movies having these super casts. This film is more about star gazing then telling a meaningful story. I found myself naming celebrities instead of enjoying or even getting into the movie. As the film gets underway your mind will never get out of that mode. Why is Cary Elwes in this? Or why would Alyssa Milano do this role? For people who are not sure who I am talking about it is the dude from Princess Bride or the girl from Who’s the Boss. That’s as deep as my thoughts went as I watched this so called film. The film starts off quickly and introduces you to plethora of characters and their stories. One person is a backup singer, another is a bike courier, one is a mother, another one a television producer and so on. Because there are so many stories going on it is hard to care about anyone of these people or there so called perceived trials and tribulations. It tries to tug on the viewers heart strings but all the stories seemed forced and contrived. A film where all these stories and characters are intertwined makes love seem common instead of magical no matter what the so called day.

Right across the board the acting is subpar. I am not sure if this is because virtually every character in this film is a known actor so you are noticing them more? Or if they were all told to be over the top in their deliveries? Either way the acting is shockingly bad with Robert De Niro the only person to seem to know what acting is about. He plays a sick patient in the hospital quite well. Ashton Kutcher, Josh Duhamel, Hillary Swank, and Sofia Vergara are the worst of the group and that is saying a lot. On a side note Russell Peters should just give up on acting. I like his stand up but his acting is epically bad.

What I will say positive about this film is that is flows in and out of the different stories quite easily and so it is not hard to watch. Besides that it is like this film is trying to make you hate it. I don’t want to ruin anything in case for some reason you are going to watch this film but this movie is upsetting. It is like they try and match the wrong people up on purpose so you are just feeling perplexed. It seems all the love stories are between people of vastly different ages and or looks. I get that they were trying to make New Years Eve a magical night but the relationships they were proposing were voodoo magic in nature making this film kind of uncomfortable. On a side note the Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer story was a cute angle and you will find it is the only one remotely worth following. This film can’t end quickly enough and it will leave you with something akin to a New Years Day hangover.

It is hard to knock on a director like Garry Marshall as he has been making women laugh and cry for years. Movies like Pretty Woman and Beaches and many more are proof he has more than a few supporters. Let us face facts though; this is not a good movie more of a cash grab. His placing of known celebrities as smaller and even extra parts is clearly a product to make money. This film was an elongated edition of Entertainment tonight. Sure Katherine Fugate wrote this terrible film but Marshall did virtually nothing with it to make it remotely watchable.

This film is not a recommendation and has all the appeal of going to a New Year’s party sober and not knowing anyone.

T Factor + If you like ensemble films this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you need strong chemistry between your actors then this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Valentine’s Day, Raising Helen