Last year, director Gary Marshall brought us the all-star casted Valentine’s Day, and now he’s back tackling another holiday in New Year’s Eve. The set up is the same as the first, with tons of stars out in full force covering tons of overlapping subplots. Everyone is assured a gleefully sappy ending in one of Marshall’s tenderhearted realms.
Hillary Swank plays the VP of the Times Square Alliance who begins to panic when the ball that’s supposed to drop at midnight get stuck half way to the top.
Jon Bon Jovi, who’s acting career is living on a prayer, plays a pop rock sensation (what a stretch) trying to rekindle a lost romance with a catering chef, played by Katherine Heigl.
Ashton Kutcher and Glee star Lea Michele start off as strangers stuck in an elevator, but following the “anything goes” mentality that is New Year’s Eve, sparks fly and a romance begins.
Zac Efron is hired by a lonely and frazzled Michelle Pfeiffer to help her fulfill a list of 2011’s New Year’s resolutions in exchange for tickets to the party of the year.
Jessica Biel and Seth Meyers play a couple expecting their first child who are trying to collect a $25,000 prize by having the first official baby of 2012.
Those are just a few on the story lines in the film, and just a fraction of the stars. Other stars can be seen, including Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Sophia Vergara, Ludacris, Sarah Jessica Parker, and of course it wouldn’t be a Gary Marshall movie without Hector Elizondo (although he’s playing a different character here than he was in Valentine’s Day).
While the plots are predictable and cliche, I still found myself looking past the cheesy lines and humor that was probably better fit for a rerun of Everybody Love’s Raymond.
Even though the flick had its fair share of cinematic issues, the movie just made me feel good.
The wide shots of Times Square in preparation for one of it’s biggest nights made my imagination run wild of what it would be like to be shoved in a numbered pen, ready to ring in the New Year with millions of others, hopeful that 2012 will just be different.
The occasional motivational voice-overs that spoke of hope for a new year and second chances made me wonder if there really is an extra ounce of magic in the air as the the clock strikes 12 and the calendar changes from December 31 to January 1.
Bottom line, the movie made me happy, and it left me with a smile on my face. Sometimes we need to look past cinematography, screen writing and producing to simply ask ourselves: How did I feel? Because in all honesty, if I can leave a movie feeling happier than I did before I sat down, it’s been a successful night. I mean it could be worse; I could have seen Jack and Jill.
Critic’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Chelsea Daubar can be reached at cdaubar@gmail.com.