 | STARRING: Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr. |
In full make-up, skirt, heels, and a light form fitting jacket, Miami businesswoman Lucy Hill arrives in a small Minnesota town to begin the restructuring of a blue color manufacturing plant. Mumbling something along the lines of “how cold can it be” she is in for a rude awakening as she steps outside of the airport to feel the chill of a Minnesota winter. She screams and runs inside, in one of the few funny scenes in New In Town. This romantic comedy starring Renée Zellweger as Lucy, doesn’t deliver much comedy or romance.
New In Town follows the romantic comedy blueprint set forth since the beginning of movies. On her first night in Minnesota, Lucy meets a guy named Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.), who she hates. He also turns out to be the union rep at the manufacturing plant. Lucy is also immediately at odds with her new secretary Blanche and plant foreman Stu (J.K. Simmons). Lucy plans to downsize the workforce and she knows right where to start. But funny things start to happen on the way to those layoffs. When a car accident leaves her stranded in a snowstorm, Lucy is rescued by Ted. And guest what? They start to like each other. Lucy even helps Ted’s daughter get ready for a date. As their romance blossoms, Lucy also begins to forge a friendship with Blanche. When the corporate headquarters orders Lucy to close the plant, she is determined to make sure it doesn’t happen. She even re-hires Stu, who she had already fired. When Blanches discovers Lucy’s old list of layoffs on a sheet of paper, she becomes persona non grata around the city. But Lucy will not be deterred. She is determined to not only keep the plant open, but get her man back as well. I wasn’t exactly on the edge of my seat waiting to see how things would turn out in the end.
It’s bad enough when a film centers on a romance between two people with nothing in common and no chemistry whatsoever. But then on top of that, New In Town wants us to buy into a corporate executive putting her career on the line to save a manufacturing plant simply because she likes a couple of the people who work there. It’s all completely ridiculous. Nothing happens that you don't see coming. On a positive note, J.K. Simmons breathes life into every scene he’s in, making foreman Stu the only likeable character in the movie. His gruff, but funny, way of insulting everyone did make me smile. The film is clearly banking on the star power of Renee Zellweger for its success. She just seemed to be going through the motions. There are surely better movies to be made showcasing her talent.
I’m not the target audience for New In Town. I did hear some women commenting that the movie was cute on the way out of the screening. I have my doubts as to whether they would say that if they actually had to pay for the movie. This is not a good film. Even if you like romantic comedies, you can wait for this one to come on cable.
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