New In Town (2009)Director: Jonas Elmer
Starring : Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., Siobhan Fallon
Starring : Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., Siobhan Fallon
Plot: Renee Zellweger stars opposite Harry Connick Jr. in this snow-packed romantic comedy. NEW IN TOWN begins in Miami, home to Lucy Hill (Zellweger), a single, high-powered executive on the fast track to being a CEO. With her spiked heels, plush bachelorette pad, and fierce collection of power suits, Lucy is unprepared when her boss sends her to snowy Minnesota to work on-site at one of the company's factories. Reluctantly leaving her sunny home, Lucy lands in New Ulm, a small town distinguished by a thick Midwestern accent, a strong work ethic, and an appropriately skeptical attitude toward big-city newcomers like Lucy, who finds herself in a brutal battle against several factory workers, a nosy assistant (Siobhan Fallon), and a stubborn union rep (Connick) who, as fate would have it, just happens to be a love interest as well. Zellweger appears a bit wooden at the start of the film but eases into her role as the film progresses. As her character grows more comfortable in her own skin and develops some empathy towards her new neighbors, we see Zellweger's familiar charm emerge. Much of the film's humor comes at the expense of Minnesotans, but the cast delivers the jokes in good fun. Director Jonas Elmer captures some chemistry between his two leads, though the film doesn't rely too heavily on this romance. Instead, it explores the differences in small- versus big-town life, exposing the unique, homey appeal of the former. By focusing on the people working behind the scenes, NEW IN TOWN celebrates a way of American life that is rarely the focus of Hollywood romantic comedies. (rottentomatoes.com)
Review: Late last December we headed into the Plymouth Mann Theater to watch Gran Torino. We caught a preview for New in Town and the theater which was filled with full blooded, half frozen Minnesotans was in an uproar. At the time the movie looked like it could be promising but we chose to wait for a $1 rental opportunity from Red Box. It proved to be worth our $1, but not much more. I started out very frustrated with the movie because it was a very stereotypically targeted movie about Minnesota and Minnesotans. I found myself critiquing the first 20 minutes of the movie thinking, "I don't talk like that. I don't eat tapioca everyday. I don't scrap book. I don't drive a truck." But as soon as she walked into the VFW fried chicken dinner it started to grow on me a little. The story was a cutesy semi-believable comedic romance that was headed up by Zellweger and Connick. The two of them seemed to have good on screen chemistry but Connick's on screen abilities do not impress me. In this role as a rough and tumble MN truck driver he didn't have to be anything but awkward and cranky, but when they got to the light hearted romantic and fun scenes it was uncomfortable for me to watch as Connick looked like an amature compared to Zellweger's on screen swagger.
The story follows the same plot line that all romantic comedies seem to. Boy meets girl (although this time flip-flopped), girls falls for boy, girls does something to turn the boy away, girl returns and is swept off of her feet everybody living happily ever after. Some revolutionary writer needs to step in and shake up the romantic comedy genre because it is getting to be overused and too predictable. Being a MN the story hit a little closer to home and was somewhat bearable since we can relate to being stuck in the snow, freezing our tootsies on cold floors, and peeing in the woods. Even beyond my above critiques there was something further that bothered me even more. This movie sits back and pokes fun at Minnesotans, ridicules the way we talk, the things we enjoy, and makes all sorts of generalizations yet they couldn't benefit our local economy even a little by actually filming the movie here in town? Instead they traveled all around the continent filming in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Miami, and LA when we had all the needed right here in good old MN. I would not discourage you from renting this movie but I couldn't find it in myself to recommend it. I would rate this film in at 1.5 stars out of 5 total stars.
Review: Late last December we headed into the Plymouth Mann Theater to watch Gran Torino. We caught a preview for New in Town and the theater which was filled with full blooded, half frozen Minnesotans was in an uproar. At the time the movie looked like it could be promising but we chose to wait for a $1 rental opportunity from Red Box. It proved to be worth our $1, but not much more. I started out very frustrated with the movie because it was a very stereotypically targeted movie about Minnesota and Minnesotans. I found myself critiquing the first 20 minutes of the movie thinking, "I don't talk like that. I don't eat tapioca everyday. I don't scrap book. I don't drive a truck." But as soon as she walked into the VFW fried chicken dinner it started to grow on me a little. The story was a cutesy semi-believable comedic romance that was headed up by Zellweger and Connick. The two of them seemed to have good on screen chemistry but Connick's on screen abilities do not impress me. In this role as a rough and tumble MN truck driver he didn't have to be anything but awkward and cranky, but when they got to the light hearted romantic and fun scenes it was uncomfortable for me to watch as Connick looked like an amature compared to Zellweger's on screen swagger.
The story follows the same plot line that all romantic comedies seem to. Boy meets girl (although this time flip-flopped), girls falls for boy, girls does something to turn the boy away, girl returns and is swept off of her feet everybody living happily ever after. Some revolutionary writer needs to step in and shake up the romantic comedy genre because it is getting to be overused and too predictable. Being a MN the story hit a little closer to home and was somewhat bearable since we can relate to being stuck in the snow, freezing our tootsies on cold floors, and peeing in the woods. Even beyond my above critiques there was something further that bothered me even more. This movie sits back and pokes fun at Minnesotans, ridicules the way we talk, the things we enjoy, and makes all sorts of generalizations yet they couldn't benefit our local economy even a little by actually filming the movie here in town? Instead they traveled all around the continent filming in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Miami, and LA when we had all the needed right here in good old MN. I would not discourage you from renting this movie but I couldn't find it in myself to recommend it. I would rate this film in at 1.5 stars out of 5 total stars.
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