The film starts off as a tedious, lifeless ordeal and it stays that way with a vengeance.
New in Town (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:135
Fresh:24
Rotten:111
Average Rating:3.7/10
Consensus: Cliched and short on charm, New In Town is a pat genre exercise that fails to bring the necessary heat to its Minnesota setting.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for language and some suggestive material.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:27-02-2009
Synopsis: 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... 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. [More]
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, J.K. Simmons
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, J.K. Simmons, Frances Conroy, Mike O'Brien, Rashida Jones
Director: Jonas Elmer
Director: Jonas Elmer
Screenwriter: Kenneth Rance, C. Jay Cox
Producer: Paul Brooks, Peter Safran, Darryl Taja, Tracey E. Edmonds
Composer: John Swihart
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for New in Town
Predictable and uninspired, it is one more example of the dumb comedies that Hollywood is churning out at an alarming rate.
A shockingly banal script lends the movie a generic awfulness; you wish Zellweger were in better hands.
Renée Zellweger's rabbity, dimply pout - surely the strangest facial expression in Hollywood - simpers and twitches out of the screen in this moderate girly flick that adheres with almost religious fanaticism to the feelgood romcom handbook.
The most shocking thing about New In Town is the sheer lack of care that seems to have gone into it. It's as if a terrible TV script has been pulled out of a dusty drawer and padded out into a movie.
must have paid Zellweger a lot of money. Romcom fans should save theirs for repeat outings to He's Just Not That Into You.
Handed a role that will amuse nobody but her bank manager, Zellweger displays an infectious lack of enthusiasm, convincing only in capturing the look of someone who wishes they would rather be anywhere else. It’s easy to sympathise.
Recalling the shmaltziest bits of similar city-slicker-meetsbumpkin romcoms like Doc Hollywood and Sweet Home Alabama, New In Town is pure Valentine’s Day drivel.
The screenplay is credited to Kenneth Rance and C. Jay Cox, but it's so shockingly inept, it might have been churned out by some cheap screenwriting software.
There is the expected smattering of slapstick moments and Connick Jr delivers the requisite outdoorman charm to show Renee just how cool the cold can be.
Groundbreaking cinema it ain’t, with the story unfolding exactly as you’d expect. But fans of the corn director Frank Capra used to cook will find it a dish to savour.
There are fears the recession could turn into a depression – which is where you’ll be if you endure this “romantic comedy” about factory workers facing the sack.
We have to munch through a load of Capra-corn as she switches from corporate hatchet-woman to champion of local business. "You know, you're not so bad when you're unconscious," says Connick Jr of her. We could probably say the same of the scriptwriter.
Zellweger’s face looks stuck in a permanent wince. Oh wait, it’s the clunking script about a spike-heeled career girl forced to move from Miami to Minnesota.
New In Town is rather like tapioca itself, soggy and virtually tasteless. It’s like a Frank Capra movie with hardened arteries.
By the time the film presents us with the social problem of getting an errant handful of buckshot fired into your bottom, you realise that everyone has lost faith in the movie.
This is not the first movie to have a laugh with the hicks versus city slicks theme - it's a pity director Jonas Elmer didn't add a little acid.
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May 25, 2009:
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