New Year's Eve

I have been a fan of Garry Marshall. Ever since I set my eyes on Pretty Woman back in the 90's, I could say that Marshall is considered to be the king of Chick Flicks. He's got Romance written all over him and he has made a lot of interesting films. When Princess Diaries came out, he was able to relate to a younger generation and that was a remarkable feat. In 2010, Marshall released an ambitious project - bringing A-list stars in one movie, and that was Valentine's Day.

New Year's Eve is rumored to be a sequel of Valentine's Day, it was however confirmed that this would be a different movie. Set in New York during New Year's Eve, the movie tells the story of various characters and how they are interrelated with each other. This plot allows Marshall to make an ensemble of A-list Hollywood actors once again, and that is where the problem starts.

The cast includes a number of great actors, each has their own greatness when it comes to acting. Pfeiffer, Berry, Breslin, De Niro, Duhamel, Efron, Heigl and Parker are just a few of the names connected with the movie. With such A-listers, it is very hard to give them the amount of characterization and if so, it would take more than 4 hours just for character build up.

The movie started weak, jumping from one character to the other. It was in the last half of the film that it tries to spark up that emotional tingle from its audience but it was a bit premature. I admire the attempt and somehow it was Hillary Swank's final part of the story that really touched me.

Garry Marshall should go back making romantic films that are sincere and human just like Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman or Anne Hathaway's Princess Mia. This is where Marshall's strength in film making lies.

The movie feels like meeting someone on a blind date and you go on dating without even knowing who really the person are. There is fun but not chemistry. The characters are so one-dimensional that you feel disconnected from. New Year's Eve may have failed as a movie but if I were to pick between this one and Immortals, I'd rather sit through this one and endure 2 hours of seeing big stars doing almost nothing interesting.

GRADE: C-


trailer