New Year’s Eve (2011)
Certified: PG
Duration: 118 minutes
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Starring: Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Sienna Miller, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank
KRS release
New Year’s Eve is made up of a series of vignettes much like Love Actually in 2003 and last year’s Valentine’s Day.
The film zips to and fro from one plotline to another like an overworked bee in an effort to keep our interest- Johan Galea
The film is set in New York where Claire (Hilary Swank) is new vice president of the Times Square Alliance and has her hands full with a giant ball that is to drop at midnight but which is not working properly.
Then there is Jensen (Jon Bon Jovi), the rock star hired to perform on the night and who is more intent on his proposal-gone-wrong to caterer Laura (Katherine Heigl).
Meanwhile, Laura’s sous chef Ava (Sofia Vergara) is very much interested in Jensen.
Elise (Lea Michelle), one of Jensen’s back-up singers, gets stuck in an elevator with comic artist Randy (Ashton Kutcher) who loathes New Year’s Eve.
Randy’s friend Paul (Zac Efron) is trying to make the night a memorable one; this can only be done by making the wishes of mousey Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer), a record label employee, come true.
Sam (Josh Duhamel) also wants to go to the party but he is stuck in an RV after his car breaks down and he wants to see whether the girl he spoke to a year before will actually show up for their date.
Then there is Griffin and Tess (Seth Meyers & Jessica Biel) who are expecting a child but want it to be the first to be born on January 1 to earn a $25,000 cash prize.
James (Til Schweiger) and his wife are also vying for the same prize.
Meanwhile, a cancer patient named Stan (Robert De Niro) who wants to see the ball drop in Times Square. He is under the care of nurse Aimee (Halle Berry).
And Kim (Sarah Jessica Parker) is concerned that her teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) wants to go to the city centre to party with her boyfriend.
Surprisingly, for a film with so many stories and featured stars – almost half of Hollywood’s best in fact – New Year’s Eve feels incredibly empty and underwhelming.
The vignettes lack punch and the cast seems intent on playing it easy. The film retreads Valentine’s Day formula to the letter but falls far short in recreating the warm fuzzy feeling that Love Actually generates.
The blame lies squarely on the script by Katherine Fugate who seems intent on accumulating every sitcom/romantic comedy cliché and then re-paste it on screen.
The Michelle Pfeiffer and Zac Efron vignette was the most intriguing and the two actors seemed to be actually enjoying the experience.
There was enough material to be expanded for a whole film.
The Josh Duhamel story was also an interesting one, with him emerging as a very endearing screen presence. However, the script had to saddle this vignette with an inapprop-riate conclusion.
Young Abigail Breslin also shows enough acting chops to stand above the crowd and puts Sarah Jessica Parker to shame.
For a romantic comedy, New Year’s Eve lacks any serious comedy. The film zips to and fro from one plotline to another like an overworked bee in an effort to keep our interest.
The film’s out-takes tagged at the end of the film are actually funnier than anything in the picture. Couple this with the scene of Michelle Pfeiffer and Zac Efron dancing the night away and that is the vibe that this movie should have been projecting.
The audience who liked Valentine’s Day will probably find New Year’s Eve the glass of champagne they need to celebrate the New Year; for me, however, this film experience turned out to be all fizz but no spark.