NEW IN TOWN
RYAN: As a rule, you and I love romantic comedies. But sadly, “New in Town” is a major exception.
CAROLINE: Ugh. Why do people keep casting Renée Zellweger in romantic leading roles? Granted, she was great as Bridget Jones… but I just can’t take it anymore. She’s so pinched and skinny.
RYAN: But her eyes look markedly less squinty in this film, I noticed. Still, she overacted a bit and seemed almost gawky at times.
CAROLINE: But we do love her co-star, Harry Connick Jr.
RYAN: I’ve always loved him, but I’m sad he’s a part of this movie. I was really looking forward to it, thinking even if it’s not great it won’t be that bad. But it’s actually one of the worst movies ever.
CAROLINE: For starters, it’s poorly written and as a result, the pacing is all off. It’s also not funny at all. Renée’s acting is decent, but as usual, she doesn’t look good. Her face is so weird and tight. She has a very nice bob though. It may have been a wig now that I think about it.
RYAN: There were several scenes that were clearly trying to be funny but they failed miserably. No one in the audience was laughing. You and I actually looked at each other and cringed a few times.
CAROLINE: They tried to do a whole let’s-make-fun-of-the-Minnesota-accents thing a la “Fargo” and it didn’t work at all. It’s got a decent supporting cast including Frances Conroy from TV’s “Six Feet Under,” but it was just trying way to hard to be lovable and charming, and it failed.
RYAN: I really like J.K. Simmons from TV’s “The Closer” too. He plays the plant foreman at the Minnesota factory Renée goes to oversee. But even he isn’t good in this.
CAROLINE: And he put on 35 lbs. for this role! I was like, “Honey, it ain’t worth it.”
RYAN: So not worth it. I wondered why he was so thick!
CAROLINE: The movie does have a couple of sweet and funny moments. I liked the scene where Harry Connick’s daughter goes to her first school dance. But Renée and Harry don’t have great chemistry, and most of the jokes fall flat. I don’t really think of Renée as a great comedic actress. Plus she’s got zero sex appeal.
RYAN: It’s only 90 minutes long but it felt like a year. Movies should have a sense of pace and timing to them, this one is just flat the entire time. I kind of couldn’t believe it. I’m embarrassed for everyone involved.
CAROLINE: I spent the whole time hoping that it was going to get better and it never did.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: This movie is deserving of a Razzie award. It will surely be one of the worst films of 2009. This is definitely the kind of movie that comes out in January but it should have just gone direct to DVD like those Jessica Simpson movies of late. I don’t even think it’s worth renting though.
CAROLINE: It might be if you like these actors, but honestly, I could never recommend this movie. We love romantic comedies, but this one was so disappointing. I don’t think we had high hopes for it since it has very little buzz, but we did have medium hopes; and even those weren’t met.
— RATING —
