Think Sweet Home Alabama meets Fargo and has a square dance with people who all have two left feet. Put them together and you get New in Town. This film was left to rot in early winter theater release with virtually no hope of commercial success, and five months later thrown onto DVD with barebones special features and an even lesser chance to thrive. But if you are willing, this film does try to give a bit of comical and poignant insight into how big business affects people in many small U.S. towns and cities. But while this romantic comedy can be sweet as tapioca in its heartstring-tugging romanticism, it surely goes sour milk on the comedy.
Renee Zellwegger and Harry Connick Jr. Star in Lacklustre Comedy
Renee Zellweger is Lucy Hill, a no-nonsense go-getter with no personal life to speak of and her eye on climbing the executive ladder at a corporation in Miami. She is tasked with “refitting” an out-of-date Minnesota foods plant and has every intention of laying off half of its workers. But an unexpected roadblock comes in the form of union rep Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.), who makes it his mission to protect the plant and the livelihoods of its employees. These two passionate and driven thirtysomethings couldn’t be any more different on the surface, but eventually they find one another while fighting for the plant’s survival. J.K. Simmons (The Closer, Spider-Man trilogy) and Siobahn Fallon Hogan (Dogville, Men in Black) co-star, and provide the best comedic performances in the film.
After the cliché “don’t-cha-know” Minnesota references and sub-freezing antics slide through, an all-too-common story of love, family and perseverance can be found at the core of New in Town. As many romantic comedies have done before, they grab at the notion that chemistry and connection can be found in the strangest of places; but this film fails to establish a solid bond between main characters. It’s as if no one else in the town could fall for desirable schlub Ted other than the new girl Lucy. It felt put-upon and formulaic from the start, and left no room for any unforeseeable twist or deviation from the norm. Then again, if seeing something new isn’t your cup of tea and you like your rom-coms silly and standard, this is definitely your movie.
Connick and Zellweger’s Chemistry Tries to Heat a Cold Script
As far as chemistry, Zellweger and Connick Jr. come off as very believable in their leading roles. Together they are quite entertaining, as both have very decent comedic timing (especially their breakthrough scene with Ted’s daughter finding dad and Lucy flustered and all but intimate), but what falls dreadfully short here is the script they’re given to work with. Throw in the real freezing temperatures they filmed in on the banks of Winnipeg, Canada, and it just looked too hard for them to even try to be improvisational and bring enough life into the screenplay. For instance, when a simple car scene between Lucy and Blanche (Fallon) feels more like uncomfortable silence between actors than between the characters, it’s obvious more role development was needed. Dead air on film and cold air on-set undoubtedly make for a bad movie.
It didn’t seem like director Jonas Elmer wanted to try and shake things up for this film, either. His first foray at the helm of a Hollywood movie looked like the training wheels were still on, and he wouldn’t be able to hold it steady once they were off. Granted, there’s not much you can do in the way of cinematography when your entire backdrop is an endless sea of frozen tundra, but it just felt too safe to have the potential to be any good.
This film may have been released around the holiday season/new year because of its religious undertones. New in Town interjected a few bits on the community’s strong spiritual beliefs, which may have scared the studio into not releasing the comedy in late spring, where more films of this genre usually battle it out. However, that particular story arc doesn’t carry enough weight to overshadow the real plot of the film: the little people vs. big business. In today’s economy, a movie such as this could have been a real promoter for re-energizing the country and putting focus back on self-sufficiency and grassroots development rather than supreme globalization and corporate greed. But all that wouldn’t have mattered if there was no genuine connection to the plight of the people in this film, which there is not. It didn’t need to be a Roger and Me ground-breaker kind of film, just fresh enough to not feel like it was done countless times before.
New in Town: Rental or Reject?
With only the standard special features included like cast & crew commentary, deleted scenes and 3 featurettes to choose from, New in Town won’t do too much good for you at the checkout counter at your local video store. And although Zellweger and Connick are a cute enough tandem on-screen, there’s not enough there to enjoy after just one viewing. Rent at your own peril, and take it easy on the tapioca.
Omar Bobb-Semple - Omar Bobb-Semple has made Los Angeles, CA his home for the last five years. This New York City native sought fame and fortune, but instead ...
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