New in Town (2009)

This is one of my favorite movies. If you are from the midwest or have visited someone in the midwest especially in the winter you will find this movie funny. I am from California and married someone from northern Michigan so I can relate to Renee's character in the movie as she is from Florida. I have had several trips to Michigan/midwest and discovered a totally different type of living than what I have experienced in Los Angeles. I laughed and found it very heart warming.

I'm a big fan of Renee Zellweger and HCJ, so I was expecting a lot from this film. Alas it was not meant to be.

The idea of a glamorous city executive (Zellweger) coming to a small town to downsize a company and butting heads with the local union rep (HCJ) is an excellent one. There was so much potential here for a really sharp romantic comedy, but it basically fell completely flat. Why? IMO because it didn't want to tackle the real issues surrounding downsizing and corporate greed, so it went the way of condescending stereotypes and tired romcom cliches.

Zellweger goes from being a brittle corporate drone to someone with a conscience in the blink of an eye, and there are only a few lame scenes with her & HCJ before they are in lurve. There's no sparring or witty repartee to draw the reader in, or any attempt to build sexual tension. The dialogue is unbelievable and the film consists of very short scenes that don't allow you to connect with the characters. The icy landscape is very fitting because Zellweger's face is frozen throughout the entire movie, but maybe that was through embarassment at being in such a dud, and not a botox treatment gone wrong.

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Funny. Renae does a great job and Harry is always good. Love the Minnesota accents but loved the strong faith represented in the film. It does change hearts. Good film and a great plot, seems to remind me of living in this state in a small town with small town politics. This film about sums it up. Good job.

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I was thinking this would be a typical boring romance, but I really enjoyed this movie. It was predictable, but a feel good movie. I didn't give it 5 stars due to the predictability, but I think it deserves 4 stars. I enjoyed Harry Connick JR and Renee Zellweger as well. Not sure if I would purchase this movie, but I enjoyed renting it, and am glad I saw it.

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I was excited to see a PG rated chick flick on the new release list and looked forward to seeing this film. In my experience, I don't have to fast forward/tell my kids to cover their eyes/tell my kids to leave the room/just turn the thing off if a chick flick is PG. Unfortunately, Hollywood just can't seem to master the art of combining decent and clean with high quality. Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick were okay as the leads. I've always liked Connick and Zellweger is growing on me. However, the story is 100% predictable Prada-laden, cutthroat businesswoman from Florida meets frozen backwards Minnesotan hicks. The romance played out the way I guessed from when the two characters first met. And the business storyline also played out as predicted. The Scandinavian type accents on the locals, particularly Sioban were exaggerated in an effort to make them funnier but it annoyed rather than amused me. I got through it but have no desire to watch it again, which means I won't be buying it. Thank goodness for public libraries where I can check this stuff out for free and not have to waste $ on it.

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