Spring Break
'New In Town' is typical movie for Zellweger
1 and a half out of 5 stars
Natalie Abreu
Issue date: 2/3/09 Section: Focus
It seems like the same, sad career choice: an Oscar-winning actress just gives up on her career and decides to pick and choose roles according to which one might be the cheesiest. Renee Zellweger seems to have chosen such a fate for herself and the evidence in the inane romantic comedy "New in Town," which proves to be the same old romantic comedy wrapped up in a new 2009 bow.
The premise of this doomed comedy is a fish-out-of-water story in which Lucy Hill (Zellweger), a high-powered consultant for a food-processing company in the sea of Miami, is sent to the snowy, rural lands of New Ulm, Minn. to oversee the restructuring of an underperforming plant. City slicker Hill must adjust to life in a rural town, and come to see how truly inviting it and the people can be.
But she and Zellweger are both clearly out of their element; Hill clumsily interacts with the local folk, including her love interest Ted (Harry Connick Jr.) who is a blue collar union representative. The other New Ulm folks are quirky, and not only in their actions. Their accents are so exaggerated, audiences will laugh for all the wrong reasons. Such accents have their place, in films such as "Fargo," but not in this movie. This is especially so for Hill's secretary Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) who in between her chomping on tapioca pudding, seems to channel a two-dimensional version of Frances McDormand's character in "Fargo."
This film is not a total waste of time and money; there are a few laugh-worthy moments and interesting characters trying to keep the film afloat. But for its star Zellweger, it seems to be a demotion of the saddest sort. Is Zellweger still an A-list star? Maybe, but her acting here is pointing her in the B-range instead of A.
The premise of this doomed comedy is a fish-out-of-water story in which Lucy Hill (Zellweger), a high-powered consultant for a food-processing company in the sea of Miami, is sent to the snowy, rural lands of New Ulm, Minn. to oversee the restructuring of an underperforming plant. City slicker Hill must adjust to life in a rural town, and come to see how truly inviting it and the people can be.
But she and Zellweger are both clearly out of their element; Hill clumsily interacts with the local folk, including her love interest Ted (Harry Connick Jr.) who is a blue collar union representative. The other New Ulm folks are quirky, and not only in their actions. Their accents are so exaggerated, audiences will laugh for all the wrong reasons. Such accents have their place, in films such as "Fargo," but not in this movie. This is especially so for Hill's secretary Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) who in between her chomping on tapioca pudding, seems to channel a two-dimensional version of Frances McDormand's character in "Fargo."
This film is not a total waste of time and money; there are a few laugh-worthy moments and interesting characters trying to keep the film afloat. But for its star Zellweger, it seems to be a demotion of the saddest sort. Is Zellweger still an A-list star? Maybe, but her acting here is pointing her in the B-range instead of A.
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