New in Town – Review

Reviews

Little unknown fact: Harry Connick Jr. makes any movie better.

new_in_town

Director: Jonas Elmer
Notable Cast: Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., J.K. Simmons, Siobhan Fallon, Frances Conroy

New in Town follows the well-worn, fish-out-of-water scenario that seems to work well for romantic comedies. This time it involves Lucy Hill (Zellweger) as a go-getting Miami executive who reluctantly accepts an assignment to Minnesota to restructure a failing food-manufacturing plant. Her arrival is a bit of culture shock. Gone are the palm trees and the humidity. Now she has to adjust to the wintry weather and the rustic people who live and work in the small town of New Ulm, MN (which is actually Winnipeg, Canada). Being a big city gal, the thought of women crocheting and knitting for fun just doesn’t register with her. Nor does their thick Minnesotan accents. Here, they are accentuated to levels not seen in motion pictures since Fargo.

Worst-case offender is Lucy’s perky secretary, Blanche (Siobhan Fallon), who makes the best tapioca pudding in the land of a thousand lakes. She means well, but if you were to have a conversation with the lady you’d want to take a break and chew on some anxiety pills to calm your nerves. Siobhan’s Blanche character as your typical Minnesotan is a caricature that illustrates that the filmmakers didn’t do much research. This isn’t anything new; Hollywood has misrepresented a number of populations in its depictions.

Still, despite this grievance, all the supporting characters have a unique charm about them – small-town values and all. J.K. Simmons is a hoot as Stu, the plant foreman who’s unimpressed by the “monkeys” (as he calls them) from Miami running things. And he has Lucy in his crosshairs. Simmons is like a great utility ballplayer: reliable and willing to do the little things to make the movie better.

The same goes for Harry Connick Jr. He plays Ted, the union rep who Lucy distains – at first. Connick has only made a dozen or so films, but he’s excelled in most of them. Before playing in chick-flicky roles alongside Sandra Bullock (Hope Floats) and Hillary Swank (P.S. I Love You), he played demented sociopaths (Copycat) and Will Smith’s wingman (Independence Day). With New in Town the crooner/actor is again part of a romantic comedy.

When Connick and Zellweger are on screen together, those are the film’s biggest highlights. They argue and then warm up to each other, just as fall and winter turn to spring. Their budding relationship comes at the heels of being adversaries with her restructuring the plant and him working for the best interests of the employees and the town of New Ulm.

New in Town provides a few good chuckles here and there, mostly from Simmons and Connick, and Zellweger adds some spills and stumbles on frozen lakes, but everything that happens – including the forced happily-ever-after ending – is just too predictable.

Translation: perfect for wives and girlfriends looking to get out of the house for a few hours.

FINAL RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1-5 BUCKETS):

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!