Grade: C-
Bottom line: Cute colloquialisms and garish shows of regionalist sentiment can’t save this flick from falling into the pits of forgettable, formulaic romantic comedies.
Prior to watching New in Town, it’s difficult to tell whether or not it’s going to flop. On one hand, the movie stars the acclaimed Renee Zellweger (Cinderella Man, Bridget Jones’s Diary). On the other hand, it features relative big-screen newbie and jazz-funk artist Harry Connick Jr.
The Connick Jr. side wins out.
New in Town tells the story of Lucy Hill, a Miami company executive charged with restructuring a plant in New Ulm, Minnesota. Hill arrives in New Ulm unaccustomed to the cold weather and the locals’ quirks. She befriends her secretary Blanche Gunderson (Siobhan Fallon), and clashes with the gruff yet attractive union leader Ted Mitchell (Connick Jr.). Tensions rise as Hill’s bosses ask her to lay off plant workers and then to close the plant altogether, which suddenly and inexplicably fills her with altruistic thoughts of saving the jobs of New Ulm’s finest factory workers.
For the sake of those moviegoers who would be crushed to discover that the way of life depicted in Fargo is little more than an elaborate farce, New in Town makes use of every small-town, central-Midwestern stereotype at its disposal. Felt-decorated sweaters, fake wood paneling, shelf-cluttering trinkets, contrived pet names, outrageous accents, loud wallpaper, tapioca pudding and scrapbooking are all abundant.
Those Minnesotans who thought that Juno had fixed their image problem were sadly mistaken.
Yet amidst the regrettable caricatures, some truth is evident. Blanche and friends accurately portray Minnesotan frankness in dealing with concepts of life, death and religion. It’s a shame that, instead of following this plotline, viewers are stuck watching flat performances by Zellweger and Connick Jr. as they are cattle-prodded into romance by a script with a block-structure so translucent it’s like watching an episode of Scooby-Doo.
The falling, slipping, tripping, pants-ripping slap-stick which riddles New in Town is outshined only by Connick Jr.’s inconsistent accent, conveniently explained by a mention of his North Carolina origins. Indeed, Connick Jr.’s face remains in a static state of confusion (not unlike Nicholas Cage or John Cusack), as he struggles to discern a tidbit of characterization to hold onto.
Zellweger has similar troubles, unable to break the mold of career-oriented woman turned soft by the charms of a simpleton. Hers is a role to be forgotten, unlike Connick Jr.’s laughable showing.
If you must go see this movie, look out for J.K. Simmons (Juno, Spiderman) who puts in a solid performance as the resilient, boasting floor manager Stu Kopenhafer. His not-frequent-enough appearances were about all that made New in Town bearable.