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Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Michelle Pfeiffer | ... | ||
Zac Efron | ... | ||
Charlotte Marshall-Fricker | ... | ||
Fiona Choi | ... |
Balinese Woman (segment "Resolution Tour")
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Mary Marguerite Keane | ... | |
Michael Mandell | ... | ||
Patrick Reale | ... | ||
Robert De Niro | ... | ||
Halle Berry | ... | ||
Cary Elwes | ... |
Stan's Doctor (segment "Hospital Story")
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Alyssa Milano | ... | ||
Common | ... |
Soldier (segment "Hospital Story")
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Barbara Marshall | ... | ||
Jessica Biel | ... | ||
Seth Meyers | ... |
Set during New Year's Eve in New York city, this movie follows several people and how the day affects them. Kim is a single mother who still thinks of her daughter, Hailey as a child who wants to go out with a boy so that she could kiss him at midnight. Claire, who is in charge of the city's annual tradition, the ball drop on Times Square. And when something goes wrong she has to ask an electrician, who was fired, to come and fix it. Laura, a chef who is cooking the New year's Eve party for a record company who runs into Jensen, her ex who's a singer and performing at the party. While he tries to apologize for how things ended, she refuses to accept it. Ingrid, a woman who works at the record company, after having a near death experience, decides to quit her job and asks a young messenger, Paul to help her fulfill her resolutions. And at a hospital, Stan, a man who is in the final stages of cancer, only wishes to see the ball drop. Also Griffin and Tess, a couple who are expecting, ... Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com
The trouble with ensemble comedies - romantic or otherwise - is that the audience is given little time to develop a relationship with any of their characters. This is certainly the case with Garry Marshall's seasonal effort New Years Eve, but the problems with the film are far from done there.
Stuck somewhere between a 'Visit New York' advert and meandering rom-com, few of the movies plots are linked and many are only hastily so at the end of the movie, almost as an afterthought. The film is incredibly low on laughs of any variety and despite - or perhaps because of - its huge star cast it never feels like its going anywhere, much like the Times Square ball which gets as much screen time as anybody.
The characterisation is incredibly lazy; Ashton Kutcher plays a pyjama-wearing stoner cartoonist, Zac Efron is the plucky young go-getter, De Niro (who will sign up for anything these days) is the grumpy old coot. These typecasts are bad enough before Lea Michele appears essentially playing Rachel Berry from Glee, replete with the screeching vocal performances. The cherry on top of the cake, however, is Michelle Pfeiffer who re-enacts her performance in Batman Returns as kooky wallflower Selina Kyle; to my immense disappointment she never became Catwoman and proceeded to whip up any sense of excitement.
The one positive thing I could say about this film is that it isn't offensively bad, except I cant because three of the precious few non-white, non-American characters are horrendously bad racial stereotypes. I'll leave you to spot them should you have the misfortune of having to endure this vapid exercise in futility.