'New Year's Eve' just happened to be on television on New Year's Eve, and my younger sister and this reviewer mutually decided to make it our film of choice. Despite having talent like Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfieffer and have also liked some of Gary Marshall's other films (even thought the still highly uneven 'Valentine's Day' wasn't that bad), expectations were not high having heard for a while nothing but bad things about it from trusted friends and sources and often heard it described as one of the worst films of the year.
Both of us were bitterly disappointed and intensely disliked 'New Years Eve', having watched it anyway because it intrigued conceptually, there were some good ideas and the talent sounded too good to resist, and we are not always on the same page when it comes to opinions. These feelings were felt by both of us very early on, and we did consider turning it off when we were still not finding ourselves getting into it half an hour in. We didn't because the premise was intriguing and the individual story-lines sounded like they could be amusing and moving if done well. Almost everything fell flat and almost everything was wasted. Complete share the dislike from most and while not among the very worst of that respective years it is in the lower end of the spectrum rather than the higher end or in the middle.
There are a few good things. New York looks lovely, then again when did it not. The photography is nice.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the cast highlight, she had the most interesting character for me in the film and she seemed very committed. Jessica Biel has amusing moments.
However, the rest of the cast do not work. There is an uncomfortable mix of over-compensating (Katherine Heigl and Sarah Jessica Parker) and blandness (Zac Efron and especially Ashton Kutcher, actually forgot that Kutcher was in it after finishing the film and that is not a good sign). Robert De Niro might not as well have been there because he was practically wasted, while Jon Bon Jovi's cameo is one of the most pointless and redundant ones in existence in a subplot that was far too low-key and could easily have been cut. One of the worst assets was the flabby script, which was also flimsy in development, completely banal and stilted with some heavy-handed moralising. Didn't care for any of the characters pretty much, pretty much all of them were underdeveloped cliches (with the most developed one being Pfeiffer's) and neither interesting or likeable. Some were unpleasantly neurotic too, especially Heigl's, Parker's and Swank's. Also there were far too many of them, which is the reason why all those problems happened.
Just like there were too many subplots, pretty much all neither interesting or emotionally investable and are instead a mix of contrived, dumb and overly schmaltzy. Even half an hour in, one feels hit with too much going on in characterisation and storylines with neither properly growing that it bogs down the pacing, pacing so dreary that it makes the length longer than it is, the sentiment really gets too much and it takes itself far too seriously. The various storylines give an episodic hodge-podgy feel, the constant back and forth confuses and is choppy and they don't really connect together at the end and resolved too conveniently and predictably. De Niro's subplot, weightier than the rest of them, sounded poignant and relatable on paper, the problem sadly is that it felt out of place with the rest of the film and fits uncomfortably with everything else (as well as having a lack of credible motivation), like there was an attempt to devote time to it while underdeveloping the rest of the subplots. Marshall's direction is never in control and struggles to balance everything together.
In conclusion, weak film and very disappointing. 3/10 Bethany Cox
Both of us were bitterly disappointed and intensely disliked 'New Years Eve', having watched it anyway because it intrigued conceptually, there were some good ideas and the talent sounded too good to resist, and we are not always on the same page when it comes to opinions. These feelings were felt by both of us very early on, and we did consider turning it off when we were still not finding ourselves getting into it half an hour in. We didn't because the premise was intriguing and the individual story-lines sounded like they could be amusing and moving if done well. Almost everything fell flat and almost everything was wasted. Complete share the dislike from most and while not among the very worst of that respective years it is in the lower end of the spectrum rather than the higher end or in the middle.
There are a few good things. New York looks lovely, then again when did it not. The photography is nice.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the cast highlight, she had the most interesting character for me in the film and she seemed very committed. Jessica Biel has amusing moments.
However, the rest of the cast do not work. There is an uncomfortable mix of over-compensating (Katherine Heigl and Sarah Jessica Parker) and blandness (Zac Efron and especially Ashton Kutcher, actually forgot that Kutcher was in it after finishing the film and that is not a good sign). Robert De Niro might not as well have been there because he was practically wasted, while Jon Bon Jovi's cameo is one of the most pointless and redundant ones in existence in a subplot that was far too low-key and could easily have been cut. One of the worst assets was the flabby script, which was also flimsy in development, completely banal and stilted with some heavy-handed moralising. Didn't care for any of the characters pretty much, pretty much all of them were underdeveloped cliches (with the most developed one being Pfeiffer's) and neither interesting or likeable. Some were unpleasantly neurotic too, especially Heigl's, Parker's and Swank's. Also there were far too many of them, which is the reason why all those problems happened.
Just like there were too many subplots, pretty much all neither interesting or emotionally investable and are instead a mix of contrived, dumb and overly schmaltzy. Even half an hour in, one feels hit with too much going on in characterisation and storylines with neither properly growing that it bogs down the pacing, pacing so dreary that it makes the length longer than it is, the sentiment really gets too much and it takes itself far too seriously. The various storylines give an episodic hodge-podgy feel, the constant back and forth confuses and is choppy and they don't really connect together at the end and resolved too conveniently and predictably. De Niro's subplot, weightier than the rest of them, sounded poignant and relatable on paper, the problem sadly is that it felt out of place with the rest of the film and fits uncomfortably with everything else (as well as having a lack of credible motivation), like there was an attempt to devote time to it while underdeveloping the rest of the subplots. Marshall's direction is never in control and struggles to balance everything together.
In conclusion, weak film and very disappointing. 3/10 Bethany Cox