New Year's Eve (2011) * *

 

 

Directed by:  Garry Marshall

Starring:  Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert DeNiro, Halle Berry, Katherine Heigl, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Sophia Vergara, Josh Duhamel, Hector Elizondo, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Ryan Seacrest, Larry Miller, Matthew Broderick, Cherry Jones, John Lithgow

It may take be longer to list the cast of New Year's Eve than it will to write the actual review.  New Year's Eve is the second of Garry Marshall's obscure holiday films (the first was 2010's Valentine's Day) in which a large cast of stars are thrown into a mix of intersecting plots all paying homage to the magic of the holiday.  New Year's Eve's cast includes multiple Oscar winners and nominees, so this isn't a group without talent.  The movie is slight and wants to be loved, but soon there isn't enough room or time for all of these stories competing for the same screen.  Nor do we care enough.

The movie's bloated running time is reflective of having so many A-listers, most involving stories of romance or family love.  Swank is at the center as the boss of the Times Square ball drop with a crisis on her hands:  There is a mechanical issue with the ball and it may not be able to drop in time for midnight.  That and she also has to meet someone before midnight, regardless of whether it costs her this job.  There is also an executive whose car breaks down in Connecticut and needs to get to Manhattan in time for... And a New Year's Eve scrooge who doesn't believe in the power of the New Year, and a harried record company secretary who quits her job and has a courier lead her on a tour of the city, etc., etc.  Oh, and let's not forget the rock star who wants to reconcile with the former girlfriend he jilted last New Year's Eve.  

I could go on and successfully recap the subplots but to what end?  The movie itself is only sporadically intriguing and New Year's Day itself is kind of already over once the clock strikes midnight and the confetti falls over Times Square.  At least on the East Coast.  The actors themselves deserve a celebration by taking this stuff seriously.