new in town

Despite its name there is nothing remotely fresh about New in Town.

Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. star as unlikely sweethearts in this formulaic romantic comedy. Zellweger plays Lucy Hill, a straight-shooting businesswoman from Miami who is sent to New Ulm, Minn., to restructure a factory and lay off employees. Before long, however, Hill has fallen for the snowy town and the head of the labor union, Ted Mitchell (Connick).

Zellweger and Connick are competent actors, but don't have anywhere near the ability to pull off a script that is a subpar derivative of funnier and more romantic films. The supporting actors play their roles admirably, but even they seem to understand that they represent nothing more than caricatures. The jokes (and there are really only two or three) grow old quickly and can be predicted before the movie even begins.

This is director Jonas Elmer's first foray into English-language films, and his inexperience with American audiences is clear. He doesn't seem to grasp the downside of hammering one joke into the ground. Elmer beats whatever slapstick humor there was out of Zellweger and any sense of joy out of the audience. While the film draws to its happy, though expected, conclusion the audience will be rooting for it to end far faster than Elmer's lingering camera allows.

If you find thick Midwestern accents and big-city-meets-small-town drama enjoyable, then the film might be able to hold your attention for all 96 minutes. However, the entire movie is so soaked in cliche that its few redeeming qualities will at best make you realize that there are better films you could have been watching.